Questions On Tooling Required.......??

[Crow Horse]

I just purchased a used Sherline 4000 and I'm anxiously awaiting it's arrival. There isn't any tooling other than a rocker tool post so I'll be in the market for cutting tools and related accessories. I also have ordered several books on metal turning so I can more completely educate myself. Until all the goodies arrive I have a couple of questions regarding the tooling.

My goal is to turn brass pendulums similar but not exactly like the one pictured below. What tool will produce grooves with square shoulders? I'm guessing something like a parting tool. If so, then would it be best rear mounted?

I'm intending to start with fairly simple designs and make them more complex as my skill level improves.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

[KevinM]

Welcome to the hobby. Get some high speed cobalt (M42) tool blanks and learn to grind your own tool bits. This is a basic skill that everyone who uses a lathe needs to master. You can grind your own grooving tool or use a parting tool. There is a lot of info on grinding tool bits on this site.

 

[Chewy]

What Kevin said above. That is a very nice pendant. BUT, it is a whole lot more complicated then you think. 3, maybe 4 of the grooves can be done with a parting tool. The one at the bottom has an angle, so you definitely have to grind that into the bit. The outside body is straight, so you will have to turn the first. The same tool can turn the point, using the compound.
The curves on the other end will give you a fit. Two options, one is to Clickspring it. He uses an engraver tool and cuts the curves freehand. Go to his website to see how. And he loves brass!!! The other is to grind (again) a couple of form tools. You rough out the metal and then use the form tools for final curves and smoothing.
I would start by turning aluminum for practice. You can turn a lot of AL for the price of brass today. Also, you need to figure how to hold it and what the order of operations (sequence) are to accomplish this and not mar up the item. and then there is the speeds and feeds.
Don't be put off by what I said. Start looking up what I have said and ask questions about it. This is all basic stuff that you will learn along the way. It is well within the capability of the machine to make stuff like this, you just need to get the experience.

Welcome to the forum. The people here are really knowledgeable and helpful.

 

[C-Bag]

In order to do those radii on the top I would use a radius cutter/ball turner. I would do those first. Then do the grooves. They seem to be cut at different depths getting larger towards the bottom. The bottom groove is not only angled on the end of the cutter it’s also narrower. After them swap ends and do the bottom point last with the compound.

And yes Mikey’s backside parting tool is a must along with radius/ball cutter. Both are great DIY projects. Welcome to the world of making tools to make tools

 

[mikey]

To make that pendulum, I would use a turning tool for the OD, a parting tool for the grooves and a graver for the rest of the features. For me, easy. For you, welcome to the adventure!

 

[Crow Horse]

To make that pendulum, I would use a turning tool for the OD, a parting tool for the grooves and a graver for the rest of the features. For me, easy. For you, welcome to the adventure!

Thank you for all the advice. I appreciate it beyond what words can say.

When I decided to pull the trigger on a lathe I would be going down a rabbit hole but wasn't fully aware of how deep it is. There's so much to learn and I can't let the eagerness to excel overshadow the learning journey. On occasion I have to stop, take a breath and hope that all the new information I'm digesting doesn't exceed my cerebral RAM.

 

[mikey]

My suggestion is to learn to walk before you run. Get some good turning tools made up for you (PM me if you're interested in this and I'll send you to someone) and learn to turn on your lathe. Figure out what feeds and speeds mean, how lead angles work and so on. As Tony said above, a rear mounted parting tool is a must for a Sherline lathe; you can buy one from Sherline and it will suffice until you have a mill and can make a better one. Look up gravers and the associated tool rest on the Sherline website; they will take your creative capabilities to the next level.

Buy what you need, when you need it. Avoid buying stuff because you think you might need it or simply want it; this is how you avoid spending tons of money on stuff that sits.

Take your time, learn, ask questions and move along at your own pace. It will come, and it will come fast.

 

[Crow Horse]

Again, another thank you. I'm fortunate to have my "former" step son to assist me in getting set up and walk me through some things. He's a skilled machinist and works in an industrial machine shop and is the "go to" machinist there. If something needed to be prototyped or a machining procedure needed to be streamlined, he got the call. I don't like to rely on him a great deal as not to be intrusive and I like to scale mountains by myself. If I get into trouble, then I'll call him.

I've been surfing the forum and other sources for information till my eyes are bleeding. I don't even have the lathe yet but I want to be familiar with it's components and what might be missing as well as tooling to fit my current needs. That said, regardless of the level of education I reach in preparation, I recognize that there's no substitute for experience.

Once I receive the lathe, it'll probably take me a week to tear it down and clean it up. Just doing this will be a great learning experience as well as satisfying my tool OCD.

Mikey - A PM will be inbound shortly......