Homemade duplicator
 

Here's my take with a lot of help from ProfessorM...:thanks: .(THANKS I owe you a beer...or two).:cheers:

Took a couple weeks to pick away at it but I finally finished up this week. Still have some patterns to make yet. It's tough to see but I used Lexan to make my patterns from. Easy to machine and shape, plus, I have a lot on hand. I was actually able to use it on the first shot with no tweaking.......cuts like butter but will experiment with different cutters. It takes a little bit of "touch" but I am happy with the results. I'm not sure I'll ever touch a roughing gouge again.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...lator/Dup1.jpg

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...dup2cutter.jpg

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...lator/dup3.jpg

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2.../finalprod.jpg


:btu:

Very nice.........

Nice mugz:btu:

Wow....That's pretty slick!

The dup lookd good. Try to get some clearance in that tool to help prevent some of the chatter and rough surfaces. It will mean alot less sanding.

Clearance? Please Explain

Looks great. I think he means what we discussed about the insert I told you about. It has a for lack of a word I can't think of right now a cupped cutting surface on top, very sharp edge designed for cutting soft material like aluminum. The flat top surface cutter you are using basicly forces the wood off the plug and causes tearing of the wood. The sharper edged insert actually cuts the wood, thus smoother results. I hope that is understandable.:doh: P.

Gotcha......I see what you mean now. I will look for one. Know the technical name?

Take a look at some of the carbide inserts that are made for insertable tooling. Find one with a nice cupped center that blends up to mnice sharp sides (allowing the wood to be cut clean). Make a square holder the same dims as the tool in the dup now. You'll be all set.

Indexable carbide insert with a chipbreaker.

Like this? I couldn't find a triangle shaped bit that was cupped. I can find some triangle cutters that have 11 or 15 degree clearance though but not cupped.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...t-adkr1503.jpg

These inserts are for Milling operations. Look for Turning operations
They are exactly what you need.......or simply ask eastendlu :) He knows all about that stuff!

I have these........with a chip breaker. Not sure if they are negative or positive chipbreakers......

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...or/toolbit.gif

That looks promising. Try to find one with a sharper angle so you can turn closer to the end of the blank. Looking good:claps:

Yes chip breaker, lu is right . I told you I have exactly what you need but it will cost you as I need to buy them. The one above is not for aluminum. You need something that is made for aluminum or plastic not hard materials like stainless, etc. and a 30 degree angle at the tip so you can get into small dia. next to larger dia.'s. You also need the correct hold down screw too if you are going to make your own holder. P.

:kewl: I'm always impressed by the metal work some of you guys do. I'm lucky if I can mill out a weight slug cavity in a blank mold!

Jigman