Turn between centers..... to where?

[MatthewZS]

So to those of you who don't use bushings.... or I guess even those that do....... and who use a CA finish..... do you turn RIGHT TO the bushing or a TEENY TINY TATER TOTS bit more to compensate for your ca finish? Or is even the thickest of CA finishes not enough to throw that measurement off?

 

[penfancy]

I still use a mandrel for most pens. But when I turn between centers I go just barely below the bushings and rebuild with CA.

 

[el_d]

Just a teeny tiny tater tot smaller and build up.

 

[soligen]

I turn smaller by 3 - 5 thousanths, build up bigger, then take it back down to the size I want. I use a micrometer and go for 1 - 2 thousanths over the size of the mated part. Before I started doing this I regularly got sand through.

 

[PenMan1]

10 thousandths takes a LOT of CA to build back up! DAMHIKT.

 

[its_virgil]

...but not when you use a mandrel? What is the difference? It should work the same either way. What did I miss?
Do a good turn daily!
Don

I still use a mandrel for most pens. But when I turn between centers I go just barely below the bushings and rebuild with CA.

 

[soligen]

10 thousandths takes a LOT of CA to build back up! DAMHIKT.

Yes - especially with thin and a paper towel. Not so bad with Medium using a plastic bag applicator. I've successfully built up .03 using medium, plastic bag, generous squirts and accelerator - but that was obviously an exception and the large ridges had to be turned off (I used a woodchuck) before final sanding/pilishing. At this point it finishes a lot like an acrylic blank.

My current preference is to turn .003 small, build to .002 over and end up .001 over, leaving me with a .004 film build. BUT.... I'm not that good, so rarely hit this. Much less frustrating for me to build it thicker than to have to re-do it.

 

[rherrell]

It's ALWAYS better to go a bit oversize than under. I turn to about .010" over and sand down to the exact diameter of the hardware. After I add my CA finish it's just a tad over, but like I said, under is a no no. I don't want to feel the edge of the hardware when I slide my finger over the pen.:wink:

 

[Texatdurango]

So to those of you who don't use bushings.... or I guess even those that do....... and who use a CA finish..... do you turn RIGHT TO the bushing or a TEENY TINY TATER TOTS bit more to compensate for your ca finish? Or is even the thickest of CA finishes not enough to throw that measurement off?

I use a slightly different approach than most. If you visit the home page and look on the right side, you will see a tutorial on turning between centers. If you look on page 14, you will see .551" on the caliper, this is the diameter of the blank after final sanding, just before applying the CA.

Page 18 shows the blank after applying the CA, note the diameter on the caliper!

I like applying a thick coat of CA then turning it down and on page 20 you will see me smoothing the CA back down to the final thickness to mate with the kit parts. Some say using a skew to smooth CA is nuts but to those I have demonstrated this to agree that it is a nice way to get a super smooth finish with no ridges or ripples.

If memory serves the final diameter of the blank was .560" so in this case the blank was cut down .009" under, built up with CA to .002" over then finished to match kit, so that's .011" of CA.

Just another way! :wink:

 

[JasonM]

I don't have inspiration to add here. i just want to commend you for the term "teeny tiny tator tots bit". =)~

 

[wb7whi]

Am I missing something here. The instructions I got when I ordered the bushings is to remove the bushings and turn between the dead center and live center for finishing. Works just fine.

 

[TBCbushings]

I like Tater Tots!!!!

 

[Texatdurango]

Am I missing something here. The instructions I got when I ordered the bushings is to remove the bushings and turn between the dead center and live center for finishing. Works just fine.

I don't think we're missing anything, that's what I do also. CA hasn't touched my bushings in a long time! Without bushings, the CA has a tendancy to roll over the edges and coat the ends of the blank too. I like that!

 

[RDH79]

Am I missing something here. The instructions I got when I ordered the bushings is to remove the bushings and turn between the dead center and live center for finishing. Works just fine.

I don't think we're missing anything, that's what I do also. CA hasn't touched my bushings in a long time! Without bushings, the CA has a tendancy to roll over the edges and coat the ends of the blank too. I like that!

Same here too. The CA on the ends helps keep water from soaking in to the ends and getting under the CA finish when I wet sand with micromesh.

 

[MatthewZS]

I don't have inspiration to add here. i just want to commend you for the term "teeny tiny tator tots bit". =)~

Yeah, it's a technical term

Thanks

 

[Smitty37]

New Term

All that sounds like what we used to say "Build to print, file to fit and paint to cover."

 

[shawnmhill]

Is that equivalent to a gnats behind?