# 24 Slot RailRoad Track Rings



## farmer (May 24, 2015)

24 position indexer, 1.250 od saw blade 0.030 width mounted on a dremel.
0.030 to 0.035 white veneers .
Kingwood dowel cut 24 times like a spline on a axel or a input shaft on a manual transmission .
Cut 24 slots, and check every slot with a strip of veneer, then super glue in 5 or 6 pieces of veneer a spray with a activator until all 24 slots have veneers glued in them.



Then cut into washers or rings .



Sorry I don't make many pens, I do enjoy wood working but I make very few pens.
I thought I would share this with you.
You must have a engine style lathe, a indexer and a live tool post cutter that you can cut a 0.030 width of a slot.
Finished product is a billiards chalk holder.
This is made out of Elk antler and Gabon Ebony.
hope this gives a few of you guys some ideas


----------



## KenV (May 24, 2015)

Looks like a Taig -- well set up.  Nice work


----------



## 79spitfire (May 24, 2015)

Your right, that would be awesome on a pen.


----------



## lwalper (May 24, 2015)

I was wondering what I could use that indexing head for :wink:

Nice work!!


----------



## farmer (May 24, 2015)

*Lathe*



KenV said:


> Looks like a Taig -- well set up.  Nice work


 
Thank you,
Yes it is a Taig based lathe that has been modified.
Large bore headstock
Using the lathes mainly for wood with live cutters takes very little energy to turn the lathe.
I still use the bigger motors ( 1/2 HP DC ) because they are extremely quiet.
I have three of these Taig Lathes and a large wood router  75 x 24 x 8.5  CNC  that I can mount one of my Taig lathes on it so I can do tapers on pool cues.
The live cutters are  like a whole new world of cutting wood on a lathe.
The router bit doesn't load up the pours in the wood with saw dust, so you can have ebony next to maple and not transfer the ebony dust into the pours of the maple wood.


----------



## jttheclockman (May 24, 2015)

You can do so much just with that design in a pen. I am jealous.


----------



## Tom T (May 24, 2015)

Crazy nice work.  Looks great


----------



## farmer (Jun 16, 2015)

*UP date for making rail road track style rings*

I have a project that I needed some rings with the ID of 0.250 or 1/4 inch.
and the OD about 0.380 - 0.0400 of a inch.

All the other rings I have been making I was using 0.030 veneers .
But the new blades I got in from China came in with the blade think ness of
0.038.

I told myself I can figure this out, even though the only way for me to get a different saw blade was to order one and the same goes for the veneers if I could find some that is 0.038 - 0.036.

I Have a 14 in Ridgid band saw with a Kregg fence , so I took a block of cocobolo and cut some coco veneer strips, and I think I did a fair job of it.

So I am all set up to cut 24 slot rings , after about five or  or six slots 
I noticed the splines or the wood that was left between the cuts was loose .
Sorry I will post a picture of the wood later.
Point being the 0.038 thick blades x 24 cuts in that small of a piece of wood was to small to handle 24 slots.
I got out another piece olive wood and cut 12 slots in it.
And inlayed the cocobolo wood.
After I cut them into rings I hand file them flat, but because I use a technic I can live cut them to any think ness.

The small ring in the picture is 0.481 OD   0.250 ID .
The OD can be sanded or live cut down to about 0.380 which would be minimum OD before the inlays are sanded out.
It would be pushing the envelope to make rings for a slim line pen.
but from 0.380 OD and up it can be done in a 12 slot ring.

The middle 24 slot ring is 5/16 ID and 0.650 OD and can be trimmed to 0.525 . 

The large is 5/16  ID  0.930 OD and can be trimmed to  0.525 .

These rings are made with Olive wood with cocobolo veneers .
It will be a couple of days before I can post a finished product .


----------



## WriteON (Jun 16, 2015)

Nice job. I have that same lathe. Have not realized much of its potential yet.


----------



## farmer (Jun 16, 2015)

*taig lathe*



WriteON said:


> Nice job. I have that same lathe. Have not realized much of its potential yet.


 
Todd has great customer service.
If go live cutters on your lathe you can $hit can the pen mandrels.
If you are a AZB'er pm me.

Ps the DECO Cues make the best ridgid live cutter mounting bracket.

I like the lathes allot, thinking of making a auto feed system for one of the 3 I own.

I have 3 of these lathes , one of them is set up on my CNC so I can do my tapers on pool cues 

These rings are pretty much a given on a pool cue.
 I bounce around looking at different peoples inlays to pick up ideas for my own work.


----------



## WriteON (Jun 16, 2015)

Beautiful cue. Love that wood. My AZB handle is GoldCrown. I'm not quite ready for live cutters. I'm still green with the lathe.  Currently working on tips,tenons,ferrules,cleaning/refinishing. My next step is JP's.
Also want to design/make pool cue pens. I will get in touch if I do have questions. I appreciate the offer. Your work is absolutely beautiful. Thanks for posting. Frank


----------



## farmer (Jun 20, 2015)

*J/P's*



WriteON said:


> Beautiful cue. Love that wood. My AZB handle is GoldCrown. I'm not quite ready for live cutters. I'm still green with the lathe.  Currently working on tips,tenons,ferrules,cleaning/refinishing. My next step is JP's.
> Also want to design/make pool cue pens. I will get in touch if I do have questions. I appreciate the offer. Your work is absolutely beautiful. Thanks for posting. Frank


 
I made J/p's for a while, very important you get all your wood pre cut before you start to assemble when you only have one lathe.
You chuck up and center your piece once, and leave it in the lathe....

Do not do Jp's with metal rings without a live cutter, You will learn to hate life.....


----------



## farmer (Jun 21, 2015)

*Rings*

Here are the rings, finished product .


----------



## WriteON (Jun 21, 2015)

farmer said:


> Here are the rings, finished product .



You should frame it and hang on the wall.


----------



## farmer (Jun 22, 2015)

WriteON said:


> You should frame it and hang on the wall.


 
Thank you very much.
I don't know I think some of my work looks like it could be refined.

Making these rings for a pen is pretty precise cuts, and the saw blade and arbor that I am using is not the best quality.


----------

