Another Ball Turner

[chip maker]

I just finished up this ball turner and thought someone may be interested in seeing it. It is kind of copied from one made by Steve Bedair from his site. Also saw some others thru his site that had a few things different so kind of took all things and put them into my idea as well. I did give it a try and does a really good job. It is made not only for balls but also for concave turning. May not be perfect but works good to me.

 

[dlhoulton]

Chip Maker, that looks great! Looks like quality work to me. Would you mind showing an exploded view of this and if possible how you tackled the pivot part. I keep seeing these projects all completed but can't figure out how they pivot and the top part and base bolt together.

 

[chip maker]

To make this simple and to keep me from taking my turner apart, I will if I have to thou here is Steves site and you will find his ball turner down a ways under the lathe updates and improvments. If you don't see what you need I will surely be willing to dismantle mine to show you how mine is put together. The pivot part is really quite simple the lower plate has a hollow cut out in it and the upper has a boss turned in the lower part of it and than it gets bolted together thru the bottom. Steve tells you how to achave a tight fit for the two pieces so they don't lock up or come loose. When he done his he also drilled the holes thru the round part were as I milled mine flat and than drilled for the bolts to lock the bit holder. Again if you can't find what you need or have other questions I will help where I can. I'm not even close to being a great machinist but I enjoy what I make with metal. http://bedair.org/9x20.html

 

[dlhoulton]

Wow!! thanks for the quick reply. That is a fantastic web site! Lots of projects. No need to take yours apart, his instructions and photos show it all. Thanks so much for sharing your project and the info.

 

[chip maker]

Just a fast update to help. When you go to drilling and tapping the hole for the inserts be very careful. The drilling part isn't the problem but tapping that small hole is BRUTEL !!!
The first holder I made I had to trash because the tap broke because I'm sure I was a bit impatient. So off to the hardware store to get another,and yes I purchased 2 just in case. The second time around it worked out good so please go slow on the tapping , use plenty of oil and keep reversing and get out all the shavings out before going at it again. It was a slow prosess but paid off in the long run. Good luck with yours and glad to help. !!!!

 

[Hawkeye]

Nice job. You do know that you have to make a round knob for the handle, right? Kind of like, after you make a knurler, you have to make knurled fittings for it. Besides, you need a project to use it on, don't you?

 

[savarin]

Nice job.
Some observations I have noticed with mine (almost the same as yours) is the lack of clearance under the ball. OK if you only want small balls (am I allowed to say that?) and it needs a fair bit of length sticking out from the chuck else you will hit that.
I hope to redesign mine to give me more clearance in this area asap.

 

[chip maker]

First off yes I thought of the knob on the handle also but I have made that style knobs for my lathe,milling, and drill press, and the thread retractor I made. At the time was what I came up with so just thought now they all match. Might be in the future to make them all round if I get board some time. !!!!
As for the clearance problem you are correct. You can only make balls to a limited size and that was what I had read before I began the build, But yes to make any larger will not be possible with out a change in design. Because of the tuner being mounted to the cross slide may be a challenge. Could make the rotating piece a bit shorter. Also because of that you may just be limited to how large you can make without having a larger lathe. Mine is a 9x20 Grizzly 4000.