# Ball Turner...



## Ray C (Sep 9, 2013)

I had the day off (burn off vacation time) and in a fit of boredom, made this ball turner.  It's almost done.  Just needs a handle and a couple threaded holes to tighten the tool holder.

Pretty self explanatory...  In the photos, I was checking for rough height to centerline.  I'll probably finish it tomorrow and give it a test run.



Ray


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## Old Iron (Sep 9, 2013)

thats a good way to make one nice job.

Paul


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## Ray C (Sep 9, 2013)

Oops, I forgot to mention that the aluminum block has a 1" dia hole that you can see at the front of the base plate.  It pivots at that pin which is about 1.5" long.  I'll turn the face of that aluminum block down about 1/4" and put a metal disk down on it; otherwise, that butter-metal will get chewed-up in no time.  The main part of the fixture is made of 4150.  If I feel like getting fancy, I'll put a worm gear in there with a crank to rotate the bit holder.

I'll take better pictures tomorrow when it's done.  I was in a hurry to pick-up a couple of the human pack members at the airport.

Ray


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## itsme_Bernie (Sep 9, 2013)

Wow Ray!

What a fantastic idea!  Love it!  I look forward to seeing it "done", since I like it already!


Bernie


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## Ray C (Sep 9, 2013)

I didn't think I was going to make it till tomorrow before giving this thing a test cut.  Yep, as predicted, it works.  Check-out the fancy temporary handle.  BTW, it won't need a fancy worm gear.  I took 15 thou DoC and on that 1045 and it cut like butter.  That was done in about 4 passes.

I'll make a nice handle tomorrow.  Uuuuh, I gotta remember to pick-up a tap on the way home.  While cutting the thread for one of the "piston bolts", the one I had was making creaking noises... -You know what that means...

BTW:  I made that little design up off the top of my head.  It took about 3-4 hours to make with the internal dovetail taking the bulk of the time.  Someone PM'd me and asked for drawings... Sorry, I don't have any but feel free to copy/modify it if you want.  All the tapers are 60[SUP]o[/SUP] and if I were to do anything over, I would probably make the base about an inch longer.  It was all made out of drops and don't know any of the dimensions on it really...  If there's a strong enough call for it, I'll measure it and post a CAD drawing.  This is perfect project for all the guys out there that just make angle plates.  You can do your external tapers on that.






Ray


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## gramps1951 (Sep 10, 2013)

This is one of the less complicated designs I've seen. Great idea!!!

Mike from Canada



Old Iron said:


> thats a good way to make one nice job.
> 
> Paul


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## Ray C (Sep 10, 2013)

This should clarify things... The pivot shaft is welded to the base but is welded edge-wise so the base can sit flat on the base. The weld hasn't been cleaned-up yet or sandblasted.

Only one piston bolt for now -the tap I had was acting-up and didn't want to chance another use out of it.

One other quick note, if you make one of these, cut the dovetail on the base so you can use 1/2" long screws. I arbitrarily cut the dovetail and had to counter-sink the cap screw heads about 1/8" so they could make contact properly.

EDIT:  If you make one, it's critical to weld the toolpost holder stalk so the tip of the bit will be pointing exactly through the pivot-point center-of-rotation.  You'll get ovals or ellipticals (of some variety) if you don't center it properly.  I made this one so it centers with 1/2 tooling with a center point and will make slight ovals if you use a 30[SUP]o[/SUP] left or right facing insert.






Ray




shawn said:


> That is one of the smartest designs I have seen yet. I am not sure I understand how the tool holder is mounted to the base, an exploded view of the parts would be great if you have the time.
> 
> Cheers
> Shawn


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## rdhem2 (Sep 10, 2013)

Thank you Ray C.
We should all recognize this great, simpler idea to a ball turner.
Ray once more proves he is more then just another pretty face in the crowd!


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## Ray C (Sep 10, 2013)

Flattery will get you nowhere   :lmao:.    Huh, pretty face... Nose broken 3 times and my ears have slight signs of hematoma auris... -Teeth are all still there though...

Ray




rdhem2 said:


> Thank you Ray C.
> We should all recognize this great, simpler idea to a ball turner.
> Ray once more proves he is more then just another pretty face in the crowd!


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## Ray C (Sep 10, 2013)

BTW: The dovetail was cut in the base to allow full forward positioning... If you put the bit forward of the pivot-point, it sweeps an arc that will make a "reverse circle". This would be useful for making a finger-grooves on a handle for example or putting a ball-cup on the end of a shaft -which would be useful as a single-point thrust bearing if you put a ball bearing in the cavity.


Ray


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## Ray C (Sep 10, 2013)

My life's philosophy and goal "ultimum utilitatem simpliciorem"  (Latin:  Ultimate utility through simplification).


Ray





gramps1951 said:


> This is one of the less complicated designs I've seen. Great idea!!!
> 
> Mike from Canada


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## NEL957 (Sep 10, 2013)

Ray C said:


> I didn't think I was going to make it till tomorrow before giving this thing a test cut. Yep, as predicted, it works. Check-out the fancy temporary handle. BTW, it won't need a fancy worm gear. I took 15 thou DoC and on that 1045 and it cut like butter. That was done in about 4 passes.
> 
> I'll make a nice handle tomorrow.  Uuuuh, I gotta remember to pick-up a tap on the way home.  While cutting the thread for one of the "piston bolts", the one I had was making creaking noises... -You know what that means...
> 
> ...


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## Ray C (Sep 10, 2013)

OK, maybe this will demystify what was mentioned earlier..

If the tip of the cutter is in front of the pivot point, it makes a concave cut as shown in all the photos.




If you move the tip very far in front of the pivot point, it makes a bigger arc and a bigger groove as shown.  Here I've cut a groove that makes a comfortable finger groove.  





Here's one where the tip was not protruding very far and a cut was made at the end of the shaft.  It makes a concave ball.




To use it, you cut as you normally would but first you set the bit for the desired radius of either concave or convex  then you adjust dept gradually with the crossfeed dial (for sideways cuts like the finger groove) or with the carriage position (for cuts on the face end of a shaft like the small concave ball).  As the piece rotates in the chuck, you just sweep the tool in it's constrained motion.  I still haven't made a handle yet and am just using the crescent wrench for now.

If you want to make a ball, you put the tip behind the pivot point.

Ray


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## jmh8743 (Sep 10, 2013)

Hey Ray,

Great idea. I've had a 6" thick 8" dia piece of stock for years......so man ur a genius.

Now speaking of balls = sphere. Right? I need to cut a 24" radius into matching plates, AL. My mill does not tilt. Guess ill have to make tooling, but, howsudoit?

Been contemplating for several weeks.

Mike
Still in Cullman


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## Ray C (Sep 10, 2013)

So, if I understand your task properly, you want to make to big dishes shaped like giant contact lenses...

Hmmm, I need to think about that... Maybe Bill, George, Tony, Tom + others have some ideas...  But I will think it over.


Ray



jmh8743 said:


> Hey Ray,
> 
> Great idea. I've had a 6" thick 8" dia piece of stock for years......so man ur a genius.
> 
> ...


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## Ray C (Sep 10, 2013)

Guys, don't go buggy over making the base out of aluminum.  Find a piece of cylinder or something and weld a top on it.  Be thrifty and use what's around.

I only used aluminum because I have big chunks of that laying around and it's lightweight.  Wouldn't want to lift a solid block of steel that size...  It does not need to be round -just approximately the right height but not too tall (the tool holder screw can set height precisely).  Weld any old thing together to make a base then mill it flat.


Ray


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## R2.0 (Sep 10, 2013)

Ray, do you have witness marks anywhere on the slide to show r=0"? Even more slick would be a scale- it looks like a 6" rule would fit nicely on there. bonus points for a vernier on the slider - the operator could set the ball radius via direct read.


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## Ray C (Sep 10, 2013)

No... Haven't gotten that sophisticated.  Quite literally, I suddenly took Monday off work, had nothing planned and decided to make this.  I noodled on it for an hour over a cup of coffee and started to make it.  Good ideas though.  If I ever use this for something, I just might scribe some lines like you suggest.

I had a request for a shaft with a ball end once but, the customer was fine with a cylindrical knob with the edges beveled steeply.  I didn't have any immediate plans for this thing...

Ray





R2.0 said:


> Ray, do you have witness marks anywhere on the slide to show r=0"? Even more slick would be a scale- it looks like a 6" rule would fit nicely on there. bonus points for a vernier on the slider - the operator could set the ball radius via direct read.


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## R2.0 (Sep 10, 2013)

I know the gunsmiths on the site would find a use for it - custom bolt handles


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