Lathe jig to make oval dowels?

[Jim Underwood]

Do any of you have a jig to make oval dowels? I don't really want to try a 3 axis turning because the transition from the major to minor diameter is too harsh, and would take a bit of handwork to smooth out.

I'm thinking there's got to be a way to make a lathe jig involving a router with a follower that touches a rotating pattern... Hmmmm of course then you'd need a pattern...

Well. Any ideas? Suggestions?:confused:

[Roger Chandler]

Do any of you have a jig to make oval dowels? I don't really want to try a 3 axis turning because the transition from the major to minor diameter is too harsh, and would take a bit of handwork to smooth out.

I'm thinking there's got to be a way to make a lathe jig involving a router with a follower that touches a rotating pattern... Hmmmm of course then you'd need a pattern...

Well. Any ideas? Suggestions?:confused:

This idea should work, but it will require some moving of the spindle one end at a time. If you start out on center, true up your blank, then move the tailstock center off of center about 1/8", and turn 1/2 of the blank, then reverse the blank and do the other end. You might be able if you prefer to move the center on the tailstock back to center and move the headstock center off 1/8" however I like the reversing better. you can get oval shapes this way, but on a thing as small as a dowel, it might be only slightly oval..........you could try more than 1/8" offset, but do the same for both ends.

[David E Keller]

I'd probably do it the way Roger suggested, unless I had to make a bunch of them. Is there anyway you could make them from rectangular stock using a beading bit on a router table? Two passes should give you an oval dowel that way.

[Michael James]

Borrow a harbor freight lathe. DAMHIKT
mj

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Jim if you have two ovals on the end of your to turn spindle blank (exactly equally positioned) and a platform (like a board) with a groove for the router to sit in and make it possible for the router to move left to right, then at slow speed the "platform" could move back and forth like a cam-follower, (you might need some lubrication or bearings).
The router would then remove more or less wood by moving with the platform back and forth, and there's your oval spindle maker :D

[Jim Underwood]

Well Leo, I was thinking that was about the only real way to do it and get a smooth elliptical oval. Just wondered if anyone already had. Guess I'll have to prototype and build one...

You'd think that someone with a CNC lathe would find this "falling off a log" simple, but the two companies I contacted said they couldn't do it.

[Jim Underwood]

Borrow a harbor freight lathe. DAMHIKT
mj

What? Why would I need a HF lathe?:confused:

Guess I do need to ask how you know this....

[Roger Chandler]

What? Why would I need a HF lathe?:confused:

Guess I do need to ask how you know this....

Jim,

I think he was referring to the fact that perhaps if you got a HF lathe that the centers would already be offset.[think misaligned]..........not the most precise machining :eek:...............

[Jim Underwood]

I had to laugh at that.... I have gotten three replacement tailstocks for my Jet 1642 from Jet, and none of them have gotten the centers lined up.

So the score is 0-4 for lined up centers...

I just got tired of whining about it. Well, maybe not tired of whining.... just discouraged.

[Roger Chandler]

I had to laugh at that.... I have gotten three replacement tailstocks for my Jet 1642 from Jet, and none of them have gotten the centers lined up.

So the score is 0-4 for lined up centers...

I just got tired of whining about it. Well, maybe not tired of whining.... just discouraged.

Jim,

Center alignment is a lot of times the product of a correctly leveled bed [ways] If you will make certain that your bed is dead level end to end and even front to back, likely you won't have any issues...........torque on the ways from a small deviation from dead level can make a center go off by 1/32 or even more.

That being said, there are times that sloppy machining will leave a hump on the ways, but I think it is rare. Sometimes an uneven floor can cause these issues as well, and you have to shim the foot area and get to dead level. Hope this helps!

[Jim Underwood]

The first two tailstocks were off in the vertical dimension, so bed leveling wasn't the issue. The negligable horizontal offset was easily taken care of by leveling the bed. The third tailstock was off in the horizontal so badly, that no matter what I did with the leveling legs, I could NOT get the offset out of it....

That's when I gave up. I supposed I shouldn't have, but I was fighting chucks that were off at the same time, and it just was all too much...

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Jim a CNC certainly could be made to do it, however I can appreciate the hesitance on these peoples part to go machine wood, as it is probably not a material they have any experience with.

But look at ax and hammer handles etc, and you can see that the oval and more complex shapes are being made every day, it is just a question of deciding if the building of something to do a certain job is worthwhile.

If it is for just a couple of pieces, I'd turn them off center and use a drawknife and or rasp/sandpaper to smooth the shape some, but than again it can be fun to build something like this, if time spend is not costing you too much.

[Michael James]

Jim,

I think he was referring to the fact that perhaps if you got a HF lathe that the centers would already be offset.[think misaligned]..........not the most precise machining :eek:...............

That is correct! :)

[Sean Hughto]

I know it's not a lathe answer, but a dowel plate would probably work, if you cut an oval instead of circle.

http://www.lie-nielsen.com/catalog.php?grp=1239

[Jim Underwood]

Well there's a good idea... Of course it might be more difficult to cut that elliptical shape in the steel than it would be to cut the dowel by hand...

[Ralph Lindberg]

Jim
There are oval jigs (see David Springett's video and book, Vicmarc's VOD, etc) But all the ones I am familiar with are for face-plate only work. Since you would have to have an identical jig on the tail-stock, perfectly synchronized to achieve an oval this way