I bought a few whistle kits from the TWC sale. Is there a way around buying a mandrel set to turn the body. They have a 7mm tube that is about 1 3/8" long.
I have a small CarbaTec lathe.
Steve
I have a small CarbaTec lathe.
Steve
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I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong. Bertrand Russell -
Do you have a Jacobs chuck for your lathe?
If so, you could maybe make do with a bolt and nut.
Do they make a 7mm bolt? Otherwise, you could use 1/4" and some shim material (post-its are my favorite
).
Cut the head off the bolt, and chuck the non-threaded end in the Jacobs chuck. Wrap some shim material around if needed to get a close fit for the brass tube. (For post-its, wrap about 3 times.)
The brass tube should overlap some of the threads so that the work piece will be held tight between the chuck and the nut.
Since this whole thing will be short, you shouldn't need to use your tail stock. But I usually keep mine close when using the the Jacobs chuck to keep the chuck from falling out if it works loose.
Regards,
Tom
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Well, yes you can do this without a mandrel. Recently I have created projects without the mandrel bushings. What you need to do is turn what you need. Sounds a bit crazy huh? Well not really. In your kit you probably have the whistle end and the cap or keychain end. By measuring these you will know your final dimensions. So for the headstock you can insert a piece into the taper that sticks out about 3” and turn it round. Then turn ¼” on the exposed end. Now come behind that another quarter of an inch and turn down to the finish diameter that you want. Next knock out you center in you live center and replicate the taper and size of it behind what you just turned. Part it off the lathe, turn it around and insert into the live center. Repeat the procedure up to the live center part and you now have made a compression mandrel. You can now drill and glue your tube into the stock you are going to use and then insert one end into the headstock piece, bring the tailstock up and insert your tailstock piece into your tube and snug up the tailstock.
At this point you are ready to go.
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