Batten the hatches Mateys!......Arg....

Well...........a production turner I'm not......but maybe someday........

Dave Richards wanted someone to turn the spindles for the wheel on his sail boat. I thought I was at another auction where turning tools were featured....I held my hand up!

Dave sent me 8 blanks....he needs 6 spindles. I turned the first one Tuesday evening followed by 2 more. The first one was a lesson in dodging spinning corners. Turning the pummels wasn't that difficult but turning the 2 inch area between 2 facing pummels was. When backing a tool out of the intermediate area, you can catch the face of the pummel and chip it. DAMHIKT....the first one had some chip out.......the others are looking okay IMHO

So...I just came in from the shop....all my tools have been sharpened...5 more to go....and to quote a famous judge and referree Mills Lane......"Let's get it on!"

Remember Ken, you are NOT a CNC machine, 6 "Similar" ones is what you are shooting for, that way, they have the "Hand Turned" look

Good luck, I know you will Git-r-done!!

Well..........Yesterday evening I finished the spindles for Dave Richards.

Dave......I did the best I could. I wish I had some more blanks....Here they are. I hope you can find 6 of the 8 useable.

Hats off Ken, you did great!

Ken, they look great to me! I think ya dun good!! I can't see anything wrong with them.

Nancy

They look great to me, Ken. Positioned around a wheel, the minor differences will be invisible. I'm betting the reason Dave didn't send you all 8 of the old ones is so you wouldn't see how mis-matched the originals were.

Ken, they look perfect to me.

I'm at the point where I'm ready for them, too.

Thank you so much Ken. I'm excited to see them.

ken, those are great! i`m sure dave will post pics once they`re installed and you`ll see how well they work

Well done. Duplicating without a duplicators is not easy. Charge him plenty for those.

Great job of duplicating .You can be proud.
Ken

Great job Ken! Dave, I'm looking forward to seeing the new wheel!

Tyler, I get the feeling you have been on a sailboat at some time! (by the way it's lee, not lea!)

Good Job Ken!

Hello Ken,

Well it looks like I have some competition in the production turning arena... Good job on your first production run of spindles! As you found out, it's not as easy as making one-offs. I often do copy production work in my studio because of the high labor rate you can charge ($125.00 - $250.00 per man hour), but it gets dicey when you exceed 150 units per master. The CNC chaps can best your output when the order exceeds 150 units but below that, the machine can be beat most of the time.

One thing that may help you in the future is to build a story stick, or a template of the master spindle. Story sticks are simple a stick of wood with all of the major transitions marked by nail points. This allows you to hold it up to the piece (lathe off) and check for transitional accuracy of the profile. A template is usually cut out of hardboard or Plexiglas and shows the exact outer profile. This can be held up to check the profile and is a great aid to insure exact duplication of the intended form.

I also use profile gauges on critical design elements to insure accuracy, as well as slip on feeler gauges for a quick check of the diameter, whilst turning. On large jobs, I will make a laser template that hangs above the spindle with lasers at each transition point. The lasers shine on the turning blank and allow very fast turning of the design elements. On small jobs, setting up a laser template is not cost effective, but for a hobby chap not concerned about time its a nifty way to help insure accuracy.

Copy production work is a challenge, especially if you have to stain the new units to match the old samples patina and wear. This is really where the labor rates soar as its no small feat to make new timber look 30 years old and to find similar grain patterns for the new blanks. I do quite a bit of insurance replacements and these are always ordered with matching stain. I have developed a very effective tone spraying protocol to achieve the perfect colour, but it's still a long road to hoe on some timbers that have experienced significant fading or wear.

Here's the best part... Your next production run will be much easier since you got past that first really hard one. Congrats to you on your work! Take care and all the best to you and yours!

Thanks everybody! I've seen Dave's post on milling the rest of the wheel. I hope my feeble attempt will satisfy his high standards!


Steve,

Thanks for the advice and suggestions for improving my techniques! I will use the story pole and pattern advice on my next attempt. I did make a full sized drawing with measurements of the transition points and the diameters at specific places. I'm sure it didn't work as well as the story pole or pattern. That'll happen on the next one. I have an old dial caliper that the face with a missing face. It's completely stainless steel and I've used it for nearly 30 years. I ordered a cheap one recently to replace the old one. The new one.....broke it 15 minutes after I started using it. The old one limps but still works. You get what you pay for!

Thanks again for the advice..........You don't have any competition by my feeble attempts!

Ken Fitzgerald said:

Thanks everybody! I've seen Dave's post on milling the rest of the wheel. I hope my feeble attempt will satisfy his high standards!

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Ken, no worries there. I'm wondering how the wheel would look with the spokes finished bright and the rest painted.