Robust Lathe Review - More Woodturning

Turning a Flag Staff for aBoat Continued from Page31Once the drilling from oneend was completed, the wood wasreversed on the lathe and the processjust described was repeated on theother end. I was very pleased whenthe drill broke through into the holefrom the other end and proceededdown the length of the wood to theother end. This meant that I hada hole that was virtually centereddown the piece of wood and thereshould be no problem of getting thewire through.Then using a pair of calipersand a parting tool, I was able to markthe diameter at a number of pointsalong the wood. It was then a simpleprocess to use a skew chisel to turnthe wood to final shape as shown inFigure 5.Figure 4. This photo shows the drilling of the hole with the long5/16 inch drill. The end of the drill has an old drill chuck attachedto serve as a handle.Figure 6. The recess to acceptthe chrome cup is shown here.This piece had two pieces ofchrome plated metal that needed tobe fitted one on each end. On thelarge end, which I think was the topof the piece, a chrome cup shapedpiece fitted over it at about 2 inchesin diameter. On the other end wasa chrome cap that must fit over theFigure 5. The piece has been turned to diameter and is ready forsanding.wood. This latter portion is shownin Figure 6. The larger diametersection is shown still in the chuckin Figure 5.I haven’t heard back as towhether the piece actually workedfor my friend’s son. But hopefullythe wire to the light is not too largeto pass through the 5/16 inch hole.This was a bit different project thanthe stuff that I normally turn, but Ifound it a fun project and enjoyedevery minute of it.Page 32 More Woodturning February 2010