> interesting, I am griiiiiiiiiinding away my patrience making one from 3/16 in flat- > ground tool steel stock. you even get mounting holes your way, perhaps even > slotted holes, I have to file those (yet).
Yup, three "in/out" slots and two "left/right slots. > difference in lathes, mine is an engine lathe, intended for working metal. I dont > have the usual wood-turning centers for it, only the three and four-jaw chucks, so > I do what I can with those. Understood, I have an old Austrian made "mini lathe/multi tool" (forgotten the name) that is basically for metal, but it is torn apart and soaking in oil as I neglected it for years). My wood lathe is a Delta Midi that I got on sale for about $250 a few years back (before I thought of pegs). It has a 10" turning diameter and a 16" spindle length, and fits in the converted closet in my apartment that I use for a workshop. > Look for scraps at a cabinetmaker. Consider using thin plastic 'glass', scraps of > which should be available at many hardware stores. Some hardware stores sell > styrene to hobbyists for projects, this is also suitable and easily worked (being > a hobbyist I have some of course). No problem, the tile works quite well. But may I point out a source of the "unfindable". David van E.'s instructions suggest using poly carb templates for the ribs so that one can work the mold and the ribs with a bendable template. Yellow pages, Home Depot, Lowes, hardware stores, plastic specialists - no luck. Then I was in the city to see my dentist, and I use the Holland Tunnel as he is in the Village (where I lived for years). As I left I planned a side trip to a plastics place in Somerset, NJ. Then I had a "sartori" - Canal Street! You can get the hydraulic motivators for aircraft landing gear (if you are into that), or almost anything else. But you can't park. Not only did I see two "Plastics stores" in my first pass, but as I made the one way street circle to come back to the half hour parking lot I'd seen I came upon an open metered space a block from the stores. Somebody up there likes me. Fifty cents for the meter, and the first store had vinly, poly carbonate, styrene and everything else in sheets of various dimensions and thickness. And in clear, translucent, and multi colors. Canal Street is the home craftsman's heaven. > Perhaps I work at a slower speed, I find it necessary to have full diameter to > avoid chip-out on the finished surface and to keep control of files when shaping > the profile. I can't quarrel there, I haven't fully finished a peg head using David's process. The cocobolo blanks I bought are of a length such that I've got a three inch segment after I cut the three full length segments, so I'm testing on those short segments. I have the feeling that I may have the chip out on the head, but I might as well try to get four pegs instead of two out of the segments. My blocks are 1 3/8 square by 16" long. If I can turn the head with the flat I can get four pegs per segment, else only two. I have broken the head on one, but I blamed it on a badly sharpened tool (which I'm reshaping). > > I'm using cocobolo for the pegs, and I bought some "eye wash" that is needed > > after turning that. > > I hope you also work with a vacuum claener sucking up the dust, wear a suitable > dust mask, and keep pets and humans out of the room while are working that stuff. We don't need no stinkin' vacuums <g>, we are tough. Actually I'm awaiting a new Sears item, a portable dust collector for about $120 that is back ordered. It looks like a barfly from the saloon in Star Wars, but it should work without scaring the cat (the vacuum noise sends her into a closet for hours). Being 70 (approximately) I'm not worried about long term effects of cocobolo dust (and I don't buy green bananas). Lastly, where do you buy your wood? I found a place in south Jersey in David van E.'s vendor list - Exotic Woods in Sicklerville. Their prices are commensurate with the various internet shops I've seen. And they have most of what I want. I'll order my soundboard wood from them, probably. They have the Englemannii, and the Swiss/German (I'll go for the Englemann, grade 3 of 5, this is a first try and I'm not looking for perfection until my skills are up. But I'd like to know if you have a local supplier on L.I. or in the general area. I do order things on the internet, but only things I've seen or have a trust in. I visited Exotic, and they are my kind of shop - an Indian owner who isn't that involved, and an old south Jersey piney in the warehouse who knows what he is doing. Now I can order the rest of my wood from them by calling Bill (the woodsman) and telling him what I want, then actually order it from the office. Always make friends with the guy who does the cutting and selection. BTW, you Longislanders may not know it, but south Jersey is below the Mason Dixon line, and has more of the manners of the old south (and the same rednecks) than the rest of the state. It is a different world. Best, Jon To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
