Hi all,
I am from Australia, mandrels r a little to heavy to import from america, price wise, Ross at the Rod works does not stock them, could some one please tell me the sizes dimentions ect so i can get a enginering shop to make me up some, i am thinking a 1/4" through to 5/8" dia would look after most if not all rods i build, i know Andys mandrels r 18 inchs long, before i ring and make an order from a enginering shop, is there any thing else i should take into account, i have a mini Jet lathe,
All help would be appreciated.
Craig Johnson

Craig,

Make sure they thread one end for you so that you can tighten down your peice when you are working. I found a sleeve that I taped out and put two small screws in to lock one end and threaded the other with a nut. You would then slide on the part with the two screws and lock it down, than a sleeve, the peice you are working and than another sleeve. You adjust your locking device so that with your threaded end you can tighten down the hole thing. Hope that made sence. I can send a picture if that will help.

Alan

Mine are straight rods, no threads. I glue up on the mandrel and chuck one end in the lathe, the other is bored for a 60 degree live center cone.

Depending on what size grips you make or need to fit to your blanks, I'd probably go - 1/4, 5/16, 3/8, 1/2 and 5/8 inch on the sizes.


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Sorry duplicate post.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/16/2007 08:38AM by Steve Dyczkiewycz.

Craig, I make my own, I only make them 12" long so they fit in my jet 1014 lathe which I use for turning wood and cork. The longer length in my opinion is unnecessary. If the handles are longer than that I make them in two pieces and glue them together on the blank. I use drill rod which is available at most metal or welding shops and comes in usually 3 ft lengths, which allows me to make three out of one stick. I use center drills to cut the cone in the end of the rods, but I drill them in each end, so the mandrel can be used any direction. A local machine shop should be able to make them for you. The sizes I have are 1/4, 5/16, 3/8, 7/16, 1/2 and 5/8. I use a morse taper #2 drill chuck on the turning end of the lathe, I have a nova chuck, but I use that for only square pieces of wood when turning., but I imagine that you could hold some of the mandrels in that also, and go with extra length. I also have a metal turning lathe, 7x12 that I use for turning the reelseats, simply because of the accuracy, and the longer mandrels just make it hard to work with given the length of the bed and the area between the headstock and tailstock that is actually available to turn certain lengths of wood or cork. I too only have smooth rods with no threads, you can glue the material on or use a strip of tape to take up the space if needed. In extreme cases I have used lock collars and spacers, but rarely. Just my take on the subject. Galen

As Long as you're going to have them made, I would go with the threaded ones. You can get by without them but they de4finately make life easier and would add very little, if anything, to the ccost. [www.rodbuilding.org]

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

Thank u everyone for your replys, i will let you know how i get on.
Craig