Turning Brass on a Wood Lathe

[dan mosheim]

I had occasion to refresh my brass turning skills on my wood lathe this week. We needed some brass feet for a table with turned legs that we were working on. It was a fun project and I enjoyed teaching my son to do it. If you haven't tried it and have some wood turning experience, you shouldn't have any problem and it could open up some new design possibilities. Details and photos on my dorset custom furniture blog.

[Curt Fuller]

Dan, the only brass I've turned has been the ferrules on tool handles. About all I do is true up the edge and take the tarnish off the rest. But I'm curious, is there a special tool or edge that works better on soft metals? I've only used my ordinary turning tools with their wood cutting edges.

[dan mosheim]

Hi Curt ... If you follow the link below to my blog entry you can see my son turning the brass with a very standard, freshly sharpened, round nose HSS woodturning scraper. You can also see his set up and rest position. You have to sharpen every 10 minutes or so but the edge right off the grinder works fine and it only takes a second to refresh it ... good luck ... dan