Ono Nadagin wrote:I have never done such large diameter jewels/turns ) I have done a lot of engine turning/jeweling on automotive parts using 1/2" circles and 1/4-3/8ths" on firearms. Google Cratex abrasives they make rubberized abbrasives that give a much better result than a cinched wire wheel, I used that method for a couple of years before a man that does jeweling for a living turned me onto Cratex. They are not too pricey and imho do a much better job... best I ever got out of a cinched down wire brush I used my mini lathe to flatten/square off the bristle lengths to the same length before that I always had some wires gouging deeper than the others but even after trying to square it on the lathe I still had the same problem to a lessor extent.
I will search through Spookies posts to see if I can find his method... I was just really wondering if you guys freehanded it with a drill or used a drill press or milling machine and also if you laid out a grid and used a jig to hold the pipe/tube.. If you guys free handed it I am very impressed doing curved surfaces is tough to keep uniform in my experience. Kudos
EDIT ok now I noticed you said you used a vice ) either way good job
another question have you done this on 2" pipe if so was it more difficult to get your brush to work the convex of the outside of the tubing with out over grinding the center portion of the spot your turning?
Also what was diameter of your brush once it was cinched down with a zip tie or what ever you used... K shiners look very large in the pics
before i did mine, i looked on the web for any info that i could on the turning because i had never did it before... there wasent a whole lot out there... the most that i could find the wire brush thing,, and the cratex sticks that you were talking about..
there were a few reasons that i used the wire bursh.. one, was that it was like 2 bucks at lowes,, and two, i dident think that you could get the cratex sticks in a large enough diameter. and three,,,,, it was like 2 bucks at lowes
. i just squeezed all the bristles together using nilon straps,, and went to work..
after understanding the patern that was needed to get the look,,, i just drew one streight line to start off with,, and off i went. this is by far nothing professional, and it was only the second time i did it,,,,, but thats the quality that you get with a wire brush.
ill take a pic of the brush today and show you how i set it up!!!!
thanks
spooky