What I made this weekend

[rsanter]

It had been hot here so I have been getting up early to get some work in the shop done before it gets too hot to work in there. Problem is that it starts to get hot before long. Well if I working at the mill I ca have the cooler blowing on me....so it's time to get some machine work done.

I have been wanting a ball making/radius cutter for the lathe mostly so I can make some custom bead roller dies and have the desired radius ( verses faking it)
Option one....I could spend a couple hundred and buy a cheap Chinese one.
Option two.....I could spend more and get an American one......
Option three....I can be a cheap *** and pull scrap out of my box, not spend a single thing on anything. Spend about six hours doing a little machine work, and end up with an American made one.....

Three...I'll go with three....

View media item 51539View media item 51541View media item 51538View media item 51537
Once done I had to test it out. I made the aluminum knob with the rounded ends because I though it would be cool that the first part made with it would be part of the tool

Bob

 

[nickelTwin]

That turned out really nice. I want to make one sometime in the future.
Nice pictures

 

[LXCam]

Dude that's very cool!. I always fake it but that just kicks *** right there.

 

[bczygan]

Thanks a LOT!

Now I need one of THOSE too!

Any measurements and build details?

 

[The Cobbler]

Nice!
wanna sell one? LOL

 

[PugetDude]

Bob,
Nice work!

 

[macgyver37]

Something very satisfying about using a ball turner. I have used mine alot. You start designing projects around using one once you have it.

Flip the arm and cutter around and you can make larger radii concave parts as well.

 

[ADSR]

Very cool!

 

[ryanm]

sorry to have to ask, but could you explain how that works? i've got minimum lathe experince and am curious. how does that piece work with the tool post and tool carrier (hope the terms are right). thanks

 

[macgyver37]

all the ball turner attachment does is allows the cutter to turn around the pivot point on the arm. you position the cutter in the arm so that the distance from the pivot to the cutter is the radius you want, then you position the ball turner/toolholder so you can reach the part and the handle on top is what you turn back and forth to cut the radius on the part. So you position it with the carriage and compound then use the handle or lever on top to turn or spin the cutter around the part.
Hope that helps

I am sure youtube has plenty of videos of them in use if you need to see it in action.

THere are a bunch of different styles as well.

 

[TheEuronater]

Looks GREAT. Could make some nice looking shift knobs on that

 

[FJ40Jim]

sorry to have to ask, but could you explain how that works? i've got minimum lathe experince and am curious. how does that piece work with the tool post and tool carrier (hope the terms are right). thanks

Yoke style radius cutter in action:

 

[ryanm]

awesome, makes sense now. for some reason, i thought the tool post and compound were used, didnt notice that its simply the cutting tool/insert itself that it being manually turned. thank you.

 

[wingnut_1]

You pounded that out in 6 hours?? Nice!!

 

[nine4gmc]

Nice!
wanna sell one? LOL

Did you read number 2?

Great job, I have been wanting to make one myself, now I have some GJ inspiration!

 

[jamesemery728]

Very nicely done. There is a company on line that sells on Ebay that has the aluminum frame that is cut out and requires finishing with a mill to make it a usable tool. Their name is Alisam Engineering. Good for someone who lacks your skills to make one from scratch.

 

[rsanter]

Very nicely done. There is a company on line that sells on Ebay that has the aluminum frame that is cut out and requires finishing with a mill to make it a usable tool. Their name is Alisam Engineering. Good for someone who lacks your skills to make one from scratch.

I saw that and almost bought one.
They have the two pieces cut out for $35 and the have the small parts kit for $16. Then all you do is drill a few holes and finish things up a bit. Not a bad deal overall, however I had the piece of aluminum as scrap. I rough cut it with the bandsaw and cleaned it up on the mill. The handle and pins were made from some stainless material that I had as well. I figured that it was worth the fun factor for me to just cut it out myself verses buy their little kit. Now if you do not have the material sitting around their kit makes for a great deal

Bob

 

[gipraw]

Once done I had to test it out. I made the aluminum knob with the rounded ends because I though it would be cool that the first part made with it would be part of the tool

Bob

Nice work . and the knob is a very nice touch.

 

[butsir]

Nice; great work.

 

[zmotorsports]

It had been hot here so I have been getting up early to get some work in the shop done before it gets too hot to work in there. Problem is that it starts to get hot before long. Well if I working at the mill I ca have the cooler blowing on me....so it's time to get some machine work done.

I have been wanting a ball making/radius cutter for the lathe mostly so I can make some custom bead roller dies and have the desired radius ( verses faking it)
Option one....I could spend a couple hundred and buy a cheap Chinese one.
Option two.....I could spend more and get an American one......
Option three....I can be a cheap *** and pull scrap out of my box, not spend a single thing on anything. Spend about six hours doing a little machine work, and end up with an American made one.....

Three...I'll go with three....

View media item 51539View media item 51541View media item 51538View media item 51537
Once done I had to test it out. I made the aluminum knob with the rounded ends because I though it would be cool that the first part made with it would be part of the tool

Bob

Very nicely done.

I like option #3 as well. This is on my "to do" list but unfortunately it is down a little bit on the list due to higher priorities.

Great job.

Mike.

 

[kbs2244]

I aways like turning balls on a metal lathe.
The hand work involved seems to make it feel like useing a wood lathe.
You get to "feel" the work being done.

 

[rsanter]

someone asked if I had a drawing....well yeas I do.
I did the drawing based on the size of scrap I have but typical me when I started machining the design evolved a bit and some dimensions changed.

feel free to use this design, its not that different than many other ones that you will find.
however....if you use my drawing in any way shape or form you must pay me.
the payment I want is that you post the ball turner you make here on GJ

bob

 

[gearhead1]

Nice work! I enjoy doing this kind of stuff. I haven't had the need yet, but will be making one when I do. Much better than watching TV.

 

[rsanter]

Here is the drawing. Forgot to attach it above

View media item 51577

 

[moon_tanner]

That is some fine work!

 

[22george]

Thank you for posting it

 

[Steevo]

Very nice!
Thanks for reminding me that this has been on my back-burner to-do list for a couple of years now . . . .

 

[Lamina Acutus]

Clever, marking it for a future project. Thanks.