About 2-3 mins sanded on a vega duplicator.

i just started turning plugs myself,since we are both new at this i personaly would rather take my time do it right the first time safely,i like my fingers,than try to set time records.im not building plugs to sell thier just for me to use or trade,so production is not an issue.most important is to be safe and have fun.with accuracy will come speed.

without the dupe, 5-6 minutes, from square to sanded... once youve done enough, your eyes will tell you when to stop and measure..It takes sharp tools and lots of practice to do it that fast...

with a dupe.. 3 minutes flat...

Offcenter turned..about 30 minutes....

The others have given you excellent advise.. take your time and enjoy it... speed isnt always the answer... with practice comes efficientcy, with efficientcy, comes speed.

I ran a Delta cast iron based lathe with a large Vega dup. The lathe is around 3 hp and was turnig at 4000 rpms. It had a large carbide indexable insert in the dup.
I turned and sanded an A40 in 40 seconds. One pass and a light sanding/ The steb cemter allows loading and unloading with the spindle at full rpms. It was awesome. The machine is defenite overkill for plug building but it was fun!:)

Didn't know speed counted:confused:

In your case it would matter. I was speaking from the novice end of the spectrum.

Are you kidding Paul he probably turned twenty plugs in the time it took him to post a reply.:musc::fishslap:

turning tips
 

Seachunk2, you got alot of good advice already from fellow plug turners. Although I have only recently started turning plugs I have done alot of turning many years ago and woodworking all my life. Speed comes with experience and understanding proper useage of tools and equipment. Learn to sharpen tools and keep them sharp also a thing that has helped me when turing by hand without a duplicator is to have different size blanks to closer match finish diameter of plug and knock the square corners off via router or saw prior to turning. Less stock to rough to round diameter. Hope this helps.