First custom centerbands

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DMGill

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Joined
Jul 14, 2011
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Location
Midlothian, Texas
Decided to start playing aroound with making my own centerbands.

The segmented pen is holly and ebony
The middle is mesquite w/turquoise AR
The top is Chinese tallow with a grain matched centerband.

All are finished with 5-10 coats (I lose count) of CA/BLO topped with several coats of Crystal Coat friction polish.

Thanks for looking.
 

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Very cool!

So when you do the center bands, are you turning them separately or gluing them to the blanks? I haven't done that yet and after seeing these I want to try!
 
Thanks!

I turn them seperately so they "float". I used a drill bit that the kit bands fit on (can't remember the size right now) so they fit snug over the transmission and I didn't have to but a brass tube in them.
 
Great job Donna!!:biggrin::cool:
When I was still turning slim's, I'd cut the top blank 1/4" short...glue on a contrasting chunk, set it in a vise overnight, drill and turn like normal. This way you can make a slim wider with out the "waist" effect.
 
I'm glad someone else does this too. The drill bit size is 1/4 inch. If you don't have the right drill bit, drill it out at 7mm, then glue some tube in. What I'll do with plastics is turn it separately between bullet bushings, then re-mount it between Slimline bushings and polish with MicroMesh, allowing me to slightly round the edges off, making for a cleaner looking fit.
 
Drstrangefart said:
I'm glad someone else does this too. The drill bit size is 1/4 inch. If you don't have the right drill bit, drill it out at 7mm, then glue some tube in. What I'll do with plastics is turn it separately between bullet bushings, then re-mount it between Slimline bushings and polish with MicroMesh, allowing me to slightly round the edges off, making for a cleaner looking fit.
Click to expand...

If it makes you feel better I will ONLY turn a slim if I modify it! The center band is one of the most comon areas I rework.
 
Rick P said:
Drstrangefart said:
I'm glad someone else does this too. The drill bit size is 1/4 inch. If you don't have the right drill bit, drill it out at 7mm, then glue some tube in. What I'll do with plastics is turn it separately between bullet bushings, then re-mount it between Slimline bushings and polish with MicroMesh, allowing me to slightly round the edges off, making for a cleaner looking fit.
Click to expand...

If it makes you feel better I will ONLY turn a slim if I modify it! The center band is one of the most comon areas I rework.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I hadn't seen many other people posting modified Slims in a while. All I do right now is Slims for cost reasons. So, you can imagine I've been modifying them every way I can.
 
Thanks for the nice comments!

I use 1/4" nylon spacers for sanding my wood pens to prevent "dirty ends". Since the spacers are nearly slimline size they let me shape the edges of the centerbands. It works for me.

I had my 3 yr old grandson helping me do the tallow pen. So, I forgot to drill the band smaller, had to redo the finish twice, then dropped it taking it off the lathe which put a nice dent in it that had to be sanded out (refinish #3)! It's an accomplishment that it turned out at all!

Lesson learned: Don't experiment while babysitting!
 
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