I am interested in purchasing a lathe. I currently have a pac bay power wrapper but I cannot get a perfectly even spin on it with a cut peice of old blank and it makes my grips have an uneven diameter. I only make two or 3 grips, all out of eva foam and all with an inside diameter of 3/8".

I have no clue what I need or what would work for this? The longest grip I will ever turn is 13"L X 1 1/2" diameter.

Would this work? []

If so, I am assuming i need a mandrel? And I am assuming it needs to be bigger than 3/8" or maybe tapered? How will I know what length mandrel I need?

Sorry for so many questions, I know I need something that spins much smoother so I can get my grips all centered up, I just dont know how to do it properly. The budget is as cheap as I can get what I need...

Thanks,

-Mike

If you use one of Andy Dear's mandrels, they are 18" long. I have someone else turn my grips for me and when I bought him one of these mandrels, he was very appreciative. Said they work great. You can get them from fishsticks (sponsor on left).

I just bought one mandrel that is the same size as all the cork ring ID I buy (1/4") and then I just ream them out. Works better for me since my rods have all types of butt diameters.

Your problem is that sanding won't make anything concentric - the sandpaper floats over hard spots.

You need to cut the material and for that you need a tool rest with an actual cutting tool such as a gouge or scraper. Once you get the cylinder concentric, then you can sand to the final shape and smoothness desired.

................

Michael,
If you do a search on lathes you will probably get more than enough information as that topic has been discussed many times on this forum. One of the simpler, and cheaper, devices out there is made by Flex Coat and it uses a regular power drill to spin the grip. You can see that device here:[www.flexcoat.com]. Both FishSticks4U and Bingham Enterprises carry Andy Dear's mandrels and they both could probably help you with the grip lathe as well as they sell Flex Coat products.
That little lathe in your picture looks pretty small and I think you might also need a chuck of some sort. So even at $99 you probably aren't done buying stuff to make it work. I bought a chuck for my lathe and it cost more than the lathe and extension bed. Good chuck though!
Good Luck!

Lynn

I purchased a grizzly hobby lathe, which works great for cork. Buuuuut, I got the itch to do some wood turning and it doesn't handle it very well, so a new lathe was in order. The model I picked up was a Jet 1014i. Like Lynn said though, another $200 was spent on tools (gouge/skew/etc. and a chuck).

With the grizzly, Andy's (Lamar Fishing) mandrel is amazing and even better with a true lathe. Do an internet search for mini or midi lathes if you want a "true" lathe, otherwise the flex coat & grizzly lathes do a wonderful job with cork/eva.

-Scott

I used the Grizzley for years before I got a Turncrafter Pro Wood lathe. A very good inexpensive option. [grizzley.com] I would get their drill also

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!!

With the Grizzley lathe are there any other parts i need other than a mandrel? Will the mandrel fit right on it? If so and i am using it for 3/8" I.D. only what size mandrel do i need? will 3/8" work, or do i need like a 7/8"? I need it to be tight enough so the grip wont slip on the mandrel right?

Tom, what type of tool will i need besides sandpaper? I will be using pre shaped eva and only sand it to be a smaller outside diameter. I dont change the shape of it except make it smaller.

Thanks for the help guys.

-Mike

Get a 3/8" mandrel. You can always put a sprial wrap of tape on it to make the EVA fit really tight or invest in one of Andys pen type mandrels (Pricey but worth it), If you order one of Andy's mandrels, let them know it will be used on a Grizzly hobby lathe and they will make it shorter. You won't need any other equiptment. I prefer drywall sanding screen for cork and EVA. It doesn't clog as fast and can just be rinsed out when it does.

Need any help, holler

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!!

Although I have the jet 1040i on order, I was also considering picking up the flex coat set up for a drill to do my cork work outside. I watched the flex coat video (How we do it) and it appeared the device worked quite well, just using sandpaper to shape the cork and or EVA foam.

I like the idea of being able to set it up outside on a picnic table and keep the mess there, but not sure how much use I'll get out of it once I start using the jet lathe.

Any thoughts ?

Michael,

I bought a rand lathe on @#$%& some time ago. It had a very odd TPI for the head stock (threads per inch). You'll be much happier with a standard Jet or Turncrafter Pro from PSI, which is what I ended up with. You'll need a chuck to hold your pieces, either mandrels, or wood stock should you get to turning inserts or wood anything. You can get these in the neighborhood of $200 on sale if you watch. I think it's a much better choice.

Terry