# In my toy box again



## skiprat (Nov 14, 2015)

Having more fun playing in my toy box again.:biggrin:

I recently showed a black 6 sided helix black, in a thread about metal lathes and how only a numpty would get a ML with a fixed gearbox......:tongue:

After that helix blank, I figured I could do a six sided centre taper blank ( to sort of match a Panache )
Then I figured I'd have a go at doing a 12 sided helix with a centre taper - also to match a Panache style pen. 

Well the good news is that my contraption and jigs work.
The bad news is that old habits die hard....
1st rule I forgot and often forget is the direction of cut when using a router. You should go against the rotation to get a decent cut.
Second thing I forgot is the famous backlash. 

Router direction is easy.....instead of travelling from TS to HS, simply do it the other way round.

Backlash in the gear train is just as easy using a common trick. Just wind string with a weight around the chuck. 

I get a bigger kick of doing stuff like this than actually making pens !!!

The pics actually sort of show how, but any guesses on how the centre tapers were done? :biggrin:


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## Edgar (Nov 14, 2015)

Awesome!
I am always amazed by your creative work.


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## Hubert H (Nov 14, 2015)

WOW!  I don't have words for your creative and beautiful work.  Looking forward to seeing the final results.


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## furini (Nov 14, 2015)

Beats me but it looks amazing!  Is the spring a clue?  Does it keep the router tensioned against the blank?
I'm assuming the speed of the carriage travel is slow enough to give you plenty of time to turn the router off when you get the end of the cut so you don't hit your centre!


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## jttheclockman (Nov 14, 2015)

Well Skip I see you are at it again. You are well above my pay grade so I do not want to guess. But I do enjoy looking at your work and when you show progress photos it makes it that much more enjoyable. Any of those blanks would make a nice pen. Heck who needs a Pen Wizard, you are a Pen Wizard.


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## mredburn (Nov 14, 2015)

The back plate is the template for the profile of the blank.  It sort of looks straight in the pictures but its not.  The arm and bolt act as the follower and the spring keeps tension on it.


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## Curly (Nov 14, 2015)

Like Mike said. You made a tracer for your cross slide. Now you can make most anything with a shape from taper to wobble'dee'gobble.  How easy is it to disconnect your cross slide from its screw? And have you tried the setup cutting metal yet?


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## skiprat (Nov 14, 2015)

I knew you would get it Mike....:wink::biggrin:
The bolt actually has a ballbearing in it. 
Of course, the cross slide split nut, under the table needs to be removed. 

Anybody who messes around like me... PLEASE NOTE the lathe is NEVER on when I have my router mounted. :wink:

The lathe merely acts as an indexable spindle and I use the rest of the lathe features like the bed and cross slide etc just to get repeatable accuracy.


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## skiprat (Nov 14, 2015)

Curly - Pete, 
To cut metal I would simply swap the router for a small grinder. Several of my early pens were done like that with a wood lathe and a compound table mounted over the bed. :wink:

oh...nearly forgot... Taking the nut off is pretty quick as I have extended the depth of my back splash. This means I can wind the cross slide bed right off. One screw in the middle of the bed.


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## Curly (Nov 14, 2015)

Much easier than mine. Thanks.


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## magpens (Nov 14, 2015)

Fascinating, Skip !!!!! . Would you have a picture showing how the router is mounted on the cross-slide, please ? . If not, don't worry about it.


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## Curly (Nov 14, 2015)

*Search out some of his past threads.*

Mal he was kind enough to show it in some of his older threads. That and a lot of other ingenious goodies.


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## magpens (Nov 14, 2015)

OK, I thought that might be the case, Pete.

This the thread you were thinking of ?

http://www.penturners.org/forum/f13/gold-veined-black-dodecagram-132074/


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## lorbay (Nov 14, 2015)

magpens said:


> Fascinating, Skip !!!!! . Would you have a picture showing how the router is mounted on the cross-slide, please ? . If not, don't worry about it.


Mal you can see it here on the Q/C tool post.
http://www.penturners.org/forum/f30/cue-blanks-yet-another-method-79294/
Another Skip adventure. 
Lin


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## magpens (Nov 14, 2015)

Thanks, Lin !  I am wondering now what kind of router Steve uses ... doesn't look like your standard Makita router for cutting channels in wood or rounding edges.


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## skiprat (Nov 14, 2015)

Sorry Mal, I would have answered earlier but 'unfortunately' :biggrin: the planned lasagne managed to get burned when my wife went upstairs and instructed me to look after it......:wink:
We just went out and I can tell you my steak was AMAZING !!!!!:biggrin:

This link will take you to a thread where I showed several of my bits and bobs for my lathe. I could probably update it now with some more refined bits. 

Try this link 

The little router I use is a trim router. It is supposed to be for trimming laminate etc but I have done away with the base. 
The mounting collar I made also matches my drilling machine. The collar size is a standard in Europe. 

You know what the best part was????  She drove and I had a couple of beers !!  Aaaah life is good !!:biggrin:


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## magpens (Nov 14, 2015)

Much appreciated, Steve. . I hadn't seen that thread of yours before.

Thanks a lot for your reply . . I'll have to root around for a router like you use in my weekly tour of the local tool shops.

Too bad about the lasagna !!! ... but glad you enjoyed your steak !!! ... did you get a serving of cold-shoulder too ? :biggrin:

Probably not ... she probably enjoying the 'opportunity' to go out also !! :wink:


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