Thanks Tom. I know I'll be hooked on this too. Does anyone know where to get smaller diameter aluminum disk. I think 3" - 4" is what I would be looking for.

Aluminum sheet & hole saw, or use a compass & some red or green snips. Then you can finish on the lathe.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/07/2009 07:10PM by William (Bill) Jones.

Looking at the spinning tools it looks like they could be made from drill rod fairly easily. Not sure about the cutting tool though.

Scott Sheets
www.smsrods.com

Be very, very careful about how you obtain your disks. NEVER attempt to spin a disk that you've cut out by hand with snips or shears. Don't even think about it. Please read the cautions outlined in the article.

Most machine shops have a tool known as a "circle shearer." You want disks that have been cut on such a machine.

I listed a source in the article in the sidebar on page 15. Those folks will know exactly what you need.

This is a very exciting and fun technique, but you do not want to look past the cautions I so carefully outlined on page 15.

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After watching a DVD on the subject, I heartily aggree with Tom. This is NOT a craft to cut any corners with. It can be very dangerous unless you do additional research, know what you are doing and DON'T try to cut corners. Tradgedy can occur in a split second if you aren't paying complete attention.

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!!

I have a book on order. I hope it will answer the question. In the meantime, is .040 the minimum/safest thickness? Could .020 or .025 disc tags be used? Are they too thin? Smaller diameters are readily available, but they seem awful thin - but maybe not for the small stuff we're talking about for rod building? . [metaldisc-metaldisc.com]

The thinner disks can be used, but spinning produces heat and with the leverage involved you end up stretching the metal. Start with a disk that is too thin and you end up with something that has paper thin walls.

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Boy, I got spanked. It sounded like a good idea at the time.
Bill



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/08/2009 10:15AM by William (Bill) Jones.

Not spanked! I thought the same thing until I started to look into it!

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!!

Not trying to spank anyone, but due to the material used and the point where your tool contacts the workpiece, an accident doesn't push you away from the lathe - it pulls you into it. This is a great technique but no one should enter into it lightly. And please do not try to learn how to do it by watching youtube videos - they weren't done as instructional pieces and many of the practices you see in them are absolutely unsafe, particularly for a beginner.

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It is much better to be corrected than to get hurt. I can't wait to get my issue & read the correct way to do it.