I've been making some ornaments on my Laguna midi lathe for the last couple of weeks. Then I saw Mike Peace post a couple of YouTube videos on making a lantern ornament. He did have some trouble drilling and fitting the hole in the end for the tea light and also cautioned about having a delicate touch in turning the area where the cross holes are.
So after some consideration I decided to use my old Logan metal lathe to make this ornament. The tea lights I bought are just a hair under 1 1/2 inches so I used a 1 3/8 forstner bit to make the long end hole. Then I used a boring bar to bring the first 1/2 inch of the hole where the tea light goes in up to a snug fit diameter. I could make precise light cuts in the cross hole area. Along with several different cutters, files and sandpaper I was able to finish it without any drama issues; no hand turning tools were used. And I think I was able to make it faster than on my wood lathe so a small production run will start tomorrow.
ornament on lathe.jpgornament lit.jpg
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