Advice on how you would cast and turn this

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spitfire

spitfire

Member
Joined
Dec 22, 2007
Messages
417
Location
bloomsburg,pa.
I want to make little disc to use as trophies for disc golf. A guy in a disc golf club I am in asked me to make some, which I have been wanting to do anyways. Here is the general idea of what I want to do. Make a round disc maybe 3-4" in diameter. I could just make a mold and pour them and use the bandsaw to cutout the circles but how would I polish them like I do pens?

I would also be like to mount them to the lathe so I can give them some profile. I don't want to have any holes in the middle of them where I mounted them to the lathe.

I was thinking maybe use 3-4" PVC for my molds then mount between centers to create a recess for my chuck to hold onto, turn the back of the disc to final shape and finish it while also adding a recess to remount to the lathe. Then I could turn it around and turn off the first recess and finish the front. My biggest problem with that is I would be wasting resin that way.

I'm sure this is confusing, here is a picture of what I would like to make.
5779-ultimate-large.jpg

5779-disc-golf-large.jpg
 
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I'm a novice turner, but I'll take a stab at it.

See if you can find some soft jaws for your chuck. These are usually
nylon jaws that allow you to cut your own profile and to whatever size
you like. Turn a profile that's just a little smaller than the discs you want.

Change out the soft jaws and put them aside. Install jaws that will
hold a dovetail by expanding.

If you make the disc thicker than you want the final product to be, you'll
have room enough to turn a foot on one side that you can use to mount
it on your chuck.. just like you would on a bowl. Cut a dovetail into the
foot.

Mount it by expanding the chuck into the inside of the foot and turn the
other side to the dimensions you want. Also cut the edge profile and start
turning the back side as much as you can. Sand and finish the front side
and sand onto the back side as much as possible.

Install your soft jaws to hold the edges of the disc. The soft jaws should
hold without marking up the disc. Cut off the foot and sand/finish. You
don't want the chisel getting too close to the jaws, that's why you start
cutting/sanding the back side (which is now the front side) before you
turn it around.

Don't know if this helped or not. Chances are a real turner will pop in with
the real answer. Then I'll come back and say "Yeah. That's what I meant"
 
Well,

You take a faceplate or make a faceplate that is held by your scroll chuck, turn the piece to the diameter of this "disc" or slightly smaller, use carpet tape (2 sided) and mount your wood. Turn with scrapers as much as possible (put pressure INTO the faceplate, so the wood doesn't want to fly off.)

You will use the same procedure if you make pillboxes (from kits)
 
For larger turnings people use vacuum chucks, you could fairly easily make one for this intended purpose. Or, use double-sided turning tape (Woodcraft), which is very very strong.
 
I second the vacuum chuck. I made one from corian around 3 inch in size and used the beall tap to get it to screw on my lathe headstock. This is how I make 3" disks for tealights candles.
 
What kind of cost am I looking at for vacuum chuck? I'm not sure if I want to get into that with this being something I might only do once. I'm sure a vacuum chuck would be handy to have either way just not in the budget at the moment. If I were to turn these on a weekly basis I would go with that but right now I am looking for a cheaper option.
 
I've turned hundreds of desk magnifier tops (lid, cap) with carpet tape.

About $5 buys the roll I get every fourth year or so.
 
Two-sided tape. Spend a little more than the cheapest, it will hold better.

When you turn it, IF YOU CAN, hold the piece with your tailstock for a while, only push the tailstock away when you MUST reach the center. Then use your scraper in the center, it will hold quite well. I get 3-4 turnings out of one piece of tape. You will need a putty knife to remove the turning so you don't break it (assuming it is very thin).
 
Note about carpet tape. the secret to breaking it's hold is to twist the part to break the hold, not prying it apart. It still takes quite a bit of force but twisting gives sooner than prying.
 
I purchased my wobble pump from William Noble. I also got my muffler, filter and gauge from him for around $120 shipped. http://www.wbnoble.com/index.html

I then bought a Holdfast vacuum adapter for around $60 shipped.
http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/s...t_Vacuum_Adapter___holdfast_chuck_adapt?Args=

Then a trip to home depot and/or lowes to get the fittings to get everything hooked up. Overall I think I have around $200 in my vacuum setup for my Nova 1624.


Here is a good article on vacuum chucking.
http://www.woodturners.org/tech_tips/vacuum_chuck/vacuum-chucks.pdf


The Beall spindle taps are great for creating all sorts of chucks, but so far I have only used mine to make vacuum chucks.

Hope that helps and maybe helps others.

spitfire said:
What kind of cost am I looking at for vacuum chuck? I'm not sure if I want to get into that with this being something I might only do once. I'm sure a vacuum chuck would be handy to have either way just not in the budget at the moment. If I were to turn these on a weekly basis I would go with that but right now I am looking for a cheaper option.
Click to expand...
 
Go to micheals or Hobby lobby and get a silicone casting kit. Wax that sample you have there. Make up some silicone and press the sample halfway into the mold. Let the mold set. Mix up more silicone. Put that silicone over the mold that has the already made piece in it and let that set up. Pull the two pieces apart. Remove the sample. Use a really sharp knife and cut a channel in one of the faces about 1/2" deep. Put the two halves together and tape them shut. Pour the resin down the chanel into the mold and let the resin set..in the pressure pot of course. Then untape and pull mold apart. Trim the edges off the casting with a real sharp knife. Mount the casting on the lathe with double stick tape and sand and polish just the edge from the two mold halves. The majority of the disc will already be perfect and polished too. You have zero waste except for that tiny ring from the mold where the resin seeps a super thin line between the two molds and the spot where you poured it in. You can polish it by hand and not even bother with the lathe at all...nobody will know. That's the least wasteful way.
 
Jason I have a roll of 2 sided tape that I'm willing to give you, it's not carpet tape but if you check with newlondon88, I believe he has a roll, maybe he can tell you if it will work or not. You can't bet the price free.

Jack
 
jack barnes said:
Jason I have a roll of 2 sided tape that I'm willing to give you, it's not carpet tape but if you check with newlondon88, I believe he has a roll, maybe he can tell you if it will work or not. You can't bet the price free.

Jack
Click to expand...

It'll definitely work. I've bought double sided tape meant for turning, and
this stuff is definitely better. Good hold.. and it's what .. 3" wide?

In fact, If you've got more... :biggrin:
 
Ok so here is the result. I used a scrap piece of wood which I hollowed out so the disc would just fit in it. The I used Jack's AMAZING tape and took my sweet old time. I made the recess in the back, and turned it around and put it on my chuck and expanded the jaws into the recess. Worked pretty good. The down fall is it is had to get a good flawless finish on the back because of the recess.

silverorangemini1.jpg

silverorangemini2.jpg

silverorangemini3.jpg
 
spitfire said:
The down fall is it is had to get a good flawless finish on the back because of the recess.
Click to expand...

Looks great!
Yeah.. you need to finish the back before turning it around to do the front.
Hard to remember when you've got more to cut.. and the jaws will still leave
a mark.
That tape is great, isn't it?
 
I actually did finish the back first. It was hard to get it perfect because of the lip on the recess.

That tape is amazing. As soon as I got it I played with it and it held a bowl blank from my ceiling in my workshop! Best tape I have ever used.
 
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