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So this was a piece of scrap briar (one of the blocks I broke the shank on) I hadn't done anyhting with the bowl end of the block and had enough left to squeeze out a little bent apple (I turned the block on it's side). I know, I could have and probably should have put a shank extension on the stummel, but I thought better of it. I think the stem came out really well. I still have a bit of work to do on the slot and then I'm going to stain the stummel. Anything you see I need to change?







I"M SCEWING WITH YOU.......I did manage to turn an integral tenon on my wood lathe though...took a while, but I did it. I will get to work on shaping the stem tomorrow. I'm getting sleepy and don't wanna screw it up now.

My question is really about turning the ebonite rod. What RPM do you fellas turn at? I feel like I am melting the rod sometimes. It doesn't shave off, but is more like ribbons or threads. Is this normal for ebonite? I am turning at the same speed I use for stummels....a little over 2000 rpm.

Any secrets you wish to divulge with be greatly appreciated.

Scottie

I turn ebonite at high rpm for better finish. If you're having problems your tool probably needs to be sharpened.

I turn it at about 1500 rpm I think. Get nice big peels off with sharp tools. If it fights AT ALL, you aren't sharp enough.

I was thinking something was wrong when I was getting the big peals off the rod. Thanks. I won't worry about it next time. I just changed the cutter head over on my easy tool and this was the first thing I turned with it. I was super duper sharp, so I'm pretty sure that it's me.

I think I am going to get another easy rougher just to do stem work with. I don't see me being able to pick up a taig any time soon and think it might be nice to have a tool dedicated to just stems.

When I'm turning stems, it's usually being done on my metal lathe these days, and that's got a max speed of about 750 RPM - which what I use. With a sharp tool the ebonite just sloughs right off. As long as your tools are sharp, I don't think the RPM really matters too much. Just adjust everything else to get the job done. That said, I'm not all that comfortable turning ebonite much over 1000 RPM. It just seems to behave better for me at lower speeds.

Then again, I tend to use minimum effective speed for all the turning I do. I like to stay at about 1200 RPM for briar.