MetalworkingFun Forum

I just finished this radius turner for my SB lathe tonight.





Shawn

Nicely done Shawn. One of those has been on my project list for years, along with numerous other items.

Ed

Hi Shawn,
That was very nicely made.
You didn't by any chance take any pics as you made it. It would make a great project thread.

DaveH

Thanks guys, I do have a few photo's that I took while building it, I will put them together tonight and upload them here. This was actually the second rendition of the turner, the first version was alright but induced more chatter than I thought it should. I re-worked it and deepened the recess and shoulder that connects the two main parts of the body together. I just secured the parts together last night with a cap head screw and some red loctite, will try it out tonight and see if I managed to make any improvements.

Shawn

It looks pretty beefy to me Shawn, I'd be surprised if chatter will be an issue. That long handle will definitely help with surface finish on larger radii.

You may want to consider adding some angled clearance cuts on each side of the pylon for work clearance. It'll allow you to swing around farther than without them. A radius cutter with a couple of improvements is one of the items on my project tutorial list. I was thinking maybe a worm drive for a crank or cordless drill and a calibrated feed screw on the tool.

Thank for sharing the pics, but you know we'll demand video of it in action, now that you've set the standard.

Tom

Nice work. Looks like its in ball turner mode right now. The cutter needs to be past the pivot point to be a radius turner, but you prob knew that. Would like to see some pics too...Bob

I got to test out the new modified ball turner tonight, it seems to work alright. I did learn that the handle being so long was what was causing the chatter, i think the weight of my hand was enough to induce chatter? As soon as i choked up on the handle it went away? Ill keep thinking about and testing that theory though. Here's a short video showing a couple of light cuts. Two hand is almost a must to keep the feed smooth, with one hand filming im a little jerky





Shawn

The feed looked good from here, nice video.

DaveH