How do I turn a stopper handle without holes in the ends?

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ossaguy

ossaguy

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I bought a combo corkscrew/stopper kit to make one for my brother in-law,and the instructions say to turn a sqare blank between centers.I've never done anything but pens,so I was wondering if that will leave a tiny hole on both ends,and how do you fix that?

Thanks for any tips!

Steve
 
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Steve, I personally use the bottle stopper mandrel from PSI. You could also use a 4 jaw chuck if you have one. I assume it isn't the T bar cork screw but the regular stopper one. If you turn between centers there will be a small hole on both ends. It should be small though depending on the hardness of the wood.
 
You are correct, the drive center which will most likely be the spur drive that came with your lathe will leave a tiny hole and some other marring on it's end, and the live center will leave a tiny hole, and perhapse a ring shaped dent on the other end.

There are a methods of dealing with this issue that do not involve extra equipment like chucks.

Assuming a typical bottle stopper kit, you will need a hole for the threaded insert which will be drilled before turning. as long as the insert piece will cover any marring at that end of the project, you don't need to worry about that unless you get bad enough marring to make a bad looking joing between the insert and the turning.

One approach is you make the starting blank a bit long, and part off the excess material. With care, and light cuts with a gouge or skew you can turn down the end opposite the hole to a very small almost thread like amount of wood supporting the blank that you can then cut off and sand smooth.

You can make a morse taper drive. Get a hanger bolt that matches the threads of your insert. Drill a hole in the end grain of a piece of closed grain hardwood like maple that matches the wood screw end of the hanger bolt, Turn a taper on the oppposite end that matches the taper on your spur drive. Screw in the hanger bolt. Insert this taper in the head and use it to drive the drilled blank.

If you have a Jacobs chuck for drilling on the lathe, you can use a regular bolt with the head cut off in the Jacobs chuck as a drive center.

With both of these screw drive approaches, you would use the live center for support until the very end when cleaning up the opposite end.
 
Start with a longer piece of stock, turn between centers, then cut off the ends where the holes are, or mount the turned piece in a collet chuck and round of the ends.
 
Thanks for the tips.Yes,this is the tee-style type.The only chuck I have is the PSI collet chuck.I'll have to practice with the parting tool,as that's all new to me.I'll have to try all these things.Hope it turns out!

Steve
 
ossaguy said:
Thanks for the tips.Yes,this is the tee-style type.The only chuck I have is the PSI collet chuck.I'll have to practice with the parting tool,as that's all new to me.I'll have to try all these things.Hope it turns out!

Steve
Click to expand...

Ah, this is helpful info. I am guessing that this is not the style of T-handle that is two piece with tubes and end caps, and is instead a one piece style that fits through a metal piece.

For this, you would definately use a longer piece of wood and turn it so that you get a nice fit through the metal piece.

Then using the parting method, you would start at the tailstock end. Using either a parting tool to form a fillet or a skew / spindle gouge form a vee with a diameter around 1/4 inch. Refine the shape of the handle from the fitting portion to the fillet/vee. Repeat this process at the headstock end. Now you need to be much more careful as you have very little structural support. Start working down the diameters of the fillet / vee and refining the profiles of the tips of the handles. Take very light cuts, and if you are very comfortable with spindle work, lightly curl your fingers around the turning for support. You will eventually get to the point where you should sever the handle from the ends with a knife or coping saw. Clean up the tips with a knife and sandpaper. If you try to part all the way through, you run the risk of pulling fibers out of the tip and leaveing you with a dimple that is not really fixable.
 
Forgive me if this sounds like a dumb question..but does that mean I finish the piece off the lathe,like a wooden box? Any tips on what finish I should use? I have English polish,and I have some Behlens.Having done only pens,I can't remember when I haven't done a CA finish.
Would that spray on Deft be a good choice?

Thanks again,
Steve
 
turn your piece between centers and finish. Then use your faceplate(all lathes come with one) and screw waste block(A) on to it,turn it round with flat surface. Then glue waste block (B)on waste block(A) turn round then hollow out waste block (B) to fit your piece into, friction fit,turn and finish one end then the other. Done.
 
for bottle stoppers i drill the hole first then tap it. then mount it on the lathe. but on the end with the tailstock put a little piece of wood between your blank and the live center the stop the end from having a dent.
 
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