Rounding Blanks

[GregMuller]

I have started to round my blanks on a 1x42 belt sander prior to turning. Does anyone else do this and is there a reason why I should not. I have done it on everything from wood to PSI acrylics.

 

[mrcook4570]

For me, the fastest way is to use the long point of my skew to round the blanks. Then I flip the skew over and turn to final dimensions.

 

[Gary Max]

Greg it ain't going to hurt the blank any----I know a turner that uses a router to round his off first. Just watch your finger tips on the sander. Hurts like heck when you nick a finger tip.

 

[Mac In Oak Ridge]

" For me, the fastest way is to use the long point of my skew to round the blanks."

Stan,
I am trying to picture what you discribe and the picture isn't comming through the fog.

Please elaborate.
Mac

 

[Dario]

If it works for you then fine.

For me, that is a step I won't put my time or energy on...seems unnecessary.

 

[Ron Mc]

Greg,
I round off all my segmented blanks to make sure that there are no corners or edges present when I put on the lathe.

 

[JimGo]

I find that for some of the more brittle materials like Lucite, rounding the corners can make things a lot easier. I have a 6" face plate that came with my lathe, and I attach some adhesive-backed sand paper to it and use that for some of the more precarious blanks.

 

[wood-of-1kind]

I at times use my roundover bit on my Porter Cable router to remove the blanks' edges. Using a fixture to hold the small blanks keeps my fingers at a safe distance from the sharp router bits.

-Peter-

 

[GBusardo]

I'll cut the corners on my bandsaw if the wood is especially hard. Only takes a second and it seems to save me a little time.

 

[clewless]

Could that be 4 seconds?[][][][)]

 

[gerryr]

I do only on glue-ups and PR blanks.

 

[Johnathan]

It's going to end up on the lathe anyway, if it's a regular easy turning wood, I would pass the sanding step, just takes more time than needed.

 

[vick]

I once read something that made a lot of sense to me, but unfortunately I can not remember the source.
"You should always try to use the right tool for a job. The right tool for making a square piece of wood round is a lathe."

It is from memory so I apoligize if I messed it up, but it struck me as very true. I do round resin on my belt sander before turning just because it takes me so much longer to turn resin. I can also see people making very valid cases for rounding segmented, laminated or cross cut blanks. I use a 3/4 roughing gouge to round my blanks at a fairly high speed for almost all my wood pens.

 

[Rudy Vey]

Acrylics and segmented pen blanks I round over with the disk/belt sander.

 

[terrymiller]

I've never rounded anything over and only had 1 pen explode to date. I've used all types of materials also.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Originally posted by Johnathan
<br />It's going to end up on the lathe anyway, if it's a regular easy turning wood, I would pass the sanding step, just takes more time than needed.

A big 'yeppers' and 'me too' on what he said. That's what a lathe is for. Exception might be a big hunk of stump for a bowl. Best to saw as close to round as possible before putting on lathe. But a pen blank, high speed, sharp tools, light touch. Go for it.

 

[mrcook4570]

Originally posted by Mac In Oak Ridge
<br />" For me, the fastest way is to use the long point of my skew to round the blanks."

Stan,
I am trying to picture what you discribe and the picture isn't comming through the fog.

Please elaborate.
Mac

With the blank spinning on the lathe, I lay the skew on the tool rest and slide it so the long point enters the blank. It will (very quickly) eat through the blank. After it is round, I use the skew in a normal manner to finish turning the blank. This has really helped my efficiency. I first read about this on the web somewhere, but I can't remember where.

 

[Ron in Drums PA]

I plane the blank with a skew between centers. Like Johnathon and Frank said "that is what a lathe is for"