SS 8-ball on a mill- I finally had to try it

[drrags]

I'm sure we've all seen the stainless steel 8-ball by 'my mechanic'. I've watched it a hundred times, and finally decided to give it a try. It was a lot of fun, but mine didn't come out as good as his. Cutting off the stem and trying to match the rest of the profile was tough. It looks good until you rotate it and can see distortion in the reflection, but I'm happy with it. This is the first ball I've ever turned.













Also, the brass pin insert for the bottom of the "8" was slightly beyond interference fit and I fractured it pressing it in.

 

[Boswell]

Well done !

 

[T Bredehoft]

I'd be proud!

 

[CaZMaN]

WOW! I'm motivated to try this. That is some FANTASTIC work. I know you say you don't think it's as good, but from where I'm sitting - it looks just as fantastic or better. What materials / grades did you use? How long did it take? Thanks for sharing.

 

[drrags]

WOW! I'm motivated to try this. That is some FANTASTIC work. I know you say you don't think it's as good, but from where I'm sitting - it looks just as fantastic or better. What materials / grades did you use? How long did it take? Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the kind words!

I had a chunk of stainless in 2" round and brass laying around, and some regular stainless and brass rods. No idea what grades. I'd say steel would work just as well. Here, in Nevada, it really wouldn't rust, but elsewhere, keeping a thin coat of oil would probably keep it shiny. As for how long, lol, 4 days. I got the idea from the referenced video, but actually setting up the angle and all the other little details took some time for me to figure out. Cut the "stem" as thin as you dare, then set the angle of the turntable chuck so the boring bar would almost touch the stem and cross the farthest end of the sphere. Lock the table and don't move it again. If you do, you've probably messed the whole thing up. Turn on the mill and slowly turn the crank on the turntable (dividing head in my case). Every time I did 360º on the turntable, I'd adjust the boring bar inwards a bit. It takes a while. Call it meditation or something.

 

[Winegrower]

Looks good to me. Check it off your bucket list.

 

[jbobb1]

Nice work. Now you need to make the pedestal he made for his. I've made those before and it's a cool piece.