Wood Turning Machine

[pollock185]

Good Morning All,

I'm in need of a computer guided machine capable of accurately and reliably producing drumsticks out of hickory.
Any suggestions on the kit that I'd need would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Pollock185.

 

[Yorkieguy]

You would need a CNC Copy Lathe, but s far as I know, they're all much larger and far more expensive than would be needed to make objects as small a drumsticks. Small objects can be turned on a large lathe, but of course large objects can't be turned on a small one. The CNC software needs to be programmed to create the desired shape of the object, and the lathe needs to be operated.

A CNC woodturning lathe would be quite a large capital investment for producing l.ow value items (compared to say newel posts)

Here's an example of a CNC Copy Lathe in action:

Woodturning CNC and Copy Lathes

A much cheaper, simpler, and I suspect easier lathe to operate to achieve the same end result - lots of identical drumsticks - would be a non-CNC 'Copy Lathe'. Such a lathe copies the profile of a sample object - in your case a drumstick - which is mounted between centres at the rear of the lathe and remains stationary during the turning process. The wooden blank is mounted between centres on the lathe, which has to be manually advanced from right to left as it shapes the object, calling for limited skills beyond parting of parting off each object.

Obviously much depends on whether you wish to make drumsticks in such high volume to justify the capital investment in a CNC lathe rather than a simpler non-CNC 'copy lathe'. You might like to Google 'copy lathes' and see what comes up. The other option would be to buy the drumsticks in from a high volume production turning company, but that's not answering your specific question.

It may be that other forum members know of smaller, cheaper CNC lathes, but I hope these notes are of some help.

 

[clogs]

buy em from China....
put em in a bag here and say made in Britain.......
it's what everybody else is doing......
U gotta sell a lot just to buy the cutting tool.....

 

[sawtooth-9]

buy em from China....
put em in a bag here and say made in Britain.......
it's what everybody else is doing......
U gotta sell a lot just to buy the cutting tool.....

True, but so sad.
That's what you get for all these "free trade" agreements.
Export the jobs and settle for rubbish !

 

[Yorkieguy]

This thread is a request by the poster for advice and information on a CNC machine to accurately and reliably produce drumsticks from hickory. Please don't take the thread off topic by making trivial, flippant and political irrelevant comments about international trade. There's a forum which is a rumpus room especially created for blowhards, which they can ask to join and let off steam with like-minded individuals 'behind closed doors' to their heart's content..

I doubt that many drummers buy drumsticks from China.

Why would they want to when a pair of good quality American hickory drumsticks only cost about £12.00?

EG: Vic Firth American Classic 7A Hickory Drumsticks at Gear4music..

Just saying.

 

[pollock185]

You would need a CNC Copy Lathe, but s far as I know, they're all much larger and far more expensive than would be needed to make objects as small a drumsticks. Small objects can be turned on a large lathe, but of course large objects can't be turned on a small one. The CNC software needs to be programmed to create the desired shape of the object, and the lathe needs to be operated.

A CNC woodturning lathe would be quite a large capital investment for producing l.ow value items (compared to say newel posts)

Here's an example of a CNC Copy Lathe in action:

Woodturning CNC and Copy Lathes

A much cheaper, simpler, and I suspect easier lathe to operate to achieve the same end result - lots of identical drumsticks - would be a non-CNC 'Copy Lathe'. Such a lathe copies the profile of a sample object - in your case a drumstick - which is mounted between centres at the rear of the lathe and remains stationary during the turning process. The wooden blank is mounted between centres on the lathe, which has to be manually advanced from right to left as it shapes the object, calling for limited skills beyond parting of parting off each object.

Obviously much depends on whether you wish to make drumsticks in such high volume to justify the capital investment in a CNC lathe rather than a simpler non-CNC 'copy lathe'. You might like to Google 'copy lathes' and see what comes up. The other option would be to buy the drumsticks in from a high volume production turning company, but that's not answering your specific question.

It may be that other forum members know of smaller, cheaper CNC lathes, but I hope these notes are of some help.

Thank you for taking the time to comment. Just the informative answer I was looking for. After researching, definitely leaning toward the copy lathe. Thanks again for your help, it is much appreciated.

 

[sawtooth-9]

This thread is a request by the poster for advice and information on a CNC machine to accurately and reliably produce drumsticks from hickory. Please don't take the thread off topic by making trivial, flippant and political irrelevant comments about international trade. There's a forum which is a rumpus room especially created for blowhards, which they can ask to join and let off steam with like-minded individuals 'behind closed doors' to their heart's content..

I doubt that many drummers buy drumsticks from China.

Why would they want to when a pair of good quality American hickory drumsticks only cost about £12.00?

EG: Vic Firth American Classic 7A Hickory Drumsticks at Gear4music..

Just saying.

Not flippant, trivial or irrelevant.
Just a sad, cold hard fact.
You may well dislike the view of others, but " blowhard " - really !

 

[Yorkieguy]

Sorry Sawtooth-9, but your comments tick all three boxes.

They do not address the original poster’s request for advice and information about CNC turning. He wasn’t seeking views about international trade. There are countless opportunities in social media to sound off about such topics If that’s what you are into.

The Uk Workshop Forum is lightly moderated and relies to a large extent on members to self-moderate.

I would reiterate that to try to divert irrelevant political and other comments and threads which were popping up all over the place, the moderators created a space which members who want to engage in such topics and express their strongly held views can elect to join, so that those that don’t wish to can use the forum for it’s intended purpose. Namely, to seek, receive, and impart information and advice about woodworking, metalworking, and related topics

I’m not going to comment further on this or I’ll be taking the thread off topic into a debate about moderation.

I hope there are other forum members who have experience of copy lathes, which are way cheaper than CNC lathes, but will achieve the same objective - to speed-up/de-skill the task of accurately making repetitive items such as drumsticks.

 

[sawtooth-9]

Sorry Sawtooth-9, but your comments tick all three boxes.

They do not address the original poster’s request for advice and information about CNC turning. He wasn’t seeking views about international trade. There are countless opportunities in social media to sound off about such topics If that’s what you are into.

The Uk Workshop Forum is lightly moderated and relies to a large extent on members to self-moderate.

I would reiterate that to try to divert irrelevant political and other comments and threads which were popping up all over the place, the moderators created a space which members who want to engage in such topics and express their strongly held views can elect to join, so that those that don’t wish to can use the forum for it’s intended purpose. Namely, to seek, receive, and impart information and advice about woodworking, metalworking, and related topics

I’m not going to comment further on this or I’ll be taking the thread off topic into a debate about moderation.

I hope there are other forum members who have experience of copy lathes, which are way cheaper than CNC lathes, but will achieve the same objective - to speed-up/de-skill the task of accurately making repetitive items such as drumsticks.

My , my - we are touchy.
It's nice to stick to a topic - but it can stray.
You may think i "tick all three boxes " but guess what - you seem to ignore those very same boxes.
Have a nice life !

 

[Tris]

If you decide to skip the CNC part you could try here for industrial quality machines:

https://www.scosarg.com/new-machines/wood-lathes-turning/copy-lathes
Or if you prefer a cheaper experiment:

https://www.misterworker.com/en-gb/...0gBoTS42FUMWH3okg0bJHM2Qy9O_MSPxoCZCoQAvD_BwE
One if these bolted on to a second hand lathe.

Haven't used a copy lathe so can't help on technique, I'd probably try to buy a suitably sized dowel of the required timber and have at it with a skew for the detail, but I appreciate that may have a steep and expensive learning curve

 

[Fergie 307]

You would need a CNC Copy Lathe, but s far as I know, they're all much larger and far more expensive than would be needed to make objects as small a drumsticks. Small objects can be turned on a large lathe, but of course large objects can't be turned on a small one. The CNC software needs to be programmed to create the desired shape of the object, and the lathe needs to be operated.

A CNC woodturning lathe would be quite a large capital investment for producing l.ow value items (compared to say newel posts)

Here's an example of a CNC Copy Lathe in action:

Woodturning CNC and Copy Lathes

A much cheaper, simpler, and I suspect easier lathe to operate to achieve the same end result - lots of identical drumsticks - would be a non-CNC 'Copy Lathe'. Such a lathe copies the profile of a sample object - in your case a drumstick - which is mounted between centres at the rear of the lathe and remains stationary during the turning process. The wooden blank is mounted between centres on the lathe, which has to be manually advanced from right to left as it shapes the object, calling for limited skills beyond parting of parting off each object.

Obviously much depends on whether you wish to make drumsticks in such high volume to justify the capital investment in a CNC lathe rather than a simpler non-CNC 'copy lathe'. You might like to Google 'copy lathes' and see what comes up. The other option would be to buy the drumsticks in from a high volume production turning company, but that's not answering your specific question.

It may be that other forum members know of smaller, cheaper CNC lathes, but I hope these notes are of some help.

Many old Harrison and other metal working lathes were fitted with a hydraulic copier. This is the same idea, sample of what you want to make secured at the rear and then the profile is copied exactly on the workpiece, in this case using hydraulics to move the carriage and toolpost automatically. Might even be worth looking for one of these.

 

[Yorkieguy]

@ Sawtoot–9

Here you go - this might help:

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/off-topic-ii-controversial-topics.54/

 

[Phill05]

Good Morning All,

I'm in need of a computer guided machine capable of accurately and reliably producing drumsticks out of hickory.
Any suggestions on the kit that I'd need would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Pollock185.

Good morning Pollock185,
Have you given any thought to using a cnc flatbed machine to cut out the sticks? it can be done very easily, you have to invest in some design software or get someone to design and produce the code to run the machine, then it is as simple as holding down your flat board of Hickory drill ref: marks on board to be able to cut one side then flip it over to finish cut the sticks out.

Later I'll do a few test images to show how it's done.

 

[Yorkieguy]

For anyone who has a lathe and a router, this is another option, though I guess the O.P. is looking for an off-the-shelf solution:

Router Lathe For Copy Turning:

Intro:

router lathe for copy turning - Bing video

Part 1:

router lathe for copy turning - Bing video

Part 2:

router lathe for copy turning - Bing video

Hope that's of interest.

David.