• Beware of Counterfeit Woodturning Tools (click here for details)
  • Johnathan Silwones is starting a new AAW chapter, Southern Alleghenies Woodturners, in Johnstown, PA. (click here for details)
  • Congratulations to Paul May for "Checkerboard (ver 3.0)" being selected as Turning of the Week for March 25, 2024 (click here for details)
  • Welcome new registering member. Your username must be your real First and Last name (for example: John Doe). "Screen names" and "handles" are not allowed and your registration will be deleted if you don't use your real name. Also, do not use all caps nor all lower case.

Tips On Turning Some 3/4" Diameter Sphere's

Joined
Mar 20, 2019
Messages
125
Likes
93
Location
Buena Vista, Colorado
I need to turn some 3/4" diameter sphere's out of pine for a rocket project. Any tips?

I was wondering if I should make a turning tool out of a piece of flat bar, drill a 3/4" hole through it, then chamfer the hole, and cut the hole in half. Seems like I could turn the sphere, get it close and then finish it with the custom tool. That might make finishing them to the same size easier?

Thanks in advance for any tips or suggestions.

John
 

Attachments

  • Red Columbine Dwg Sheets 2 of 7 Rev 00.jpg
    Red Columbine Dwg Sheets 2 of 7 Rev 00.jpg
    64 KB · Views: 36
  • 005.JPG
    005.JPG
    185 KB · Views: 38
  • 001.JPG
    001.JPG
    216.8 KB · Views: 36
  • 002.JPG
    002.JPG
    219.7 KB · Views: 37
  • Red Columbine.JPG
    Red Columbine.JPG
    190.8 KB · Views: 38
Last edited:
Joined
Jul 18, 2018
Messages
1,061
Likes
1,719
Location
Baltimore, MD
From the photos you attached, it looks more like half-round nose cones with a rebate to fit snugly in the rocket body tube. If that’s the case, I’d think much easier to make than full spheres.
 
Joined
Mar 7, 2019
Messages
145
Likes
80
Location
Victoria, Texas
This is just what I would do if I was too stubborn to buy them. Which is often the case. I would make a bead cutter to mount in my tailstock drill chuck. I haven’t given any thought to how I would make it, but odds are I would invest 100’s of hours and 100’s of dollars to figure it out. After I figured it out, I would bask in the glory for a few minutes and then kick myself in the ass for not just buying them from a craft store.
 
Joined
May 4, 2010
Messages
2,432
Likes
1,850
Location
Bozeman, MT
You can do it, John. Since you need them to be nearly identical, I would use a piece of plywood, plexiglas, masonite, or your drilled half hole, as a template and not as the turning tool. I would guess that 3/4" is too big for a beading type tool to work well. You can also grind off the sharp corner of a 3/4" wrench to use as your diameter measuring tool, for rough turning speed and reproducibility.

There are lots of methods and videos on sphere making. Pick one. It'll take a while to get the hang of turning spheres, somewhere between 3 and 30, but eventually you'll have the knack and be able to make many of them.
 

hockenbery

Forum MVP
Beta Tester
TOTW Team
Joined
Apr 27, 2004
Messages
8,592
Likes
4,888
Location
Lakeland, Florida
Website
www.hockenberywoodturning.com
For spheres that small I would turn them like beads with a 1/2” skew or 3/8 spindle gouge.
Use a template to after the first 3 you will be turning them in 2-3 minutes.
Turn ten and pick the best 5.

chuck a blank 5” Long in your chuck or glue one end into something you can grip with your chuck.
Turn the cylinder 3/4” mark off the spheres leaving 3/8” in between. Part in a little.
Mark the center and turn the beads leave the center line
Round the free end and cut the headstock side down to 1/8” Sand lightly and saw off the ball and hand sand the sawn face round.
 
Joined
Feb 2, 2020
Messages
76
Likes
59
Location
Germantown, NC
You’re basically making bead forming tool. I think if you use a good quality steel it would work fine. I looked at a couple of sites and didn’t see anything larger than 5/8” available. ED9505B9-350B-4B43-BBB1-29F6473C0FD8.jpg
 
Joined
Jul 26, 2016
Messages
2,326
Likes
1,105
Location
Nebraska
My wife wanted some wooden beads for some of her sewing projects, the quickest way to get a uniform sized bead is to use a bead cutter. With a piece of flat stock on a drill press you can drill out a number of beads quickly depending on the species of wood you are using. The tool works like a regular lathe bead cutting tool which requires a little practice in slowing the progress of your cut when you get close to contacting the entire cutting surface of the tool.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Bead-Ball-...842691?hash=item2d13362083:g:qOYAAOSwFxpe8sch
 

hockenbery

Forum MVP
Beta Tester
TOTW Team
Joined
Apr 27, 2004
Messages
8,592
Likes
4,888
Location
Lakeland, Florida
Website
www.hockenberywoodturning.com
I would turn a 3/4 inch dowel about 3 or 4 inches long (you don't want it to flex), chuck it up and use David Reed Smiths sphere turning rule and presto, you have your spheres, and you learn how to turn spheres...

http://www.davidreedsmith.com/Articles/ScoopOrnament/SphereTemplate/SphereTemplate.htm

that is a nice little tool.
It is the way I have been laying out spheres for 20+ years

I has been my experience that the method does not work well for me for spheres under 1” diameter
Around 2002 I had to turn about 40 balls for someone’s game board it was much easier just to do them by eye with a center line.

Here is a video where I use the layout method by hand that the layout rule produces.
B&B Demo 2010 AAW symposium -
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmCvOP2Mpmw
 
Joined
Mar 20, 2019
Messages
125
Likes
93
Location
Buena Vista, Colorado
that is a nice little tool.
It is the way I have been laying out spheres for 20+ years

I has been my experience that the method does not work well for me for spheres under 1” diameter
Around 2002 I had to turn about 40 balls for someone’s game board it was much easier just to do them by eye with a center line.

Here is a video where I use the layout method by hand that the layout rule produces.
B&B Demo 2010 AAW symposium -
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmCvOP2Mpmw

Awesome ... thanks for posting this.
 
Joined
Jul 19, 2018
Messages
1,686
Likes
2,077
Location
Ponsford, MN
You’re basically making bead forming tool. I think if you use a good quality steel it would work fine. I looked at a couple of sites and didn’t see anything larger than 5/8” available. View attachment 34562
Point # 1 they are for a rocket so purchased beads would be to heavy and if you tried to make them out of pine = light wood with a bead forming tool would not work well as in at least 80% tear out.
 
Joined
Mar 20, 2019
Messages
125
Likes
93
Location
Buena Vista, Colorado
Well... I think I spent more time wondering how I was going to do this.... than actually turning the parts. Hockenbery's video helped a bunch in regard to laying out the dowel for a symmetric sphere.

I just used a roughing tool, skew chisel and a parting tool... and sand paper.

Thanks again everybody for your help!
 

Attachments

  • 006.JPG
    006.JPG
    352.4 KB · Views: 21
  • 008.JPG
    008.JPG
    381.3 KB · Views: 21
  • 009.JPG
    009.JPG
    292.7 KB · Views: 21
  • 010.JPG
    010.JPG
    385.8 KB · Views: 21
  • 011.JPG
    011.JPG
    297.7 KB · Views: 21
  • 001.JPG
    001.JPG
    234.4 KB · Views: 20
  • 002.JPG
    002.JPG
    232.2 KB · Views: 20
  • 003.JPG
    003.JPG
    228.5 KB · Views: 21
Last edited:
Joined
Feb 2, 2020
Messages
76
Likes
59
Location
Germantown, NC
Point # 1 they are for a rocket so purchased beads would be to heavy and if you tried to make them out of pine = light wood with a bead forming tool would not work well as in at least 80% tear out.

I don’t see where I typed anything about the weight of any beads. I understood the question to be about making a tool. If done correctly there is practically zero tear out in yellow pine.
 
Back
Top