Help! My sister has asked me to try to duplicate some missing stair spindles. They are turned with a section that has a “rope” patern. (4 spiral cuts up the length) I know there must be someone out there that can either tell me how this is done or point me in the right direction for the information. To make it even more interesting, the rope section has a slight taper and not all of the spindles are the same length.
Thanks in advance for any assistance.
Dan
Replies
Sears once sold a jig for a router that would do some of that kind of thing. However I don't know if you could set it to do exactly the same thing as what you need to do.
I have done some to match missing parts from previous runs by carving, or rather grinding the rope spiral freehand. It is not as hard as you might think if you only need a few.
Thanks,
I thought that might be the way to go. How did you lay out the spiral? I'm thinking of building a jig that would harness the blank and the existing spindle side by side so both would turn simultaneously. Then a two headed marker would be used to travel up the existing spindle transferring the lay out to the blank.
The lay-out method would depend on the speed of the spiral. I would try to find something thin and flexible enough to wrap around while keeping a straight edge on the side and hit the measured length of 1 revolution. This may be something like a thin strip of veneer or poster board etc. Tape it to one end, then wrap it around until it hits the target point on the other end. Tape that down, and trace the edge.Maker sure your sister knows that this is normally a very expensive procedure, and that you expect compensation, like I do for my sister. I get to put my feet under her table every Sunday. She is a great cook.
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