I just got a Jet Mini Lathe as a gift. I would like to try a duplicator. I have been turning mostly burl cork, or burl and natural cork spinning grips. Will a duplicator work well for this?

Any recomendations on which ones are the best or easiest to use would be great.

Thanks,
Marc

I doubt it, too much tearout on cork with a cutter. Depending on how you set it up, it could work well for getting a perfect cylinder for a reelseat insert. One thing you can try for cork is to create a profile in wood, cover it with abrasive, and use the form for initial shaping; very accurate for making curves symetrical. I use one for initial shaping of full wells grips

Not neccesary for turning grips. It's not like you need the shape 100% accurate each and every grip, where there are a lot of contours or beads/coves. GEt a caliper if you feel you need to be that accurate.

If you bought a wood lathe to turn a lot of reel seat inserts, you might want to get a metal lathe...might even be able to get one for teh same price as the Duplicator.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/03/2007 02:27PM by Billy Vivona.

The duplicators work very well on cork, but you'll have to turn oversize by about 1/8th inch and then sand down smooth. Cutting bits won't leave a smooth surface on the cork, although it will be consistent.

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Thanks Tom,

I am looking at a Vega, which I thought I read on an old post is what you had used.
Is there any particular cutting tool or bit that you found worked best?

Thanks,
Marc

I use the one that came with it and also have a diamond point bit, but on cork, one is as good as the other.

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