Turned Nose Cones and Screwdrivers

[LeeR]

This time of year I start to make some Christmas gifts. Typically it is something small, which can be done quickly. That usually means something made on my lathe. I've done pens, peppermills, and napkin rings. Two years ago I did reversible screwdrivers for a couple guys in the family. This year I'm making a few more screwdrivers, since the previous ones were a big hit. I like to sneak in some rocket projects, too, so I turned a BT-55 sized nose cone from basswood. I've done balsa nose cones, but this was my first one turned from basswood. A real delight to turn, since it is tougher than balsa, machined nicely, and needed little sanding.

The reversible screwdriver shown is made from blood wood and mahogany. I buy plastic-handled screwdrivers at Home Depot, cut the socket out of the handle, and use it in the new wooden handle.

[JumpJet]

These look real nice. Being a TOOL NUT, I really like the screw driver handle.

John Boren

[sandman]

Very vey nice!

Rockier woodworking has kits for those. The kit may be cheaper than buying a screwdriver.

http://www.rockler.com/4-in-1-screwdriver-turning-kit

Basswood is a treat to turn compared to balsa.

Balsa is easy to mess up and basswood does finish nicer.

Now if you are looking for more projects, Woodcraft supply,

http://www.woodcraft.com/category/PR101-20/turning-kits.aspx?page=1

has a very large variety of turning kits from pepper mills, pens, knifes ice cream scoops, pizza cutters, to Christmas ornaments.

The ladies just love the Christmas ornaments. I have to make at least 8 every year 'cause every year they ask for them.

It's a great way to get rid of all those scrap pieces of exotic woods.

Well I have a lot. :rolleyes:

[LeeR]

Thanks for the compliments. I kind of have a thing for turning spindles -- I made my first nose cone when I was maybe 12. The Estes catalog inspired me to put a dowel in a block of balsa, and I turned it in an electric drill clamped to my mother's kitchen step stool. :)

When I bought my lathe, it was pens, then tool handles, pizza cutters, then peppermills. I bought a bowl gouge, unhandled of course, so I could try turning bowls someday (and after I made the handle for the bowl gouge ...).

sandman,
I may buy commercially available reversible screwdriver kits at some point, but I bought a bunch of plastic ones at Home Depot for $2.50 each a few years ago, and so they were lots cheaper than the kits ($6.99). A Dremel with cutoff wheel makes pretty fast work of the removal of the socket from the handle. Harbor Freight used to carry reversible screwdrivers similar to the ones I got at Home Depot, but they changed the handle to a fancier rubberized plastic, and raised the price.

I'll have to look at making Christmas ornaments, sounds like fun. I went to Woodcraft today and found a piece of basswood I need. It was about 6 feet of somewhat rough 2" x 4" stock, and only $34. Would be easy to break down for turning. I paid $7 for a 2x2x12 block there last week!

Finally, I forgot to mention the copper ferrule on the screwdriver in my first post. I used a heavy copper coupler, and cut it in half at the depression in the part, giving me two ferrules. I polished it with 1" wide cloth backed sandpaper that comes on a roll. I've even used heavy brass hex compression fittings. You can turn them with HSS lathe tools, since they are soft.

Here is a maple and walnut tool handle I made for my bowl gouge. The maple was laminated with thin green veneer thru the center. After gluing, I turned the block 90 degrees and made a curved cut on the bandsaw. i put another piece of veneer between the curved pieces and glued/clamped the block back together. The walnut piece was just glued to the end of the maple. The gouge goes well into the maple, so no concerns about any separation. The ferrule is one of the brass compression hex nuts turned smooth.

[sandman]

Well, you can't beat $2.50.

I make most ornaments out of what I have in scrap pieces.

Larger ornaments can be made from cedar. Very light.

Stack glue a bunch of different color pieces to turn a nice handle on an Exacto knife.

Looks neat.

[LeeR]

Well, you can't beat $2.50.

I make most ornaments out of what I have in scrap pieces.

Larger ornaments can be made from cedar. Very light.

Stack glue a bunch of different color pieces to turn a nice handle on an Exacto knife.

Looks neat.

With all your ideas, I may never progress beyond spindles and try bowls, although making ornaments could definitely be a step in that direction.

I made my wife a peppermill last year that was a glue-up of different woods. This was a challenging turning when trying to bore straight, with all the transitions.

[bernomatic]

****, my lathe just sits there most of the time. One of the last things I turned was a cone to help form the transition pieces for the Mars Snooper.

[LeeR]

****, my lathe just sits there most of the time. One of the last things I turned was a cone to help form the transition pieces for the Mars Snooper.

That's an interesting idea. I assume you mean you are using a balsa cone as kind of a mandrel to help form the paper adapters? Sounds like a great idea. I have not done any paper adapters for awhile, but I remember as a kid always having a few issues with them. I bought a Mars Snooper from BMS a few years ago, and just recently dragged it out of storage to add to my "Winter Build" stack.

[bernomatic]

That's an interesting idea. I assume you mean you are using a balsa cone as kind of a mandrel to help form the paper adapters? Sounds like a great idea. I have not done any paper adapters for awhile, but I remember as a kid always having a few issues with them. I bought a Mars Snooper from BMS a few years ago, and just recently dragged it out of storage to add to my "Winter Build" stack.


Well, you have the basic idea, but I didn't use balsa. I used some scrap 2 x 4's. I had just gotten the lathe and a disc/belt sander and was itching to do something with them. Plus, forming the cones without something to assist was getting me peeved as minor imperfections kept finding their way into the work. I used some wax paper over the mandrels.

[bernomatic]

Some pics

[Coconuteater64]

Beautiful work! Love the screwdriver idea.

[Javelin]

The original NAR scale package for the Atlantic Research IRIS, mentions turning the nosecone out of an old broom handle.

Two things struck me in reading this.

1. The size and shape of that nosecone was not available from any MR vendor at the time. Hence if you wanted it, you made one for yourself.

2. Broom handles were actually made out of wood back then.

[LeeR]

I made one more gift since doing the screwdrivers for the grown-up guys in the family. This is a "Winchester Rubberband Rifle". I made it for my wife's 3 year old grand nephew. We bought him a Davy Crockett coonskin cap this summer, and my wife made him a tan-colored vest. Perfect for hunting critters. 😀