Looking for turning profile templates for sale
bradleyheathhays
| Posted in General Discussion on
Are there any woodworking supply companies that sell profile templates for turned pieces? I’ve done small turnings without much problem and now I’m about to attempt larger projects. I’m afraid if I don’t have something to go by I’ll just keep turning the thing further and further looking for ‘the right’ shape until I’ve gone too far and have nothing left.
Thanks
Replies
Find a design you like, either online or in real life, and make your own templates. I like using 1/4" MDF for templates. You'll have a lot more variety that way than anything you could buy. I've been turning for over 30 years, and have never seen profile templates like you want.
Good advice from bobshep. An alternative is to turn something you like and make a template to fit it. Place the original on a white-painted pc of 1/4" mdf or hardboard like masonite in the noon sun to trace the profile. Sneak up on a tight fit to your original and save them together if you may need to reproduce them in the future.
A scan of the template can be scaled in software to view variations for larger/smaller projects. The scaled versions can be spray-glued to more hardboard to make new template variaions.