# Ball Turning Toolpost



## dennis (Sep 14, 2013)

Since we lost some previous posts I am posting this again.  This ball turning toolpost is Steve Bedair's design.  I originally made it for my Enco 9x20 lathe.  Well, I sold the lathe and bought a Southbend 10K.  I redesigned the mounting fixture of the toolpost to fit my new lathe.  It was a quick, fun project and it seems to work very well.  The aluminum ball in the picture is 3/4" dia.


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## dennis (Sep 26, 2013)

updated the pics for this post


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## aforsman (Sep 26, 2013)

Nice.  Do you have any plans or just pics?


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## dennis (Sep 27, 2013)

aforsman said:


> Nice.  Do you have any plans or just pics?



I originally made the toolpost by following the plans by Steve Bedair to fit my Enco 9x20 lathe.  I sold that lathe and I redesigned the base of the toolpost to fit my Southbend 10k lathe.  I removed the compound slide from the cross slide on my 10k and measured that base, then copied it and fit it to the Ball Turning Toolpost. I do have a simply sketch that I could make into an Autocad drawing if you would like.


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## aforsman (Sep 27, 2013)

> I do have a simply sketch that I could make into an Autocad drawing if you would like.



Yes, that would be nice unless it's a lot of trouble.  Even a hand sketch would be fine - just the basic dimensions, angle of the base, toolholder size, etc.  Also, maybe a couple more pics with the toolholder removed and to show where the handle attaches (hidden in both pics).  I've always wanted to build one of these and this is the simplest design I've seen - something I might actually be able to accomplish in a few evenings.  No hurry - I still have a fairly long list of honeydo's before I start any new projects )


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## SEK_22Hornet (Sep 27, 2013)

Looks really nice - I've wondered about using one of the little 3" or 4" rotary tables fit to the cross slide for turning balls and other curved areas. A person would have to make a mounting plate and a tool holder to fit the little table - the calibrated table would give pretty good control of the arc, I would think.


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## dennis (Sep 28, 2013)

aforsman said:


> Yes, that would be nice unless it's a lot of trouble.  Even a hand sketch would be fine - just the basic dimensions, angle of the base, toolholder size, etc.  Also, maybe a couple more pics with the toolholder removed and to show where the handle attaches (hidden in both pics).  I've always wanted to build one of these and this is the simplest design I've seen - something I might actually be able to accomplish in a few evenings.  No hurry - I still have a fairly long list of honeydo's before I start any new projects )



Give me about a week or so and I will post a drawing and more pics.


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## donthack (Sep 28, 2013)

I've seen a couple of ball turners, that is one of the smoothest!  Looking forward to your post.  Please remember to add the link hear, I'm interested in one for my Logan.  I'm curious about the bearings used.


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## dennis (Oct 7, 2013)

I have 2 more pics of the toolpost. The top part of the toolpost is Steve Bedair's design   http://bedair.org/Ball/ball.html.  In the first pic you can see that the handle is threaded into the toolpost.   The other pics show my design to fit the toolpost to my Southbend 10k lathe.  You may have to change the dimensions to fit your lathe.  Hope this helps.


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## aforsman (Oct 8, 2013)

Very good.  Thanks.  One question, though - is the tool designed to swivel at the joint between the two halves or does it swivel where it mounts to the compound?


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## dennis (Oct 9, 2013)

aforsman said:


> Very good.  Thanks.  One question, though - is the tool designed to swivel at the joint between the two halves or does it swivel where it mounts to the compound?



Yes, the tool swivels at the joint between the two halves. I applied grease between the two halves and tighten the screw only tight enough to allow the swivel movement. Use lock tight on the screw threads and a little grease in the counter sink.


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