I have some wooden banister rods, the ends of which I want to grind down to a half sphere. Is there an attachment for a power drill which will give me a half sphere? What is this tool called and where can I find one? I was considering putting them on a lathe, but they are 10 feet long. I don't want to take them off, as this is work, but maybe this might be another solution. Any suggestions, or better yet, links to pics or videos on how best to do this?
Look for rounding dowel ends. Here's one.
--Vic
Great idea, I never would have thought of it, but it's perfect. Hope the OP tries it and lets us know how it works out for him.
Deodiaus wrote the following:
Without the proper tools. Files and sandpaper.
It is. I only looked because I wondered how to do it perfectly. Most of the big rounded stuff I've seen was done on a lathe, then the stub gets cut off and it's sanded down. I've used a different method for rounding edges. The possible problem with using the router is expense if you don't have the bits and router. If the OP's bannisters are 3" he'd need a 1 1/2" rounding bit. Don't even know if they make them. I'm not quite clear what his purpose is with these, but if there's room I'd go after them with a belt sander. That's what I use to round edges. Making it almost perfectly round would take patience and a light touch. You could use a rasp, then smoother files and sandpaper to do the same thing, just takes longer. Check this out
--Vic
Wonder if the $76.95 includes shipping???
great, but my banisters are not round, rather egg shaped, and the flat end is on the bottom so that it is attached to the railing.
The easiest way I see to get this done would be to build an end piece which I would use to mount on a drill. I was thinking of finding an old coke bottle, cutting it in the center, and putting a roofing nail in the short end. Then pouring concrete into it, and stuffing in a old tennis ball until it sets. Then put this on a drill and using it as a circular file.
What I really want is a "concave router" bit? Is that the name? Basically, something that looks like an cave with teeth. I am sure that some Dutch craftman must have a dozen of them if I know where to look. Basically, something to attach to the end of my drill so that I can round off the ends of the banister. My banister cross section is an ellipse, about 1 inch high and 2 inches long.
A "round-over bit" bit will cut a quarter-round profile (two passes gets a half-cylinder).
There are bits intended for this, but you're nuts if you think you're going to do this with a drill.
There are all sorts of router and shaper bits around to do this sort of thing, but again, forget the drill. It's not going to work and you're likely to hurt yourself.
I agree that working with a round-over bit is asking for trouble. In a hardware store, I saw a drill grinder attachment which had a concave hole, and was thinking that this might do the trick. I was thinking of installing this on a lathe if that's what it takes.
BTW, how did they use to get a nice head > On Sun, 25 Sep 2011 11:54:10 -0700 (PDT),Deodiaus wro=
te:
Skilled woodturner with a skew chisel who did nothing but turn bats all day.
More likely a robot programed to turn bats.
All you want to do is round off the end(s)? What you want is called a "rasp". A 4-in-hand - aka "shoemaker's rasp" - will work nicely. Especially if you use a hammer and chisel to get to rough shape.
Deodiaus posted for all of us...
I have only read to this point so... Try a plug cutter with the appropriate inside diameter.
Yea, if you define a CNC lathe as a robot - rough turning 90 seconds.
If "How It's Made" or"How Do they Do That" runs on one of your cable TV channels, check the episodes for "baseball bat". One has the making of the Louisville Slugger and another covers making aluminum bats.
The wooden bat has the handle end held in place on the lathe by a point tailstock
John
snipped-for-privacy@jecarter.us wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
just a FYI,the alloy used in AL bats is aluminum-scandium.
Huh? This guy (gone Batty) seems to have more than one way to kill a bat:
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