SteveG
Member
I recently bought two Damascus Steel rods from Roy, one of which was in "Rough" form: A 12 inch by about 1.25 inch rod of Damascus that had been made from motorcycle chains, and had the look of a twisted rope. I realized that my little 7 X 16 metal lathe was not the "perfect" tool to attack this rod, but wanted to give it a try anyhow. After mounting this rather large rod on my lathe, I thought I heard the sound of a rumbling chuckle just coming out of nowhere. I glanced around the shop, saw no one, and went back to work. With the rod turning at a moderate speed, I tried every cutting tool that I had. That chuckle heard earlier, now was an outright laugh...loud and getting louder. To cut this long story short, that big chunk of twisted, very hard, Damascus steel was roaring with laughter at every valiant but futile attempt by this tiny lathe to make any headway. When I was seeking suggestions in a thread I had previously posted, Nikitas (Brian) offered to do the rough turning. Figuring I had abused my lathe enough, I took Brian up on his offer. He did a great job, at a fair price, and I now have a smoothly turned rod which I CAN turn. This was a difficult turning task, done well, and I thought it worthy of a "Cheer". Brian offers some carbide insert turning tools, and a nice selection of TBC bushings at his site:
TBC Bushings Nikitas Woodworks - Main
As I learned, he is ready to take on challenging metal turning jobs as well. If I find more Damascus in the rough form, I will be going back. Thanks Brian!
TBC Bushings Nikitas Woodworks - Main
As I learned, he is ready to take on challenging metal turning jobs as well. If I find more Damascus in the rough form, I will be going back. Thanks Brian!