Fun project for a saturday night-get a grasp on things
- john elder
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Fun project for a saturday night-get a grasp on things
Not what I would have considered a fun saturday night about 40 years ago, but about par for me now
I was wandering through a flea market a few weeks back and I tripped across a bunch of old billiard balls for 2 bucks each. Some were pretty old and I thought I might get lucky and find that some were ivory, so I snatched up several cue balls and dragged them home. Well, needless to say, there were no ivory balls and a couple of them were plastic that weren't much good. However, several were, from the smell when cut, made from a phenolic resin and they proved to be pretty good material for making handle grasps.
First order of business was to try and lop off some useful pieces from a round cue ball. You have to be really careful doing this on a band saw..if you try to take to much at one time, it will grab and get ugly. So, the trick is to trim off just enough to give a flat surface to sit on the table while you make the next cut at 90 degrees. Once you get it reasonably stable on the saw table, you can then make some rectangles for the lathe.
then the blank is turned down to the size of the grasp you need. Here, I'm putting a grasp on a Meek handle and using a Meek bluegrass handle as a model:
Once the center hole is cut, you can use the bit or a rod to keep the orientation the same as you flip the blank to work the whole thing. Given the losses one takes in making a round ball square, you need to try and hold onto as much blank as you can.
The final grasp needs some fine tuning to make sure it turns free on the shaft and fits snugly, but not too tight. A final polish brings it pretty much to the shine one sees on old grasps. As you can see from the outside of the cue ball, time will result in yellowing and toning down the white shade of the fresh-cut material.
I was wandering through a flea market a few weeks back and I tripped across a bunch of old billiard balls for 2 bucks each. Some were pretty old and I thought I might get lucky and find that some were ivory, so I snatched up several cue balls and dragged them home. Well, needless to say, there were no ivory balls and a couple of them were plastic that weren't much good. However, several were, from the smell when cut, made from a phenolic resin and they proved to be pretty good material for making handle grasps.
First order of business was to try and lop off some useful pieces from a round cue ball. You have to be really careful doing this on a band saw..if you try to take to much at one time, it will grab and get ugly. So, the trick is to trim off just enough to give a flat surface to sit on the table while you make the next cut at 90 degrees. Once you get it reasonably stable on the saw table, you can then make some rectangles for the lathe.
then the blank is turned down to the size of the grasp you need. Here, I'm putting a grasp on a Meek handle and using a Meek bluegrass handle as a model:
Once the center hole is cut, you can use the bit or a rod to keep the orientation the same as you flip the blank to work the whole thing. Given the losses one takes in making a round ball square, you need to try and hold onto as much blank as you can.
The final grasp needs some fine tuning to make sure it turns free on the shaft and fits snugly, but not too tight. A final polish brings it pretty much to the shine one sees on old grasps. As you can see from the outside of the cue ball, time will result in yellowing and toning down the white shade of the fresh-cut material.
- Midway Tommy D
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Re: Fun project for a saturday night-get a grasp on things
Once again, John, your innovation and patience is amazing and your skill is outstanding!
Tom
Tom
Re: Fun project for a saturday night-get a grasp on things
Pretty amazing, John! But be careful!
Re: Fun project for a saturday night-get a grasp on things
Dunno how you do it with those steel gauntlets I hope you're wearing.
- john elder
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Re: Fun project for a saturday night-get a grasp on things
Thanks, Guys! Brian/Steve...have to agree this is not the safest way to retrieve material for a reel handle. Luckily, old One-Thumb did not end up spending saturday night with his buddies at the ER. I have new-found sensitivity about protecting fingers, but had to give this one try.
Note: i see that pressed phenolic linen is available along with Delrin from knifemaker supply places, which would serve as a more convenient source of material similar to that from the cue ball.
Note: i see that pressed phenolic linen is available along with Delrin from knifemaker supply places, which would serve as a more convenient source of material similar to that from the cue ball.
- Jonathan P. Kring
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Re: Fun project for a saturday night-get a grasp on things
Eight ball in the side pocket!
- Wayne B.
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Re: Fun project for a saturday night-get a grasp on things
Elder...what can't you do? I am impressed!
Re: Fun project for a saturday night-get a grasp on things
Maybe I should re-read, but I assume the post the handle is mounted on is threaded. If not, how do you peen it to the crank? Beautiful work.
Bad Bob
PS: First thing I thought of when I saw the billiard ball was "Has Deke lost his mind?" You already answered that. Of course you have. But congrats on a great reel knob replacement, which, as good as it is was not worth the risk!
Bad Bob
PS: First thing I thought of when I saw the billiard ball was "Has Deke lost his mind?" You already answered that. Of course you have. But congrats on a great reel knob replacement, which, as good as it is was not worth the risk!
- john elder
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Re: Fun project for a saturday night-get a grasp on things
Hey, BB, it's a Meek handle, held on with a screw. However, i've made a couple tools and am practicing peening so that sorta thing won't stop things.
As to potential insanity to even do this, it's hard to argue otherwise. However, it wasn't as dangerous as it might appear from the pics. You just have to make the initial cuts small to get a flat side to put on the table before making deeper cuts. If you try to bandsaw a deep cut into a round object, very bad things will happen when the blade grabs it. In any event, there are other old celluloid articles that may be better and safer for the process.
Deke "stubby thumb" Elder
As to potential insanity to even do this, it's hard to argue otherwise. However, it wasn't as dangerous as it might appear from the pics. You just have to make the initial cuts small to get a flat side to put on the table before making deeper cuts. If you try to bandsaw a deep cut into a round object, very bad things will happen when the blade grabs it. In any event, there are other old celluloid articles that may be better and safer for the process.
Deke "stubby thumb" Elder
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Re: Fun project for a saturday night-get a grasp on things
Nice work Mr. Elder! What model Sherline do you have there?
- john elder
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Re: Fun project for a saturday night-get a grasp on things
Thanks, Kevin....it's the flat bed 19 inch model...don't recall the # off top of head, but I can chase. As I recall, they just have the two models...flatbed and upright mill form. ....and more accessories than you can imagine!
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Re: Fun project for a saturday night-get a grasp on things
I make do with a wood lathe, works pretty good and you can get some pretty accurate work done with some care but I really want a small metal lathe for the accuracy and tooling advantages they have. Are you pretty happy with yours? I actually have a Sherline 3 jaw chuck I use on my wood lathe for projects like this.
To get your initial flat side on the round ball you could use a disk or belt sander. It would be a little safer.
To get your initial flat side on the round ball you could use a disk or belt sander. It would be a little safer.
- john elder
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Re: Fun project for a saturday night-get a grasp on things
Er...welll, if you had been around last April, you could better appreciate the irony in that suggestion, Kev
I used a wood lathe for everything for years, but it is of little use for small reel parts. I'm thrilled with my Sherline for the small parts and screws, etc. it has its shortcomings, but very good for most reel parts. I recently purchased a bigger metal lathe (google littlemachineshop.com) with the idea of making some reels...the max diameter on the Sherline is appr 2" without the riser blocks..., but have not started using it yet.
I used a wood lathe for everything for years, but it is of little use for small reel parts. I'm thrilled with my Sherline for the small parts and screws, etc. it has its shortcomings, but very good for most reel parts. I recently purchased a bigger metal lathe (google littlemachineshop.com) with the idea of making some reels...the max diameter on the Sherline is appr 2" without the riser blocks..., but have not started using it yet.
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Re: Fun project for a saturday night-get a grasp on things
Well, you gotta tell me now!
BTW, you can do pretty good work on plastics like this handle on a wood lathe if you are creative. I use metal files instead of turning chisels on plastic and you can even do some work on metal using a horizontally mounted dremel tool with your work chucked in the lathe and spinning. Not ideal, but sometimes you have to do with what you have.
BTW, you can do pretty good work on plastics like this handle on a wood lathe if you are creative. I use metal files instead of turning chisels on plastic and you can even do some work on metal using a horizontally mounted dremel tool with your work chucked in the lathe and spinning. Not ideal, but sometimes you have to do with what you have.
Re: Fun project for a saturday night-get a grasp on things
JE is intimately familiar with belt sanders
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=16800&p=76754#p76754
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=16800&p=76754#p76754
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Re: Fun project for a saturday night-get a grasp on things
That was an unfortunate incident! I still say that the disk or belt sander is a better way to make the small initial flat spot on the cue balls than the band saw. You could even chuck it up in a vice and hit it quickly with an angle grinder. Like John said, once you get a flat spot, the band saw will work great for cutting it up from there.
Don't feel too bad, I once shot .22 sized hole in the end of my index finger sighting in a scope on a .22 caliber air pistol that I had put a stock on. Short barrel on a shouldered pistol and not thinking things through = a bad day! That was pretty stupid.
Don't feel too bad, I once shot .22 sized hole in the end of my index finger sighting in a scope on a .22 caliber air pistol that I had put a stock on. Short barrel on a shouldered pistol and not thinking things through = a bad day! That was pretty stupid.
Re: Fun project for a saturday night-get a grasp on things
Be careful with those old billiard balls! If they're old enough (mid to late 19th century) they could be made of celluloid, a plastic made from nitrocellulose, aka gun cotton. Not the world's most stable compound, it's very flammable and could easily ignite from the heat generated by sawing.
Tom
Tom
Last edited by tholmes on Mon Feb 29, 2016 4:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- john elder
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Re: Fun project for a saturday night-get a grasp on things
Thanks for the heads-up, Tom! I would hope that I don't violate anything that old! That certainly would have taken a lot of fun out of my saturday evening adventure!
Re: Fun project for a saturday night-get a grasp on things
I mis-typed the date in my first post. I've edited it to read 19th century, not 18th.
Tom
Tom
- john elder
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Re: Fun project for a saturday night-get a grasp on things
Ha! I still think i'm safe although i did cut open one that was made from some considerably more "chewy" plastic...no good for the purpose of handles..too many air bubbles, etc. i'll have to do some composition research!