Hello,
Just built the wedgie sled yesterday. I mainly want to use it for the hot air balloons I want to turn on the lathe. I did woodworking for a long time and now after a hiatus I’m getting back into it.
I’m using the plans from Wood magazine, issue 43. In the past, back in the 90’s, I made a lot of these balloons on the lathe but always had difficulty cutting the six 30 degree segments.
So the sled, it’s design is clever and elegant but since I only need six segments (I plan on turning balloons with more than six) I can’t figure out how to set the sled for the proper angle. I tried a 60 degree plastic protractor but when I do a “test” on scrap with a pencil instead of the blade the angle isn’t 30 degrees.
Any idea what I’m doing wrong?
Many thanks to ya’ll that offer help.
Jack in Atlanta.
Replies
When making segmented rings we start with 360 degrees and divide by te number of segments we want. For a 6 segment ring it would be 360 divided by 6 = 60 degrees total, each side of the segment should have a 30 degree angle for a combined 60.
For eight, it's the same, 360 divide by 8 = 45 combined, 22.5 on each end of the segment.
Depending on the size of the balloons, you can also make them in stave orientation for a different look.
I hope that helps
Jack, can you post a photo of your setup? There are a lot of different sled designs out there.
That's beautiful! How did you do that?
Thanks, here's two shots. I think I realized my mistake, I didn't make the routed slots long enough.
[img]https://i.imgur.com/F1v2peB.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/jaLtBpK.jpg[/img]
Glad you got it figured out.
The balloon is actually very easy. The pictures are easy to follow
They’re not that easy for me to follow. Do you have a video? Or any other way to show how they were cut?
I started with a board approximately 36" long, set the bevel on my tablesaw and ripped them. Then cut to length. The photos are just an example of a 16 stave construction. You can make it any way you want.
Thanks Ed, being new to this I wish you had a video of this. How did you get the thin strips in the balloon? Anyway, I appreciate your help.
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