Subject: Re: Spinning....how's it done?

From: Robert Bickers <[email-masked]>
Date: 11 Dec 1996 23:52:59 GMT

[email-masked] (Jim Waggener) wrote:
>Can you spin metal on a basic lathe? Whats the procedure, speed,
>chucks, tooling?
>
>Jim Waggener
>
Lindsay Publishing has some good books on the subject. Cheers Bob

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From: [email-masked] (Jim Waggener)
Date: Wed, 11 Dec 1996 22:00:53 GMT

Jim Waggener

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From: [email-masked] (Felice Luftschein & Nicholas Carter)
Date: Thu, 12 Dec 1996 01:02:15 GMT

>Jim Waggener
Jim, 
In "Metalworking for Craftsmen" by Oppi Untracht (which, knowing you do 
jewelry and such is a book you should have) there is a step by step 
photosequence and text that pretty much explains the basics.

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From: [email-masked] (Jim Waggener)
Date: Thu, 12 Dec 1996 01:55:53 GMT

>Lindsay Publishing has some good books on the subject. Cheers Bob

Thanks for the tip Bob.
I was kinda looking for general info from the ng.

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From: "Les Whitaker" <[email-masked]>
Date: 12 Dec 1996 02:40:33 GMT

Jim, you can get an old reprint from Lindsay Lindsey (?) press. Basically,
all you need is a sturdy tool-rest, the proper shaped tool for the job, and
a pre-carved form into which you spin the metal. Never tried it, was gonna
do it after I retired, but heck, I'm retired. Oh, the tool is hand-held and
leverage is what makes it do its trick. Les Whitaker

Jim Waggener <[email-masked]> wrote in article
<[email-masked]>...

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From: [email-masked] (Jim Waggener)
Date: Thu, 12 Dec 1996 21:28:26 GMT

>photosequence and text that pretty much explains the basics.

I thank you for the info. Unracht's book is one I've been looking for,
it ain't cheap but what the heck.

A small correction, I don't do jewelry. I work holloware and flatware.
Its a whole different animal.

Thanks again,

Jim Waggener

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From: [email-masked] (Ross Borden)
Date: 13 Dec 96 21:32:04 GMT

> Can you spin metal on a basic lathe? Whats the procedure, speed,

I would recommend "Metal Spinning" by Reagan & Smith.  It's a 
reprint available from Lindsay.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
    Low Earth Orbit: If you can make it    |   [email-masked]
    there, you can make it anywhere.       |       Ross Borden
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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From: [email-masked]
Date: 14 Dec 1996 01:25:54 GMT

>> Can you spin metal on a basic lathe? Whats the procedure, speed,

Just received the November issue of Model Engineer Workshop and it has a
ten page article on "Metal Spinning For The Biginner"  Contact Wise Owl
Publications for a copy. They are listed in the FAQ list..

Ron Norris

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From: Abrasha <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 13 Dec 1996 01:22:22 -0800

> Can you spin metal on a basic lathe? Whats the procedure, speed,

What do you mean by basic lathe?  Please be a bit more specific.

Also what metal of what thickness do you want to spin.  There is a great deal of 
difference in spinning sterling silver of .4 mm thickness or 303 stainless of .8 mm 
thickness for instance.

Take a look at "The Amateurs's Lathe" by L.H. Sparey.  In it he describes spinning metal 
in a 7" lathe.  He also shows the necessary tools and holding method.

Abrasha
http://www.abrasha.com

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From: [email-masked] (Jim Waggener)
Date: Fri, 13 Dec 1996 19:50:14 GMT

>difference in spinning sterling silver of .4 mm thickness or 303 stainless of .8 mm 

To be a little more "precise", a Sherline lathe. Material would be 24
gauge sterling. Form would be no larger than 3" dia. X 2.5" deep with
taper.

Normally I just raise this shape. But for the sake of duplicates and
time I would like to investigate the alternative method.

Jim Waggener

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From: [email-masked] (Ernie Leimkuhler)
Date: Fri, 13 Dec 1996 22:59:18 -0700

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Jim

> time I would like to investigate the alternative method.

 If you have an actual metal lathe , spinning is easy.
I recently made 2 chandeliers and hjhad to make custom wax-cups and
ceiling medaliions for both.
I glued up a stack of MDF circles , and mounted the stack on a 6" bolt
plate on my cheasy craftsman wood lathe.
I then spun the block down to the profile I wanted.
I welded a 3/4 in. dia. ball bearing to a 6 in. length of 3/8 in steel bar
and mounted that in a lathe tool handle.
I cut a disc of 24 ga copper and annealed it by heating it till the oxides
burn off then plunging it into cold water.
with a tiny hole at the center I pinched the disc against the form with
the tailstock live center.
Bringing it up to speed I smeared it with a layer of cutting grease stick.
You can also use ivory soap or beeswax.
With it spinning push the metal against the form with the tip of the tool
. Start at the center and slowly work your way out towards the edge.
The main thing is to apply even, steady, and heavy force. once the metal
stops moving easily, pull it off and re-anneal it. For my 10 inch diameter
cieling medalions I had to anneal each piece about 10 times, but they came
out great. Once you get it to the rough shape you want go ahead and clean
it up on the lathe with a scraper, sandpaper, and scotchbrite. 
The hardest part is rolling over a sharp corner. This takes several passes
and a lot of force and care to keep it from buckling and developing
ripples.
I was amazed that my cheap little craftsman wood lathe could handle this task.
The only spinning experience I had before this was watching a guy at an
ABANA conf. two and a half years ago.
The guy made it look so easy that when the need arose, I had to give it a try.
It worked great and was a lot of fun. I highly recommend it if just for the fun.

Soon I'll have an old 1940's LeBlond lathe to work on . That should be a
real spinner.

-- 
Best of luck

*********************************************************************
                            Ernie Leimkuhler
                   STAGESMITH PRODUCTIONS
                     Custom Metal Fabrication
       ABANA       AWS        SCA        IATSE Local 15/488
                        Renton, Washington, USA
*********************************************************************
" 'Reverse primary thrust, Marvin,' that's what they say to me, 'open airlock number three, Marvin. Marvin, can you pick up that piece of paper?' Can I pick up that piece of paper! Here I am, brain the size of a planet, and they ask me to ...." - Douglas_Adams

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From: "Ian W. Wright" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 21:43:17 +0000

>Jim Waggener wrote:
>> 
>> Can you spin metal on a basic lathe? 

I've only ever done a few spun articles on my Boxford lathe (but all
successful) and have used the methods of other correspondents but I'd
like to share with you my amazement at the spinning skills I saw a few
years ago in a pewter tankard makers workshop. At the time I was the
building surveyor in charge of maintenance of a number of multi-tenanted
old factories and I must admit, the time I took to do my job was out of
all proportion to the time it should have taken because every workshop
had a different fascination. The one I am concerned with here was on the
first floor of an old cutlery factory (ex. Joseph Rogers and now alas
demolished). Here, in two relatively small rooms was a company
employing, I think, three people which made a whole range of pewter
tankards, many of which were for export. In one of the rooms - the
larger and probably about 20ft x 15ft, all the main production was done
of the normal, straight sided tankards which were made of sheet, wrapped
round a former, the joint soldered by holding the job in the hand
against a gas flame and applying the solder, then they were stood on a
spun base on a turntable and soldered on. A cast handle and top ring
were also soldered on and the job was boxed and packed in the same room.
In the adjoining room which was an odd kind of wedge shape and little
bigger than a cupboard was the man who cast the handles by pouring
molten pewter from a heated pot using a hand ladle into a two part
plaster or wood mould held in his other hand. He let the pewter cool a
little and then poured out the excess just at the right time to leave a
standard thickness shell - no timing device, just years of experience
and every one the same weight so as to be strong enough but not to waste
material and so increase the cost! Also in here, tucked in a dark corner
was the spinner. He had an old, flat belt drive spinning lathe - just a
basic headstock and a substantial bar with two vertical pegs fixed onto
the bed. Here was produced magic!! He took a basic open ended cone of
pewter sheet (soldered up next door) and fixed it in a simple wooden
chuck - a wood disk fixed to a backplate with a jam ring over the
outside (can't remember if the ring was wood or iron) Then, totally
unsupported by any other means and using only 2 tools - bent steel rods
with rounded polished ends in long handles - he proceeded to turn this
dull looking cone into a beautiful shiny baluster shaped Georgian
tankard body with a spun over top rim. This took him less than a minute
and, although no measuring was done whilst he worked, you could line
them up on the bench and not be able to see any difference between them.
They then had a spun base with a central glass disk and a fancy handle
soldered on and were snapped up by the high class gift shops. This was
real craftsmanship and I often wonder if he or many of the other highly
skilled but undervalued craftsmen I have come across are still working
their magic.
FWIW

Ian

-- 

Ian W. Wright LBHI
Elected National Council Member and Sheffield Branch Chairman of the British
Horological Institute. 
Bandmaster of the Hathersage Brass Band.
See our homepage at:- http://www.GeoCities.com/Hollywood/6067/index.html

'Music is the filling of regular time intervals with harmonious oscillations.'

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From: [email-masked] (Jim Waggener)
Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 03:07:00 GMT

"Ian W. Wright" <[email-masked]> wrote:

><snipped excellent stuff>

>'Music is the filling of regular time intervals with harmonious oscillations.'

This was a terrific post. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Jim Waggener