Replies

1. 
   philip | Jul 10, 2005 05:05am | #1

   Q: round partswithout a lathe?
   A: with difficulty.
   Come on Ken , what round parts are you talking about?

2. 
   MichaelPB | Jul 10, 2005 07:24am | #2

   There are a number of ways to rig up a lathe, many people use a drill press and put a bearing for a live center on the table, someone even sells a commercial setup for this.

   If you want to do long stuff, you could always doing it by hand with a plane and sandpaper, the router method works great and if you have room for the legs...?

1. 
   dukeone | Jul 10, 2005 08:29am | #4

   Michael: That sounds interesting, dropping the table on my drill press and useing it to turn legs etc. What do you use for a tool rest? What might be the practical length limit for such a set-up?

   Thanks, KDMKenneth Duke Masters
   The Bill of Rights
   December 15 1791
   NRA Endowment Member
   LEAA Life Member
   CRPA Member

1. 
   mike4244 | Jul 10, 2005 09:44pm | #6

   Forget the drill press for table legs,won't work. The easiest way without a lathe is to fasten two right angle blocks on your bench.The work piece is held with a lag screw at each end thru the blocks. Hand plane each corner, turn the work and plane until you are fairly round. Cut a 1/4 arc in a scraper or any piece of sheet metal that will hold an edge for awhile.Scrape the work to the final dimension.A push plate from steel or brass will work, brass is soft but will still work. HD or lowes carries push plates in the door hardware section. You could cut it from a regular card scraper too.

   Also , I never tried this, it may be possible to cut a round leg with a router. The router would have to travel on a jig, the work would be turned by hand with a crank between centers like the handplane idea. The router advances on the jig as the work is slowly turned.I have not tried this, seems to me it would work.

   mike

2. 
   MichaelPB | Jul 11, 2005 03:37am | #7

   The limiting factor on using the drill as a lathe is locating your resting bar for tools.  That works best for making tool handles and such.

   I think the router setup is the easiest to do for an occasional setup for doing legs.  Nail something together out of plywood and break it down when you are done.

   You can do them by hand, I mean people carve gunstocks by hand and they are a bit more complicated.

3. 
   jako17 | Jul 10, 2005 08:19am | #3

   A.   Simple

   Build yourself a rounding plane to the size`you want, drawknife your billet to octagonal section and use the plane

   
   

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   Edited 7/10/2005 1:20 am ET by jako

4. 
   Gnome | Jul 10, 2005 02:14pm | #5

   Poor man's publications sells plans for all kinds of things. They have a plan for cutting round stock on a table saw.

5. 
   SawdustSteve | Jul 11, 2005 03:39am | #8

   Duke-one... If you are talking about a piece aproximately the size of a pen, that is one thing. If you are turning a billard cue stick or a chair leg, that is something else. At one time Penn State sold a device... a thin mandrel with two end disks of equal size. You put the wood over the mandrel and 'turned' the whole assembly over a (3/4"??) router bit sticking up through a router table. By rotating the unit AND raising the router bit you could turn the wood into a cylindrical form. I guess you could also do decorative work by using a series of router bits with different end profiles.

   SawdustSteve...

1. 
   philip | Jul 11, 2005 05:23am | #9

   Hi Steve,
   Glad to see your response- I asked what type of turnings he is talking about ,but he has not answered.
   As far as I am concerned there are all kinds of "round Things"-why does he not tell us what he has in mind-if anything in particular?
   Mine was not a rhetorical question- in addition to those you mention therecan be Bulbous turnings, spindle turnings, faceplate,knobs, buttons ,rosettes etc.

1. 
   dukeone | Jul 12, 2005 05:11am | #11

   Philip: I was thinking of table or chair legs or possibly smaller parts for trim or ? Just a beginner curious about many facets of woodworking, I do not have an immediate need for any particular item. It seems from what the other replies have stated that hand tools and time can do the job. Scrapers, spokeshaves and then sandpaper? KDMKenneth Duke Masters
   The Bill of Rights
   December 15 1791
   NRA Endowment Member
   LEAA Life Member
   CRPA Member

1. 
   philip | Jul 12, 2005 05:35am | #12

   Hi Ken,
   For items like table legs-to arrive at a circular cross section sans a lathe-implies the use of hand tools as used in days of yore.
   So we have the draw knife which believe me is fast and quite accurate. Then we have rasps and files, then scrapers which may be ground to suitable half round convex, and then there is abrasive paper which also can be used with shaped backing. Carving chisels like shallow gouges and slicks can also join the list.No doubt I have omitted some tools, but those mentioned will produce an ornate shape.
   If one wants just a straight or tapered cylindrical item then there are ways that set up a router-not too much fun and limiting unles you go high tech-then one may as well get a lathe i.e the right tool for the job.
   So you are correct-hand tools and time can do the job-but not really fun unless you bent that way.
   There was a feature in FW in the distant past on an old boy who specialised in doing "turnings" mit out a lathe-maybe someone will dig it out.

2. 
   xxxxx | Jul 12, 2005 06:47am | #13

   A style of leg I have used for a variety of stools, chairs, and small tables has the illusion of being turned but is done entirely on the tablesaw and router.

   Starting with square stock sized to the largest 'diameter' (1 1/4" to 2" usually) of the leg and cut to the finished length of the leg,including tenon; taper the leg to 1" square on both ends from the point of the large diameter which is usually 6 to 12' from the bottom, depending on the length of the leg and your personal tastes.   The tapering is done on the tablesaw using a tapering jig.   Sorry, you must make and use a jig for this part, preferably with hold-downs.   This operation can get pretty scarey.

   You should now have a blank with a long taper for the top of the leg and a short taper at the bottom.  Both ends should be 1" square.

   Using a 1/2" radius round-over bit in the table router, I prefer to use a fence rather then depending on the bearing, round over the four long corners of the leg.   You can either start at one end and rout past the large diameter or start before the large diameter and rout to the end.   Because the piece is tapered eight ways, it's a good idea to 'read' the grain to try to limit tearout.

   You should now have a nearly finished leg, some sanding to clean it up.shape the bottom, and cut a tenon on top.  

   Stringers or rungs can be made the same way,using smaller diameters and putting the large 'diameter' in the center.

   Hope I've made this clear enough.  It isn't intended to be a PLAN, but, rather a SEED to get somebody started.   If any one needs more specific info, don't hesitate to ask.

   I've used this method for small production runs and most people can't tell they aren't turned.

   Paul

6. 
   frenchy | Jul 12, 2005 04:34am | #10

   duke-one,

    drill press?

    I've made some that way usually just knobs and such but once made a nice finial for a clock..

7. 
   Ricks503 | Jul 12, 2005 06:29pm | #14

   Try looking on ebay for a craftsman router crafter - they run anywhere from $60 - $120.  I think there is an english company that makes them now - I know craftsman stopped makingthem a few years ago.  I had used my brother in laws one 15 - 20 years ago and works well. and if you take the time you can make some pretty nifty legs.

   1 - measure the board twice, 2 - cut it once, 3 - measure the space where it is supposed to go        4 - get a new board and go back to step 1
1. 
   dukeone | Jul 12, 2005 07:52pm | #15

   Thanks, all; I'll give some of the hand tools methods a try as soon as the opportunity arises. KDM

   Kenneth Duke MastersThe Bill of Rights December 15 1791NRA Endowment MemberLEAA Life MemberCRPA Member

   Edited 7/12/2005 6:10 pm ET by duke-one

8. 
   WillGeorge | Jul 13, 2005 10:25pm | #16

   How do I make round parts w/o a lathe? ..

   I use a skateboard and use it as a wheel?

9. 
   Steinmetz | Jul 13, 2005 11:04pm | #17

   Duke,

   Recently made two (Different) ornate gavels for two of my grandson's teachers. Did not use a lathe. Made a jig and 'turned' them on a router table.

   Very simply done. The square blanks were cut to size in thickness and length
   (Both heads and handles) The 'Sled Lathe' was three pieces of 3/4 ply with two brads arranged as centers.

   By sliding along the table's groove, and indexing the blank a few degrees at a time about the center's axii,it resulted in plain cylndrical heads and handles.

   The next method was used to turn various sized coves/vee joints/beads:
   in the heads and handles.
   With the sled clamped, so the jig could not travel along the x/y axis,

   I rotated the blank by hand and fed it into the rotating router bit to create the design on one end.
   By swapping positions end to end, without repositioning the sled,
   a complimenting design was repeated on the other end .

   The striking surfaces (for the desk) were 1/4" polished brass 4x4" plates inlaid into the walnut base.

   The two teachers were thrilled to get them, after only two days.

   Had to polish and lacquer the brass .Steinmetz.

   
   

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   Edited 7/13/2005 4:11 pm ET by steinmetz