advice on creating an item

[marcros]

I would like to make something similar to http://mocosubmit.com/sofia-peppermill- ... for-milan/

Does anybody have any idea how it would be made?

My initial thought would be to make an octagonal shape that would fit to the end of a rounded woodturning blank of the maximum diameter on the item. By setting up some stop blocks for repeatability, i could mill the flats on the router table, and soften the edges slightly with some sandpaper. This would create a radius at the intersection of the round part and the flats, which isnt on the original but I dont have a spokeshave.

Any thoughts?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Turn a cylinder the size of the round end, devise some sort of cradle to hold the blank - if the blank were oversized you could fix through the ends - and take the octagon out with a bandsaw? The ends of the blanks would be sacrificial, and any unevenness would be softened by the cleaning up.

 

[marcros]

that would work. how would you make the transition between facets and round?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

The ends would already be round, just saw the facets in, along and (probably, because of the need to hold the thing) out again. You need means of holding it accurately of course, so the facets could be cleaned up on a bobbin sander if you have one.
(might be all be tosh of course, but it's worth thinking about )

 

[AndyT]

I think this might work.

You need a lathe with an indexing plate.
First, turn two cylinders with the large and small overall diameters.
Make a simple box that fits over the work, and holds down onto the bed of the lathe, or the supporting bench under it. The top of the box is close to the work, parallel with the lathe bed and wide enough to support a router.
In the top of the box, cut a curved slot the same hockey-stick shape as one facet, when seen from above. Use that track to guide a router with a bearing bush and a trimming cutter, to come into the work, along and out.

Lock the piece in position, make the router cut, twist the work round to the next indexed position, repeat.

 

[Jacob]

It'd be much easier to do entirely by hand in the old fashioned way.
Buy the mechanism first and fit it to a suitable pair of blanks - presumably just drilled out on a pillar drill.
Get them lined up and off you go. Pencil marks, plane, chisel, draw knife perhaps, spokeshave etc.
Could be part turned but not essential.
If you tried to drill it out after you've made it it might be difficult to keep lined up accurately, but not impossible.

 

[Brentingby]

that would work. how would you make the transition between facets and round?

Are you asking about the arc-shaped edge where the facet ends? That will form naturally as the facet runs out the side.

With the appropriate straight cutter in a router and a simple jig/pattern, you could make nice facets. Rough cut on bandsaw and clean up with the router.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Cut it with a clean sharp blade and you wouldn't need the router, just sanding. Setting up the router would be more trouble than it was worth, although in the absence of a bandsaw the whole job could be done with a jig and a router.

 

[custard]

What a beautiful design! The transitional areas could be made with a stopped router cut using a wide, straight bit; or possibly a stopped spindle moulder cut if the radius needed to be larger. The tricky bit would be making the indexing carriage to hold the workpiece, once that's made you'd could churn them out easily enough.

Here's a chair I made that has a similar, albeit shallower, detail. The back legs/uprights have a shaped front face, but the shape runs out as it approaches the seat, it's achieved with a stopped spindle moulder cut. Like many of these things the skill is in the jig design and making as much as in the finished piece!

 

[custard]

Alternatively you could make the whole thing by hand, the marking out needs care and it's a slow process, but it's do-able.

Here's the top of an octagonal lamp stand that I made pretty much entirely with a spokeshave.

 

[Racers]

Hand tools, rasp, spokeshave, drawknife, chisel, scraper etc.
If you are only doing one why spend the time making a jig?

Pete

 

[Jacob]

Hand tools, rasp, spokeshave, drawknife, chisel, scraper etc.
If you are only doing one why spend the time making a jig?

Pete

Or if you make a jig don't waste it, make a dozen and sell them.

 

[marcros]

i have 2 to make- a pair- as a wedding gift. There may be others to follow- I like the idea that when the jig is made, the material cost is not too bad to make up a set with a couple of hours work- they make a great gift that looks far more than the pound notes that I have to spend.

I take on board the point about drilling first. using machines, it seems that there are 2 options- router based or bandsaw based. by hand, the critical part is the marking out. decisions decisions...

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Just an aside - I always use three mills, one salt, one white pepper and one black. If you've never tried white pepper in a mill, get hold of some. It's very, very different from the rubbish sold as ground.