I've got a Delta LA200 Midi Lathe and wanted to know if there is a way to turn grips already on rods .I know I'll have to change chucks but what kind do I look at ? What do I use for the section beyond the grip? Maybe some kind of stand [ free standing] .I was turning my grips on my wrapper using a shop vac to catch the dust but it seems like I'm always fighting a dust problem.. OR is there something else or a better way to turn cork grips on a lathe..Im open to all suggestions
Thanks for your time
Ken Blevins

Ken do a search on this site for mini chucks and choose all dates, you will get a ton of reading. I have the Jet and am not familiar with the Delta.

Ken,
It is an easy matter to turn handles that are already on rods.

However, the key thing that you need is to properly support the rod.
I suspect that the best thing to do is to remove the tail stock entirely, and then build or buy a series of ball bearing rod supports.
I make mine out of aluminum and skate board ball bearings. Very high quality bearings at an inexpensive price.

I simply have a grooved base to hold the rod supports, so that they may be adjusted to properly carry the rod. Remember, on most rods, the weight of the guides will tend to throw the rod blank out of balance. So, when turning a rod blank, that already has guides on it - I tend to tape similar or heavier guides on the opposite sides of the blank to balance the weight and allow the rod to spin without wobble.

The key thing is to space the rod supports so that they are not at harmonic points on the rod. Harmonic points are points on the blank, where the rotating mass of the blank, and guides cause the blank and guides to go into destructive harmonic oscillation.
If this happens, the oscillation of the rod blank builds very quickly and can easily and quickly snap a blank in two.

Another very key thing to do, is to have a variable speed lathe. You want to start at 0 rpm, and build the speed slowly, constantly monitoring for any blank whip or possible blank oscillation. If you do start to see this happenning, stop the lathe, move one or more of the supports to a different spot, or add more or less weight on one side of the blank or another to offset the whip of the blank.

--
For a positive grip for this sort of turning, I generally drill a hole in the butt cap of the rod, and insert a solid rod into the butt of the rod. I use masking tape as required to make a friction fit on the inside of the blank. I always try to use at least 3-5 inches of rod on the inside of the blank to get a good solid grip on the inside of the blank.

I have found too many times, where trying to grip a handle from the outside either deforms the handle, or the sof handle material allows the handle to move after a short time.

So, if you have a decent chuck on your lathe right now, it will work just fine to hold a solid rod very securely and thus hold the blank very securely.

=---
p.s.
To avoid marring the blank, using the ball bearings to hold the rod - I use 2 turns of masking tape to protect the rod and its finish. I have tried other tape types but continue to come back to masking tape to shield the rod with no issues.

Take care
REW

Ken Blevins Wrote:
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> I was turning my grips on my wrapper using a shop vac to catch the dust but it seems
> like I'm always fighting a dust problem.. OR is there something else or a better way to turn cork
> grips on a lathe..

I use a Shop Vac too, and have no problems. Turn the vacuum & lathe on. Grab the shop vac open end in yout left hand. Grab teh bottom of the sandpaper peice with your left thumb. Grab the top of the sandpaper with your right hand. workpiece will turn towards you, the dust will go right into teh shop vac with minimal mess. Only problem area is near where theheadstock turns, as teh dust tends to get pulled twoards teh chuck, but it's still barely a mess to clean up doing it this way.

Billy - what a neat idea.

thanks
Uncle Russ
Calico Creek Rods

What I use is similar to this
[www.harborfreight.com]

To which I have attached a section of flexible aluminum clothes dryer vent hose. To the other end of the hose I have a floor register boot like are used for your house hold heating system, same outlet size as dry vent pipe, with inlet size 4x8 that I can move around my lathe depending were I need it to suck up everything if I'm not careful.

Also during times of dry humidity, I use it in my rod wrapping room. Turn it on and let it run for 30 minutes or more and it removes all the floating dust out of the air. Very seldom have any dust at all in my rod finish



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/15/2008 08:22PM by Steve Gardner.

I sand the grips on fly rods by passing the rod blank through the headstock hole and gripping directly on the blank with a small 3 jaw scroll chuck. I tape the blank carefully or do a dry wrap where I am going to grip and use rubber bands made from a bicycle intertube on each jaw. Don't know if the midi has a large enough through bore to do this though. I use a ball bearing tailstock center running in the blank at that end (with a short wrap to keep the blank from splitting).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/15/2008 09:49PM by Bill Moschler.