The "Toot your own horn" thread

G

gixxer

Joined
Sep 21, 2006
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I am so proud of myself. I turned down my first skullcrusher on my drill press. It just looks so badass I had to toot my own horn. Now all I have to do is get it mounted!! This pic does no justice to how polished it is.

Before, after.
Skullcrusher.jpg
 
Cool. Did you just use a file to remove all of that stock or did you rig up a lathe cutter or something somehow?

-d
 
Dang that's neat! You have a reason to toot your own horn there. I, too, am curious as to the process you used to accomplish this. Thanks. -Matt-
 
B Finnigan said:
That turned out great. I remember many projects that I used my drill press as a lathe. It works but each time you wish you had a lathe.
Click to expand...
So true Mr B. If I had a lathe I wouldve been done in half the time. But, the experience did not suck at all. I did use the drill press set on its highest setting, like 2200 or 3000, dont remember. I chucked the pommel blank on a piece of allthread. The blank should not come off since the rotation tightens the piece. Used a double cut file for stock removal (need to get a single cut file, double cut makes ridges. Try it and you will see. Then work the way up from 220 grit to 1500, then used black and then white buffing compound on my dremel with a felt buff while the piece was spinning. All in all, took an hour and a half. In hindsight, I shouldve gotten the longer blank. That one is 1/2x3/4. Over 1" would be sick.
 
Sounds like a lot of work, but well worth the effort. I would have never thought to use the drill press as a lathe. Of course, I am not aware of the full capability of many of the tools I own. -Matt-
 
Very cool! Always a blast to do those.

Another way to do that is to chuck up the workpiece in your electric hand drill, turn your grinder on and hold the spinning piece up to the belt. It's been called a "poor man's lathe".
 
Another way you could have done it is to chuck up your piece in your hand drill and hold it running against your running grinder.
It might go faster and you can change grits instead of polishing out file marks.
 
I turned a couple of mild steel dome nuts into cool ooking bullet shaped pommel nuts but screwing them onto allthread and just spinning them aound against the slack portion of the belt on the KMG after grinding off the "facets"on the platen. I finsished up by putting it in a hand drill and using sandpaper:D
 
i have used my high speed buffer with a drill chuck attached to the shaft to turn down firing pins years ago before my friend bougt a lathe. it works much better than a drill press since the piece is horizontal instead of vertical. combine this with a dremel and you can make all kinds of things. i have also made ivory rings this way which were a big hit with the women who seen them. when i get some ivory, i'll make some and post the picks.
 
grease-man said:
Sounds like a lot of work, but well worth the effort. I would have never thought to use the drill press as a lathe. Of course, I am not aware of the full capability of many of the tools I own. -Matt-
Click to expand...
It was not that much work. Actually quite easy. All you need is patience to make sure you get all the scratches out before moving up in grit (like we havent heard THAT statement before...:rolleyes: ).
 
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