Now that I’m making my own stems I realize that some of the things I thought would be easy and straight forward aren’t or at least aren’t as obvious to me as I thought. I thought I would put a deer antler inlay in on the stem and make my delrin longer. I chucked up the length of antler, I faced off the end with my forsner bit then I got to thinking how am I going to face the other end of this ring. If I cut the ring to the width I want I certainly can’t chuck it back in the lathe to face it’s only ¼ inch wide. If I hand sand it, it’s not going to be very precise and won’t make for a flush fit. What is the best way to get both sides flush?

You should be able to get a pretty flush cut with a cut-off tool.

When you say "cut-off tool" are you refering to a lathe chisel or a a dremel bit?

I've tried twice now with the lathe tool, and both times once I got close to center it would break off leaving an uneven cut. Although I'm drilling my mortise first so it's got that hole in it already maybe I should try it with out the hole but that then begs the question how do I drill it center if I can't chuck it? Though maybe I should take your previous advice and not get lost in trying to center it so much since it will round as I shape.

This will work ONLY if you have enough stock that it WILL round out as you turn it. If you don't, you're going to get as close to centered as you can, otherwise your turning will go all eccentric on you. I have no experience with horn, so I have no clue how much play there is in the material in this regard.



I'm referring to a lathe tool, the one it sounds like you're using. I've only worked to date with lucite and ebonite on a metal lathe and I have no problems using the cut-off tool to make these rings. Again, I have no clue how horn reacts, so I can't help much there. It could be a matter of the speed you're turning at when attempting to cut off or it could be a matter of your tool not being sharp enough and causing the break-off.

If you have a drill press, you could cut off a slice and drill it out on that. That would mean you'd have to find center pretty well, but may work better for you.

I'm sure someone with a bit more knowledge in this regard will wander through and give you more useful advice than I can offer. Sorry!!

Matt

Your help is always appreciated.

It sounds like the only problem you have is the jaggedness of the cut when you part off. That could indeed be a problem if it's a show face. What you might do is part nearly to the end, then switch to a razor saw or any fine-toothed saw like a dovetail saw. This will leave a small protruding ring around the hole, which you will sand off with a sheet of fine sandpaper lying on a very flat surface.

You do have to drill and turn at the same time to maintain concentricity. Chucking deer antler sounds like a problem, it's always oval and crooked. Probably the easiest way to do what you want is to saw off the 1/4" you want, plus a smidge. Sand the non-show face so that it is even and square. Face the end some sacrificial piece of rod stock and glue your piece to it. Since the stock is round you'll have some help centering an irregular piece of antler -- you can even leave a little raised nub in the center of the stock when you face it, put a dimple in the observed center of your antler with a drill or punch, and use that to locate. Maple dowel would be fine for the stock, a few years back I got a shipment of crap vulcanite, I use that mostly. Now you have your show face exposed. Chucking the sacrificial rod, face the show face of your antler, drill, turn the OD as you wish, then part off. Try to take 99% sacrificial rod and 1% antler when parting. You may get a little chipping at the end, but just sand it off as above, or knock it down with a countersink.

And there ya have it, Jeeps. Good luck!!

Hi,

What Mr. Howell said makes sense to me and sounds like a fine solution. One of the benefits of his method (verses mine, which I'll get to) is that if it ends up FUBAR, you only loose the part you are working on. The method below commits you and you have to take it apart to try again.

I do not have a cut off tool though, (anyone know where I can get one for my old Atlas/Craftsman metal lathe?).

What I have done when I want to make bands and wafers is first off PLAN IN ADVANCE. If you know you are going to do this before you start shaping the bit, it's a lot easier. Keep your rod/stem round so you can use the lathe. I like to mark the rod/stem where the chuck jaws are holding it so I can re-insert it as accurately as possible. With small adjustments it ends up being accurate enough.

IF THE EXTRA LONG TENON IS ALREADY CUT TO THE MORTISE SIZE AND MOUNTED IN THE STEM/ROD
• First face off one side of your inlay material so that you know it's going to be clean and flat.
• Drill the center so that it will fit over your tenon as you wish.
• Cut off the part close to the size you want, but leave a little extra for working later.
- The part is now faced off on one side and raw cut on the other, with a hole in the center.
• Slide this over the tenon, machined side down -towards the stem- and attach how you normally do (epoxy, etc.).
• When dry -maybe the next day- mount the rod/stem with the inlay back into the lathe and finish off the raw cut face using the little extra material you left on purpose for this.

You should now have a thin inlay machine finished on both sides and mounted to your raw stem.

BTW, I always try to over calculate the tenon length as it's a lot easier at this point to machine it down a little to fit the mortise depth. If one miscalculates the space used by bands and inlays the tenon can be too short and it's real hard to put material back on. You could shorten the shank or cut the stem back (if there's room - start cutting back a 1/4 inch inlay and you'll start wondering why you bothered in the first place). As you can see this is the beginning of a lot of work. Much easier to just have a longer tenon and fine tune it when you have the finished stem length.

Sorry for the long post. Hope it's clear and helps some.

What size is your tool post? I've got several that came with old lathes that use the long, thin blades. I mostly use a carbide insert parting tool that I got from McMaster-Carr, sometimes an old-style blade if I need the reach. If all else fails, have a look at ebay -- Atlas lathes used common sized tooling.

Souljer, thanks for the explanation. That's an excellent way to keep both sides of the disk machined well.

You can also use a pin gauge set.

Face the first side, cut it off, stick it on the right sized chucked up pin, and face the other side.

Rad

You mean like wedge it on?

If the part is thin (1/4 inch if I remember) do you think machining against that would still work? Maybe have a dowel on there behind it for support?

I was going to suggest making tools to clamp it, but if a pin gauge will hold then that's already made.

Hi Gunnar,

Just test fit the pins until you get to one that has a good snug fit. Push the piece on it until the faced side is flat against the chuck, and whirl away.

Rad