I am considering replacing my Custom Power Wrap with a Renzetti. I just looked at the prices and am going through sticker shock. I bought my CPW about 15 years ago. For those of you that own a Renzetti how many upright standards will I need to turn down a cork grip where the rings/square cork stock, is already glued on to the blank? The Renzetti comes with two standards but I can't believe that this will hold onto an 8 foot musky blank while i turn down the grip. I don't want to purchase the lathe as is and find out I need to order more standards and pay more shipping. On the other hand, I don't want to buy any more standards than I need at $70.00 a standard.

Those of you Renzetti owners have you had ANY problems turning down cork grips with this lathe? Is it too light for soft wood grips?
I plan to look this lathe over at the Expo before I make my final decision. For everyone of you that responds Mike Barkley has offered to buy you a beverage at the Expo. :)

thanks
Buzz

I will be the first to respond ! I have no idea if the Renzetti is strong enough to do that . But I do know Mike Barkley !

J.B.Hunt
Bowling Green, KY

You'll want at least 4 rod supports.

The Renzetti will easily turn any cork grip you desire. Get the 1/10HP motor. It will do it all.

Wood turning is a little much to ask of a lightweight aluminum bed lathe, but it will turn softwoods without too much trouble.

..........

Don't Know Aint got one !!!! Just a drinkin problem !!!-urp !! Solution

I would do 5 if you can, on a 8 foot or better blank.

Mike Thompson
Thompson's Custom Rods

It is impossible to make anything foolproof, because fools are so ingenious!

Sure, Why Not??????????????

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!!

Buzz,
The number of rod supports is not dependent on the rod length. Rather it is dependent on the flexibility of the rod.

You mention - turning 8 foot musky rods. Musky rods use very stiff blanks. It is easy and actually the right number of supports to use 2 supports to turn an 8 foot musky blank. Just put the first one just past the handle to give maximum support for the turning on the handle.

Then, without placing the next support, start the rod turning, keeping your hand on the blank to keep it in control. Work down the blank - feeling for the point of minimum oscillation. i.e. you want to place the rod support at the point on the blank where there is minimum destructive osciallation.

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Conversely, if I were doing an 8 foot 2 weight fly blank, I would likely use 4 or 5 supports. Without these supports, the light flexible fly blank would be likely to go into severe oscillation.

--
Actually Buzz, you really don't need a lathe to do this work.
All that you really need is a power source to turn the blank, and then one or more rod supports to support the rod.

Simply clamp the motor and the rod supports to a sturdy bench - place the rod blank and go to work.


The motor that I use for all of my handle on blank turning is a 1/2 hp 3650 buffer motor that I obtained very inexpensively from a surplus store. The end of the motor shaft has a 1/2 X20 thread on the end. I simply threaded a 1/2 inch keyless chuck on the end of the motor shaft and I am good to go.

I made a bunch of rod supports using skate board bearings for rod rests, that were bolted to aluminum stock, and supported by vertical metal rods.


I suppose that I have perhaps a total of $100 into the entire lathe.

If you have any questions, just drop me an e-mail @ hflier@comcast.net

As Tom has said before, the 1/10th geared down sewing machine motor will turn cork all right. I use the bigger motor, simply because I have it on hand and for its simplicity. i.e. no head stock, no sets of extra bearings, no belts. Just a motor with a chuck on the end of the motor shaft.

Take care
Roger

I have a Renzetti and i won't turn cork or wood on it. For me it just makes a dirty atmosphere for your thread work and epoxy. For just a little more $250-$300 you can get plenty of lathe that will turn cork and wood reel seats. I have a 12' bed and 4 uprights but i just turn thread.
Paul

Paul@soonercustomrod.com

Buzz,
Here is an example of a simple buffer motor with 1/2 inch threaded shafts, on which you can thread a 1/2 inch chuck.
This is a very inexpensive source of lathe power.

[www.northerntool.com]

For a lathe bed, you can use a simple board, with a slot milled down the center, a piece of aluminum or steel channel with a slot milled down the center, or you can use any of many different aluminum extrusions.

For rod rests, you can purchase commercial rests, or you can make your own, using readily available hardware store components. It is all in what you want to do.

If you want to save money and have the time and tools to make a rod turning lathe it is a farily simple project. If you have more money and less time and tools, then a purchased lathe makes more sense.

If you are going to be doing handle on blank work, none of the readily availble wood or machine shop lathes are really suitable. Typically, the lathe bed is much too short, and you still don't have the necessary rod supports to support the blank while it is being turned.

If you do a search in the equipment photo section of this forum, you see many different examples of both rod rests, as well as lathe beds that have been constructed by various builders. Use these photos and or ideas if you like to build the perfect lathe for your particular needs.


Take care
Roger

Buzz, I have a Renzetti, 12' bed, 4 uprights,1/10 hp, and I also opted for the HD turning motor plus all the turning guides and supports. The reason I went for the turning motor was because I smoked up a motor doing grips on an old Rod Smith I had from the 80's. I wanted to upgrade my unit but did'nt want to chance burning up another motor. It runs at a constant 1500 rpm's unless you adjust the belt/sheve pulleys.I dont trust using the1/10hp for turning anything. I cut cork and EVA grips all the time on fly, surf, and boat rods with this set up for about seven years now and never had a problem, but like I said I use the HD turning motor. Just this weekend I took all the finish off a wood butt of an old boat rod that one of the shops wanted restored using steel wool and sandpaper. Realesticly I dont think its set up to rough, shape, and turn anything harder than cork or EVA. Buzz, if your thinking of turning inserts or anything of wood , keep the CPW and get a JET or another wood lathe. On the other hand, I never needed more than four uprights.
Stay within the intended use of this machine and it will last a lifetime but , push any machine and they will fail.
Dennis J. Danku
(SAYREVILLE,NJ)

I have a renzetti and I build mostly offshore stuff and use mostly 2 to 3 supports. What I did with my table which is 25 feet long is actually install bed sections throughout the entire length. On the left end, I have the building area and on the right end, I have the finish application motor and another head to use if needed.

I too would absolutely NOT use it to turn wood or cork. I burn up about 2 motors a year doing 200-400 rods a year.

I bought a mini lathe for my grip work. It has worked perfectly with this setup for about a year now.

Kevin

Geez guys thanks for all of the information. I appreciate it. You answered my questions and it won't cost Barkley TOO MUCH money :)

Buzz,
If you have a dedicated bench and intend to keep it dedicated for rod building, you can always use the bench itself for a lathe bed.

There are a couple of local builders in the area that have done exactly that.

They have taken a common laminate top kitchen counter top. They have mounted a 1/2 hp motor on one end. In some cases, have mounted the motor on top of the bench with a direct drive, in other cases have mounted the motor on the under side of the bench and then have belts coming through the bench top driving a head stock and chuck with belts as is commonly the case with most lathes.

Then, running down the length of the bench in the areas of need- slots have been milled into the top of the counter top. As the need arises one or more rod rests are mounted to the slots in the counter top to support rods being turned and or wrapped.

For these particular benches, these counter top lathes are being used 100% for handle on the blank handle shaping. i.e. no wrapping considering the fact that the lathes are being driven by single speed 1/2 motors.

Again, with the use of common laminate counter tops at $50 for a 10 foot section, and other readily available components, the overall cost of the lathe has been quite low.

With this system, any sort of handle that you would like to turn can be easily handled by the power source.

Take care
Roger

I turned a piece of cork ONCE on my Renzetti.
The mess was hideous even with a vacuum cleaner.
I will never never never ever do that again.
It took an eternity to clean it afterward.
Cork dust is more ubiquitous than anything I can think of.

after burning up MANY motors grinding hypalon grips, I bought the heavy duty turning motor. Works great for turning just about anything.

Go to Harbor Freight and buy a lathe meant to turn down wood. I build almost all of my cork handles out of rings but I wait to glue them on the blank until after turning them down. I would hate to lose a couple hundred dollar blank while whipping around at the end of my 12 ft bed. Remember that old fart Murphy. It seems he is always hanging over my shoulder when I venture far for the proven track that has always worked for me. I think you can turn down a nicer grip without concentrating on rod whip, just find a old blank that matches the rod butts taper and turn away.





Bob