A Few Spheres

[Thomas Heck]

Here are my first attempts at spheres. 251727

[wes murphy]

they look full of roundness. excellent job

[Thom Sturgill]

Look pretty round to me. I've done few eggs, but nothing spherical.

[Jenny Trice]

Those are cool. Did you use a jig?

[Brian Kent]

They look good. very nice.

[Gary Herrmann]

My first spheres definitely looked like they came out of a chicken. Nice job.

[Greg Ketell]

First tries??? WOW!! Good job on getting them round. And very nice, overall.

[Kathy Marshall]

Great job on the spheres Thomas!

[phil harold]

Those are cool. Did you use a jig?
I want to see the jig if you did.
Thanks

[Thomas Heck]

I saw somewhere on the web that someone was using hole saw bits to make them round after they had them close to spherical. So, after making my measurements and turning the best I could toward the center from each side, I cut off the excess wood from turning between centers, and put them between two cups that I turned to hold the wood between tailstock and headstock. After I use a gouges to clean up the best I can, I use the hole saw bits with the teeth ground off to finish making them round. Hope this makes sense. Thanks for the replies. And thanks for the idea if I got it from this forum, can't remember.

[Aric Krueger]

Excellent spheres! My first attempts were, shall we say, “less than acceptable.” :rolleyes: What size are they?


I’m not familiar with the use of hole saw bits for making spheres. How do you use the hole saw bits; how do you present it to the piece? The teeth are ground off, is the edge sharpened in some way? I’m guessing it is a scraping tool. Do you attach it to a handle? It makes sense that it would work. A simple gauge for checking roundness is simply a rigid disk with a perfectly round hole that is smaller than the diameter of the sphere (or a piece of pipe cut squarely); imperfections are easily seen when it is held against the sphere.

Jenny and Phil, if you are interested in a sphere jig, the book ‘ Turning Vintage Toys ’ by Chris Reid has some plans that show how to make one that is inexpensive and not terribly hard to make. Accurate measurements are critical. Parts are easily found at most hardware stores and C clamps are cheap at Harbor Freight. A square 3/8” HSS tool bit can be found online. I made one capable of cutting a sphere up to 5 1/2" in diameter; it looks like this:
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It works OK, but honestly, I find I can make spheres faster using the double cup chuck method similar to what Thomas described. I use a spindle gouge to get approximately round (I leave it slightly oval in length). Put a pencil line in the middle and part it off on both sides. I put it between the cup chucks at 90°to its former rotation and remove the nubs with a gouge. From there, I use a flat scraper and gently work to the pencil line; stopping often to check this. A properly positioned light helps to make the ghost image visible as well. (I rotate it in the chucks to get every surface to the pencil line) then lightly sand.
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Here you can see the cup chucks. The center hole is about ¼ to 1/3 the diameter of the sphere and chamfered about 45°. The headstock cup chuck is held in a scroll chuck, the tailstock cup chuck was hollowed out to fit snugly over the tailstock live center. I use whatever is in my firewood pile to make them. …pine and douglas fir in this case. Hardwoods would work the best, however.
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Lately, I’ve started using the method described by Richard Raffan in one of his books that uses a single, purpose-made wooden cup chuck. This method also facilitates easily drilling a perfectly centered hole (or stepped hole) through the sphere right on the lathe by use of a drill chuck in the tailstock quill if the project requires it. (This is a lot easier and faster than setting up a jig on a drill press.)
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Ball and cup toys and a bilboquet (unfinished/no string) + ball and cup toy (finished)



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[Bernie Weishapl]

Those are just cool. Really well done.

[Thomas Heck]

I didn't actually sharpen the hole saw bits, just ground them smooth. Your right that act as a scraper. I just hold them against the wood with the part that you insert into the drill and move it across and around the wood. It makes fine shavings or dust.