Questions for the stopper turners

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Herb G

Herb G

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Instead of buying a stopper mandrel, can I just chuck up a 3/8" X 16" bolt in the jaws of my chuck & use it to turn a stopper?
Is there a reason not to do so?

Thanks for any help.
 
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Herb G said:
Instead of buying a stopper mandrel, can I just chuck up a 3/8" X 16" bolt in the jaws of my chuck & use it to turn a stopper?
Is there a reason not to do so?

Thanks for any help.
Click to expand...

You can...the special mandrel doubles as a bushing for sizing as well but not needed if you keep your calipers handy.
350352354
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhUbygHZCSk

You'll have to forgive the shameless self promotion, but I just did a youtube video on the subject. A bolt will work just fine.

Here's a link to stopper I turned using the shop made setup:

http://www.penturners.org/forum/f13/retirement-gift-set-140859/

I found there was a little vibration in the faceplate set up, but not enough to worry about on a bottle stopper ( a pen would be a different story). The bolt in the collet chuck though had no wobble.
 
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Herb G said:
Instead of buying a stopper mandrel, can I just chuck up a 3/8" X 16" bolt in the jaws of my chuck & use it to turn a stopper?
Is there a reason not to do so?

Thanks for any help.
Click to expand...

Run out

For the small cost of the Ruth Niles Morse Taper mandrel, that I also use for such things as Christmas ornaments, having to compensate for the extra run out is not worth it.

We each need to make these choices.

If you want to spend the time fiddling and tuning a mandrel, that is a good learning experience in getting precision from tooling. Easier if you have access to machinist tooling and gear.
 
I used to use the bolt and nut / bushing. It worked ok but I switched over to the Ruth Niles Morse Taper. Much better, higher quality and safer than what I was using.
 
I use the bolt and plate made for turning stoppers. Blank gets threaded on the rod, but I found out the hard way that it pays to retap the hole after turning the stopper. Made a beautiful one out of Black Palm, and it cracked when I threaded the metal stopper into the wood.
 
Bottle stopper mandrels are like many other woodturning accessories - they aren't truly needed, they are just convenient.

Yes, you can use a 3/8x16 bolt held in a chuck as a mandrel. Or you can make your own mandrel using a bolt and a scrap of wood.
 
Fist, I use and recommend the Niles stopper mandrel. I have the PSI screw on mandrel as well as one for the mini stoppers which needs to be mounted in a drill chuck or collet chuck. All work well and do what they are designed to do.

You can of course make your own from a bolt as mentioned and attach to the lathe with a drill chuck or collet chuck.

The one thing which I haven't seen mentioned yet is that your bolt mandrel should include a shoulder for the bottle stopper to screw up against when tightened....the same as any of the purchased BS mandrels and also the same as your jaw chuck which screws onto the spindle. They all need to register up against the shoulder on the spindle to run true. A chuck will wobble if not seated fully against the shoulder on the spindle.
A bottle stopper blank needs that support as well. It gives stability to your blank while turning and can be your sizing guide as well.
It will be square with the stopper when assembled.

Just take a scrap of hardwood, acrylic, Corian, or anything hard, drill to slide onto the bolt. Figure your length to have the correct amount of bolt threads exposed and epoxy this sleeve in place. Then with the bolt mounted, turn the sleeve to desired diameter and square the face(end in which the bottle stopper blank will contact when screwed on).
This should give you the best results when you turn your stoppers.

Good Luck!
 
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I can turn a lot of nuts and bolts with an adjustable wrench, but I'd rather have a nice wrench exactly the right size.

The cost is so low all things considered for a mandrel, why bother trying to figure something out with a bolt?
 
I can take a 3/8" bolt, run a nut up on it, add a washer & be done for no additional cost at all. I don't happen to have $32 laying around to buy a special mandrel.
 
I've turned a lot of bottle stoppers and bottle openers and I used the bolt method for a while. The problem I had was when I was too aggressive or just not paying attention and had a catch. This would throw the bolt off center enough to cause problems with the stopper I was turning. I switched over the the Niles mandrel and if I get a catch now, usually the blank will just spin a little on the mandrel. Many times I can finish turning without a problem but if the blank gets stripped, then I just add a little CA to the threads, spray a little accelerator and mount it up again.

Trust me, I'm all for saving money when I can but somethings just make life easier and the Niles mandrel is one of them.

The other bonus of the mandrel is that it helps size the finish blank for the stopper...
 
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