Help with making fishing floats

[Mistert]

Hi, I purchased my first lathe recently, an old 2nd hand record power RP36SH but in excellent condition. It came with a APK96 chuck which I believe is probably a chinese copy of the Fox FX4000 and others. I'm looking at using kebab sticks to form the main spindle of the floats, which are about 3mm dia. Just after suggestions as to what's best to use to hold these at both head and tailstock at a sensible price and hopefully to utilise the chuck I have with some new jaws. I believe one needs either spigot jaws or a pin chuck and maybe a standard drill bit fitting for the tailstock. Any advice welcomed. Paul

 

[Lons]

You could buy a collet chuck but if you don't want to spend money just turn a blank to grip in your chuck, drill an undersized hole in the centre as a tight jam fit for the skewer ( a drill chuck fitted to the tailstock end would make this much more precise ) and then at the tailstock end you would need a revolving centre and again fashion a blank to hold the skewer or if only a dead centre available or drill chuck you would need a very slightly loose fit hole to allow the skewer to revolve. Sounds complicated but it isn't and there are a number of other ways to do it so one of the others will be along soon to suggest better alternatives.
Depending on the length of your turning you'll need a very light touch with the tools to stop the skewer bending.

 

[SVB]

Look on axmister YouTube Chanel. Colwin Wah did a whole video on this recently.

 

[Lonsdale73]

 

[Mistert]

Look on axmister YouTube Chanel. Colwin Wah did a whole video on this recently.

Many Thanks for the link. I did watch this a few days ago which is what prompted some of the questions. Cheers Paul

 

[Mistert]

You could buy a collet chuck but if you don't want to spend money just turn a blank to grip in your chuck, drill an undersized hole in the centre as a tight jam fit for the skewer ( a drill chuck fitted to the tailstock end would make this much more precise ) and then at the tailstock end you would need a revolving centre and again fashion a blank to hold the skewer or if only a dead centre available or drill chuck you would need a very slightly loose fit hole to allow the skewer to revolve. Sounds complicated but it isn't and there are a number of other ways to do it so one of the others will be along soon to suggest better alternatives.
Depending on the length of your turning you'll need a very light touch with the tools to stop the skewer bending.

Great suggestions for a low cost solution, many thanks, Ill be giving them a try to see what works best, not planning mass production, just for my own needs. Cheers, Paul

 

[Lons]

I've never tried making a float Paul as I'm a fly fisherman but looks simple enough. That video is interesting though he gets his fingers a bit too close to the chuck jaws for my liking. I pass out at the sight of blood especially if it's mine.

 

[Lonsdale73]

I've never tried making a float Paul as I'm a fly fisherman but looks simple enough. That video is interesting though he gets his fingers a bit too close to the chuck jaws for my liking. I pass out at the sight of blood especially if it's mine.

In another of his videos he speaks of learning the lesson of having his knucles rapped early on in his 37 or so years as a professional woodturner.

 

[Mistert]

I've never tried making a float Paul as I'm a fly fisherman but looks simple enough. That video is interesting though he gets his fingers a bit too close to the chuck jaws for my liking. I pass out at the sight of blood especially if it's mine.

Yes I fitted the chuck to my lathe for the first time last wk just to spin it up. All ok until I turned it off and noticed the chuck unwinding itself. It fell off, fortunately the lathe had almost stopped, so no damage done. Problem is, I think, is that the chuck had an adaptor fitted, so I tightened it up on the shaft but didn't realise it had an adaptor fitted at the time, being new to this. I'll make sure next time the adaptor is well seated and hand tightened, hopefully that'll fix it, but I'm left a bit nervous now, so I can see your point of view. Paul

 

[Lazurus]

The chuck should self tighten on the shaft, it may be your lathe has a brake that caused the unwinding, or check to see if there is a secondary grub screww on the shaft. On my VB36 I use a secondary fastner if in reverse as this will obviously unscrew the chuck - stay safe.