duplicator

[smitty919]

any one ever make one with a router?

[fishaholic18]

Capesams I believe

[Bob Thomas]

I tried searching but could not find it. I'm pretty sure it was pictured on this board.

[smitty919]

i cant find it eather.

[Slipknot]

Capesams made one(the pics are long gone)

I made one but didn't like it so I use a regular bit and it works fine, I would say a laminate trimmer mounted as a duplicator would not save all that much time compared to the manual way of doing it.

[capesams]

as one that went that route with a router....don't waste your time..it eat's carbide bits like there's no tomorrow... solid carbide will only last about 3 plugs before it does nothing but tear up the wood.

[smitty919]

Originally Posted by capesams

as one that went that route with a router....don't waste your time..it eat's carbide bits like there's no tomorrow... solid carbide will only last about 3 plugs before it does nothing but tear up the wood.

ok thats all i need to hear.

[ProfessorM]

I agree not worth the effort

[Diggin Jiggin]

I have a couple of questions for you guy using the homemade duplicators. Can you also use the tool rest to turn manually when its installed? I'm thinking about this more and more but I really like turning by hand. I assume it takes some time to attach and remove the duplicator board that you are resting the body of the duplicator on. Has any tried mounting some type of removable tool rest on the board so you could turn by hand without removing the platform from the bed of the lathe ?

[Woodbuster]

I use Pauls tool holder in a wooden bock. It would take time to reset for the tool rest but if I remove the template, I can still turn by "hand" using the bock instead of a gouge. I hope this makes some sense. If not I can post a pic.

[Hilo_Kawika]

I made a duplicator using a 1940's Sears wood lathe and a Ryobi laminate trimmer. I'll put pictures in a separate post.

I've used the same carbide bit for about 50-60 plugs (cedar, spruce, koa & Doug fir) with no problems aside for the need of a little touch-up twice with a diamond file.

The lure blanks come out slightly fuzzy but using first 120 grit and then 220 grit cleans them up beautifully and ready for sealing.

With a Shop Vac attached to a vacuum plate behind the turning center and a polycarbonate shield covering the turning piece both dust and safety are take care of as well.

Plugs each take ~3-4 minutes to turn including sanding and - if this is important to you - each one is identical to the next.

Templates are easy to make and modify. Gee, what's not to like?

[ProfessorM]

It would only take a few minutes to unbolt the plate and bolt on the rest and vise versa. Since the tool holder, sled, is set and the plate just bolts on and off as soon as the plate goes back on it is ready to go. Not a big problem IMO. Like I have said before there are many ways to do a job. If you are comfortable with a router than that is what I would use. Personally I prefer the tool holder. Heck you could probably figure out a way to hook up a chain saw if you really wanted too. That would be cool but the noise and fumes might piss off the wife.

[numbskull]

Originally Posted by Diggin Jiggin

I have a couple of questions for you guy using the homemade duplicators. Can you also use the tool rest to turn manually when its installed? I'm thinking about this more and more but I really like turning by hand. ?

I am in exactly the same boat. Turning out multiples would be nice, but I much prefer making the final pass with a skew over aggresive sanding (and roughing out square blanks with a gouge beats other methods of knocking off the edges.) I did note at the plugfest that Chris had a Penn State duplicator (I think) that seemed to let you use it as a tool rest.

[Diggin Jiggin]

George, I remember watching him do that also. I was looking at those online this weekend. I'm not sure which if any of the models would fit on a delt midi or if they are worth the money or what bits they need?

I've been messing around with the offcenter stuff and it's very hard without a duplicator. You need to unchuck the piece and do each side separately, and without a duplicator its hard to get the 2 sides to match. After 2 or 3 I finally figured out if I take the same number of passes on each side and try to take the same amount off each time they come out pretty close, but sometimes with swimmers close is not good enough...

[capesams]

life is short...spare time gets short....well worth looking for a second used mini lathe to come by...and grab it...leave one for hand chisels/drilling..one just for a dupy....once your set up, you get full use of spinning/plug building time.

[Rockfish9]

I have a penn state dulicator, the tool rest is 12" long and can be used as a manual tool rest, just slide the cutter out of the way...

Unless I'm through drilling with the lathe, I leave it set up.

Even with the duplicator I "knock down" the edges with my roughing gouge and eyeball the size before using the dupe cutter.. saves time and wear and tear on my dupe cutter

[Diggin Jiggin]

Thanks Rockfish9, thats good to know.

And yes CS, 2 lathes one with a dupi and one without would really be the ideal solution.

[GattaFish]

I agree,,, I wish I had a second lathe to use,,, There a many times when I have this great idea for a new style or shape and it is a pain in the A$% to be able to turn it,,,,,

[Slipknot]

Mac had his duplicator setup on the backside upsidedown I believe and was able to use the tool rest on the front as usual. I'm not sure you can do that with all types of lathes and duplicators. He also had to use a spur center extender.

My dup doesn't take more than a couple minutes to setup/breakdown.

[catch my drift]

Originally Posted by Slipknot

Mac had his duplicator setup on the backside upsidedown I believe and was able to use the tool rest on the front as usual. I'm not sure you can do that with all types of lathes and duplicators. He also had to use a spur center extender.

My dup doesn't take more than a couple minutes to setup/breakdown.

what type do you have???

[Jigman]

Originally Posted by Slipknot

Mac had his duplicator setup on the backside upsidedown I believe and was able to use the tool rest on the front as usual. I'm not sure you can do that with all types of lathes and duplicators. He also had to use a spur center extender.

My dup doesn't take more than a couple minutes to setup/breakdown.

Delta lathe and vega dup. This does not work on the Jet mini lathe. I have mine set up with hose clamps on the stems of the vega so I can pull the dup off real quick, put the tool rest back on, turn, then reverse the set up. While I'm using the tool rest, the dup base is still on the lathe. The hose clamps help center the vega real quick when I want to put it back on. Takes 2 minutes to pull it off and put it back on and be ready for turning again.

Jigman

[Slipknot]

Mac had a full size 36" jet lather with the pro duplicator.

I have a 36" jet also
and my duplicator is a homemade like Fishbumwannabe/Assinnippi made years ago and Professor made one out of metal in the FAQ how to forum above this forum.Mine is wood since I am a woodworker unlike Proffesor who works as a machinist.

[ProfessorM]

I made some type of thing for Bill, Charleston, so he could get his Vega dup. off and on quickly. Hopefully he will chime in with the details. P.

[Striperknight]

Originally Posted by Diggin Jiggin

George, I remember watching him do that also. I was looking at those online this weekend. I'm not sure which if any of the models would fit on a delt midi or if they are worth the money or what bits they need?

I've been messing around with the offcenter stuff and it's very hard without a duplicator. You need to unchuck the piece and do each side separately, and without a duplicator its hard to get the 2 sides to match. After 2 or 3 I finally figured out if I take the same number of passes on each side and try to take the same amount off each time they come out pretty close, but sometimes with swimmers close is not good enough...

I have the Penn State one and it does the Job. Its a good duplicator
if you are on a budget. I push the cutter to the side and round out the
wood with a gouge.

[Charleston]

Originally Posted by ProfessorM

I made some type of thing for Bill, Charleston, so he could get his Vega dup. off and on quickly. Hopefully he will chime in with the details. P.

Paul; Didn't I post that concept here once? It works pissah!
Sounds to me like Jiggsie is doing the same thing with banjo clamps!

[John E]

Originally Posted by Jigman

Delta lathe and vega dup. This does not work on the Jet mini lathe. I have mine set up with hose clamps on the stems of the vega so I can pull the dup off real quick, put the tool rest back on, turn, then reverse the set up. While I'm using the tool rest, the dup base is still on the lathe. The hose clamps help center the vega real quick when I want to put it back on. Takes 2 minutes to pull it off and put it back on and be ready for turning again.

Jigman

Jigman,

I have a jet w/ a vega dup mounted on the back. Works just fine.

[Jigman]

John, How did you mount the dup on the back? When I tried the tail stock got in the way. Or maybe it was the tail stock lever thingie Been a little while.

Bill, hose clips. No banjos at my house Accomplishes the same thing, just not as pretty as the set up paul did for you.

Jigman

[ProfessorM]

Originally Posted by Charleston

Paul; Didn't I post that concept here once? It works pissah!
Sounds to me like Jiggsie is doing the same thing with banjo clamps!

I thought you did. I just don't use a Vega so i am not much help in explaining how you did it. Must be here somewhere. P.

[John E]

Originally Posted by Jigman

John, How did you mount the dup on the back? When I tried the tail stock got in the way. Or maybe it was the tail stock lever thingie Been a little while.

Bill, hose clips. No banjos at my house Accomplishes the same thing, just not as pretty as the set up paul did for you.

Jigman

I haven't even dusted it off yet this year but if I remember correctly, the tail stock only gets in the way of the bracket when you want to turn shorter blanks (<6" or so). I rarely make small plugs so this isn't an issue for me. It's been almost a year since I set it up so it's a little fuzzy. I do know that the mounting bracket is on the inside of the tailstock. I'll try to get a peek at it in the next few days and let you know if I did anything out of the ordinary but I don't think so. I just used the adjustment they gave me.

[Jigman]

Thanks John. I do a lot of stuff that is smaller than 6 inches, so that might be the problem. No biggie. I have my older grizzly lathe still for protos and one offs plus the clamps on the vega allow me to take it off and on in minutes if need be.

Jigman