ball cutter

[Holescreek]

Holescreek was that ball made with ball turner that does concave and convex?Looking good----kroll

Yep, used my "Holescreek" ball turner! :shush:

 

[m.batz2]

That's a great looking ball turner Holescreek, did you come up with the design on your own or did you find some plans online? I have been wanting to make one for some time, just haven't gotten around to it yet.

 

[Kroll]

That is one AWESOME ball turning tool,professionally done.If plans were available,it would still be beyond my skill level but maybe in afew yrs.Holescreek was it hard to make,whats the largest ball it will make?I guess it could be adapted to SB's,clausings??? My mind is going crazy
---- kroll :nuts:

 

[Holescreek]

Sorry, don't want to jack the thread. Plans are free on the net, just Google "holescreek ball turner". Here: http://lepton.com/metal/ball_turner.html Someone I've never met is hosting the drawings for me and I get nothing out of it other than the enjoyment of seeing them made by others and the improvements that they come up with. I've never even finished the one I made for myself because it works for what I need. It will turn a 2 1/8" ball if I remember correctly. Many have made them to fit other lathes just by changing the base mount and adjusting the cutter heights. I made mine out of scrap laying around the shop. I needed a tool to make a replacement handle for a Cataract lathe I was restoring at the time. The handle on the left is mine, an original is on the right.



Ball turners are mostly the same, you are just going to rotate the off-set tool about an axis. As long as you can direct the cutting force down to the lathe bed it's a neat (and safe) tool. The only changes I added was to rotate the cutter on top of a tapered bearing and add the ability to adjust the cutter while it is in use. Basic cutter designs require you to stop the lathe, loosen the screws holding the cutter and move the bit itself which makes it hard to size the radius and many won't do concave cuts well. Keeping the height from the pivot to the cutter short also adds rigidity.

 

[Kroll]

Sorry Nightowl,these type of post are so interesting exspecially when you see a ball turning tool such as Holescreek.
Thanks for posting the link Holescreek,that will be put on my list of things that I want to make.At this time I don't have the skills,tooling,machines to make at this time.Thanks Nightowl,and holescreek---kroll

 

[thomas s]

This is going on my list of things to make. .thanks for posting

 

[jtwade]

Dang, I should not have read this thread, now I have another project to add to the list I may never get too.......

 

[SE18]

Well, Holes Creek BT is just awesome so I'm afraid now to post my meager little ball turner effort, but I will!

I would have finished it this weekend but my mill would not mill out the trench i need for my 3/8" HSS tool. I took a file to it and the file wouldn't bite and just slide on it. You can see it in the photos here. The top two pieces I welded and they are not hard b/c I drilled thru one of them and as soon as the bit hit the center part it broke.

I cranked the speed down on the mill and the drill bit, getting the fpm and rpm off of Machinery's handbook.

The steel in question is a piece of cross section to a railroad rail. I tried to get the composition of the rail and I believe it is high carbon steel.

The steel took a file OK, but the piece I made was shaped using my 14" grinder. It really heated up the metal until it was glowing. And add to that the welds also heated it up, so I suspect that although the section of rail took a file, the heat must have hardened it. I was working in my garage where it was below freezing.

So I'm thinking I have 3 options, reheat the piece and stick it in an oven for a few hours to anneal it.

option 2 is to just find different metal and re-do it

option 3 is to try and grind a trough for the bit

I hope this isn't too long for someone to read!

 

[Holescreek]

The steel took a file OK, but the piece I made was shaped using my 14" grinder. It really heated up the metal until it was glowing. And add to that the welds also heated it up, so I suspect that although the section of rail took a file, the heat must have hardened it. I was working in my garage where it was below freezing.

I recently read an article or thread somewhere about using railroad track metal for making small anvils. IIRC the track starts out soft(ish) but severely work hardens as the trains roll over it. In order to anneal it to workability the individual said he fired up his wood stove and got it burning really hot then tossed the rail section in and let the stove run until it burned itself out and the rail had cooled. If I had to guess at a procedure for annealing I'd say get it red hot and hold it there for 15 minutes for each cubic inch of steel then let it slow cool, buried in sand. I'm lucky in that there is a metal recycling yard about 15 miles away that sells used mild steel for .45 cents/lb and tool steel for .55 cents/lb. and te local machine shops sell all their drops to the yard. You may want to consider switching to some material that doesn't work harden so easily.

 

[melsdad]

I will be adding this attachment to my list of tools to make.

sent from my hand held hickymajig