Identical parts...

[Brian Greb]

I'm trying to turn some identical 3/4" balls with 1/4" tenons. Is there a simple way to get them identical? I've turned 5 of them and all five are different sizes, I used a pattern to no avail. If there is no simple way is there at least an easy way? I'm trying to avoid going and buying any new contraptions of tools... in other words I don't want to buy a duplicator.
Any help would be appreciated.

[charlie knighton]

you could get a large washer, you can sharpen on grinder, get close to shape then keep rotating ball between cup holder drive and flat reloving center to final shape of large washer

[Sean Hughto]

practice ... ;-)

Seriously though, how different are the balls in size? Very minor differences should not be very noticable in the finished piece, especially if the balls will not be right next to each other for comparison. If you first turn the spindle blanks to a consistent diameter, and use this as the "equator" of the balls, as long as you don't get a catch (causing you to remove more material), you should end up with similar sized balls.

[Brian Greb]

the balls must be the same diameter and height... they are for a bowl stand... Suppose I'll just make a lot of them and use the closest matches. but I'll give that washer trick a shot first.

thanks for the input so far guys.

[Allen Neighbors]

Do a search for Sphere Tutorial, or Turning Spheres.... you'll get some really good ideas for roundness and size consistency.

[Robert Parrish]

It's almost impossible to turn several items to the exact same specifications. I turned 12 finials 1/2" x 3/16" this afternoon and I don't think many are identical. If spaced far enough apart no one will notice, but in your case the height is critical. On small parts I try to adjust using sanding.

[Sean Hughto]

If height is key, use a parting tool at the outset to set the distance from the tenon shoulder to the base of the sphere. And turn the piece in a chuck so that you can work the entire non-tenon end without having to part off and clean up.

[Brian Greb]

So I made a 3/4" beading scraper out of a cheap chisel, and finally managed to get 3 nearly identical spheres. ...and I also have a half a dozen of so tiny drawer pulls.

[Wally Wenzel]

You just answered my question i asked on your other post.
Wally

[Frank Van Atta]

Using a tube gouge should enable you to keep the spheres the same size.

See the tube gouge article at Woodcentral

[Gary Conklin]

Brian

Here is a link I found a while back it is a very simple jig made using a bedan tool. You will need to translate the page.

http://www.atbq.qc.ca/jm2/boules.htm