Carbide Barrel Trimmers

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Get a the cheapest metal lathe you can buy. You get a straight shank dead center from Johnny CNC and mount that in the drive side, a live center in the tail. Now you just use the cross slide with a cutter to make your blank perfectly round and straight across. You can now chuck the round blank and use the cross slide with a parting bit to square the ends. It sounds like a lot of work, but then turning one blank at a time between centers sounds like a lot of work when you never did it that way before. Since I started using my metal lathe to center and straighten a blank and then square the ends, I've eliminated all the issues with barrel trimmers as well as several bonus features. I do this with tubed blanks, but with a non tubed blank, lets say something like one of my blanks, or a segmented blank, your center may be off center, especially a segmented blank the center could run on an angle across the blank. Well, when you can spot the centers on each end and spin the wobbly blank even and then drill it on the lathe, square the ends, everything. I spin my blanks on a wood lathe because it's a free open space with just a little tool rest for the chisel, but I do all my prep work on the metal lathe for accuracy. Just one of my TIn carbide parting cutters outlasts dozens of regular barrel trimmers and I bet it out lasts at least a couple of the carbide barrel trimmers too. Eventually if the cutter does get dull or break, I just pull it out with the needlenose, drop a new one in, takes 10 seconds, costs $4.
 
workinforwood said:
Get a the cheapest metal lathe you can buy. You get a straight shank dead center from Johnny CNC and mount that in the drive side, a live center in the tail. Now you just use the cross slide with a cutter to make your blank perfectly round and straight across. You can now chuck the round blank and use the cross slide with a parting bit to square the ends. It sounds like a lot of work, but then turning one blank at a time between centers sounds like a lot of work when you never did it that way before. Since I started using my metal lathe to center and straighten a blank and then square the ends, I've eliminated all the issues with barrel trimmers as well as several bonus features. I do this with tubed blanks, but with a non tubed blank, lets say something like one of my blanks, or a segmented blank, your center may be off center, especially a segmented blank the center could run on an angle across the blank. Well, when you can spot the centers on each end and spin the wobbly blank even and then drill it on the lathe, square the ends, everything. I spin my blanks on a wood lathe because it's a free open space with just a little tool rest for the chisel, but I do all my prep work on the metal lathe for accuracy. Just one of my TIn carbide parting cutters outlasts dozens of regular barrel trimmers and I bet it out lasts at least a couple of the carbide barrel trimmers too. Eventually if the cutter does get dull or break, I just pull it out with the needlenose, drop a new one in, takes 10 seconds, costs $4.
Click to expand...

I don't have room for me to turn around in my shop let alone another tool:frown:. I will stick with the carbide trimmers they have served me well.
 
jttheclockman said:
workinforwood said:
Get a the cheapest metal lathe you can buy. You get a straight shank dead center from Johnny CNC and mount that in the drive side, a live center in the tail. Now you just use the cross slide with a cutter to make your blank perfectly round and straight across. You can now chuck the round blank and use the cross slide with a parting bit to square the ends. It sounds like a lot of work, but then turning one blank at a time between centers sounds like a lot of work when you never did it that way before. Since I started using my metal lathe to center and straighten a blank and then square the ends, I've eliminated all the issues with barrel trimmers as well as several bonus features. I do this with tubed blanks, but with a non tubed blank, lets say something like one of my blanks, or a segmented blank, your center may be off center, especially a segmented blank the center could run on an angle across the blank. Well, when you can spot the centers on each end and spin the wobbly blank even and then drill it on the lathe, square the ends, everything. I spin my blanks on a wood lathe because it's a free open space with just a little tool rest for the chisel, but I do all my prep work on the metal lathe for accuracy. Just one of my TIn carbide parting cutters outlasts dozens of regular barrel trimmers and I bet it out lasts at least a couple of the carbide barrel trimmers too. Eventually if the cutter does get dull or break, I just pull it out with the needlenose, drop a new one in, takes 10 seconds, costs $4.
Click to expand...

I don't have room for me to turn around in my shop let alone another tool:frown:. I will stick with the carbide trimmers they have served me well.
Click to expand...

No need for a metal lathe even.

Get a collet chuck if you don't already have one.

1)Put a rod in the collet that matches the tube ID and slide the tube on. Bring the Tailstock up and turn the blank round. Now you have a blank that it true to the tube.
2) mount the blank in the collet chuck an use a skew to trim the ends. I usually make the ends slightly concave so when I press the fitting in it seats on the material and not the brass.
3) flip the blank in the chuck and repeat.

There you go, a trued blank without too much grief and using no more tools than most of us already have.
 
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