Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

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Brilliant! I had posted my efforts of turning a rolling pin into a sander last year on a thread that got lost in the great hack, but I never took it the next stage and hooked it up to a drill.

Thanks, Is that a metal body reso in you Avatar?

Nope, it's the original mould for a Selmer-Maccaferri.

Hi Chris, thanks for posting those videos here too. I remember having seen them earlier but never made it to turn such a wooden drum till now.

I see there are some slots routed in the aluminium plates. How did you machine the aluminium parts? Can one use tools for woodworking, including the router (-bits)?.
Well, you said that you first made the "turning machine" out of MDF. But your aluminium machine looks really slick!

Amazing how the router spins the drum! It seems that you need that flywheel to make it work (?)

I cut the slot with the tablesaw and a carbide toothed blade. Aluminum and brass will cut pretty nice with carbide blades. I'd wear a face shield and take it slower then wood. Use caution for sure. They make blades especially for non ferris metals as well as steel also. The more teeth the better. I wouldn't try a router for something over sheetmetal. You need a mill for that and a good vise or well clamped. I have a mini mill from Harbor Freight that usually gets me by for my small projects. You will also have to deburr the cut edges or they will cut like a knife. I have a deburr tool but mostly just take it to the belt sander where I usually round the corners and make sure it doesn't have any sharp corners burrs . I once worked in a production machine shop where they said if you wouldn't run you tongue over it then it wasn't debrurred good enough. I always try and remove any sharp corners or edges even on wood jigs. I figure it's more then likely going to be around guitars and I don't want a sharp or pointed corner to accidently scratch or ding a instrument.
I left the wheel off on the last batch as I can just spin the rod to get things going. I use an aluminun plate called jig plate when I can for the jigs. It is very flat and machines well.

Thanks for making your tutorials available to us again Chris, seems we lost a few of them along with some other good stuff when the forum was trashed late last year. I am sure that quite a few people find your tips very useful.

Cheers

Kim

Thanks Chris. So for me the router is definitively out for working with aluminium. Maybe I'll set up my old multi use drill press - mill - lathe which sits forgotten in a box somewhere - if I can find bits that will work for aluminium. And of course I'll get some carbide tipped blades for my bandsaw.

I agree with Kim: your videos are priceless, full of good ideas and you explain things extremely well. Very useful.

You can get metal bandsaw blades but they usually run at a slower speed then wood. If you have a slow speed on you bandsaw use it and the metal cutting blade. You can have Lenox size it to your machine. I don't know if I would want to use a $100 carbide toothed bandsaw blade for cutting aluminum. A 7 1/4"diablo on the table saw is much cheaper.

Thanks again Chris. I misread your last post. Tablesaw! Now I understand better.

Thanks Chris,

Mine Just arrived , Had to have a go , I have a Cutaway that was just waiting for the Rolling Pin sanders arival.

As we say DownUnder It's a Bloddy Ball tearer mate.( Translated ) what a brilliant bit of gear , did the whole thing in 5 minutes . best $ 75 I ever spent .

I used to hate sanding the Waist .

Thanks Again ,

Paul.

I'm glad it worked out for you. Yeah, it is pretty agressive but quick.

ozwood wrote:
As we say DownUnder It's a Bloddy Ball tearer mate.( Translated ) what a brilliant bit of gear , did the whole thing in 5 minutes . best $ 75 I ever spent .

Alternative translation....if you accidentally dropped this tool down your pants it definitely WOULD be a ball tearer