OK, I’ve thought and thought about this and I’m stumped. I’m building a backgammon board with walnut burl, walnut, maple and wenge. My game pieces needed to be 1 1/4″ diameter, so I turned two dowels of that size, one of wenge and one of (hard) maple. I then sliced them, 3/8″ thick, with the band saw and sanded the flat surfaces smooth with the belt sander. This produced sharp edges that I would like rounded, top and bottom. I have a router table but the pieces seem very small to be putting near a screaming roundover bit. Kind of like I need a 1/16th to 3/32nd inch roundover bit on a Dremel, but still I can’t envision how to actually do the job. I have 30 pieces to do so a jig would be worth my time, but still………. Maybe I should have notched the dowel before I sliced them and then sanded them smooth after slicing, (hindsight 20-20). The belt sander with a 45 degree slanted table would be cumbersome to turn the piece evenly, so I’ve discounted that as well. Any suggestions would be most appreciated by this self made woodworker and I promise to post pictures of this when I’m done.
Thanks, Ron.
Replies
Ron,
Since I'm lazy by nature I'd probably round the edges by hand against a belt sander of some kind. But if you really want the results to be perfect, and I respect that, try this...
Use your router table with that screaming roundover bit. Make a zero-tolerance fence in the shape of a 90 deg. corner, so that the round piece will not move left or right when working, but it can escape if anything goes wrong. Stick each piece to be routed to the end of a rod using double-sided sticky tape so you can keep your fingers away. The kind that 3-M sells should be strong enough for this job. If you want to be elegant, make an opening in the fence for a vacuum hose to keep the corner chip-free. Make sure the surfaces of the work area are very smooth - like HP laminate with a bit of wax. Good luck,
DR
That sounds very interesting. I think I can see this. Now, I have to do my daytime job that supports my woodworking habit and then cuss everyone in rush hour traffic that is keeping me from my "fix". Hopefully, I can try this this evening. Thanks
I'm curious to hear if it works for your project.
Don't kid yourself about the cussing part. My "regular" job is woodworking, and I cuss the clients who don't understand a thing, and even more the architects who are so sure they do... It seems like an integral part of whatever we do for a living.
DR
Ring, it worked fantastic. Attached is a picture of my simple jig of two pieces of MDF taped to my table router plate and another piece of tape to create a "slick" side to spin against. I used my recently purchased $5 woodcraft 1/2" bull nose bit that "chamfered" both sides at once. (I'm lazy also) When the pieces are stacked in the racks I made, they really look slick. Thanks so much for your help, and all the other suggestions from others as well. Maybe some day I will be better with the lathe and be able to do the fancy tricks everyone else was talking about.
Until next time, keep making little pieces out of big pieces.
Ron.
Ron, I'm glad it worked and you have your fingers intact as well. Kidding aside, the exchange on this forum is valuable for everyone. I've been woodworking all my life, yet there isn't a day in the shop that I don't wonder about how to do something better.
DR
Do everything on the lathe and cut off the part you want with a thin parting tool. You can bevel or round off the piece easily and you won't have to use a saw.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
My lovely wife bought me a "chinese" lathe that, AT BEST, can turn a dowel, much less do fancy work with a parting tool. Until I get a real machine, I have to do with what I have. Thanks for the tip though, I might try it next time, as I'm sure someone (family) will want me to build them a backgammon board also.
That is not even close to fancy work, if it will spin the wood, you can cut beads then part off each one. I've done that on a foot powered home built lathe.
Ron,
I did a similar thing a bit ago...I used the lathe and made a jig to jam fit the pieces in a scrap mounted in a jaw chuck to do all of the sanding. It worked great for the one side, but a piece of double sided tape was necessary for the other side. To actually make my pieces, I used a plug cutter on my drill press. All of the pieces were exactly the same diameter and they had face grain on the top and bottom.
Hope this helps...
kevin
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