Turning a ball on the lathe

Experimenting with turning a spherical ball on the lathe, just turning it between the spindles and then trimming it.
woodgears.ca/la...
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[@KA-uz4pt]

There is nothing more uplifting than someone with such skill and passion showing the imperfections in their creations. You make awesome videos, you're a wonderful teacher and I hope you keep the videos coming. Thanks

[@lastrick08]

That lathe is absolutely terrific !

[@peterbrownwastaken]

I liked seeing your tool progress too! Gouge, scraper, skew, bench chisel. The pursuit of perfect at the lathe is a slippery slope!

[@aromuskosincalti1479]

Its so cool to see two people that I'm subbed to in the same place!

[@LivefreeanddiyTv]

Next up... the "lathe ball scraper jig". I experienced my first lathe a couple weeks ago... I successfully made an object with less wood on it :).

[@thesage1096]

+Live Free and DIY love the way u put it :)))

[@LivefreeanddiyTv]

The Sage hahaha!

[@budblanke5810]

Thank you for the video, I especially appreciate the way you speed up the long work segments in order to allow more time to explain the procedural segments

[@biggseye]

solution for your smooth shaft on the lathe, a washer anchored to one of the upright, a drill stop and a couple of drops of oil. the washer acts a a bearing plate the drill stop holds the shaft in place and the oil reduces the friction.

[@chipscialfa9119]

As one just beginning lathe work and wanting to make spheres, i found this video superb in its simplicity and clarity. Thank you, Matthias. Chip Scialfa Calgary, CANADA

[@MisterMajister]

You should totally do more lathe projects. It's pretty satisfying to watch and the more use of your new machine, the better!

[@matthiaswandel]

+MisterMajister I have a bunch of lathe projects I want to do. But once the novelty of this lathe wears off, I probably won't use it much in the long run.

[@JuanCarlosAquila]

rotating support base, attached below, where it supports the gouge ...

[@mightgetinteresting1550]

Excellent work. Turning a sphere completely freehand has got to be one of the most difficult turning projects I can think of!!

[@ScrapwoodCity]

It works really nice! It would be nice if you could make a DIY jaw chuck! I really like the way your lathe turned out!

[@matthiaswandel]

+Scrap wood City Coming up soon....

[@ScrapwoodCity]

+Matthias Wandel Awesome! Can't wait!

[@MostFolkCallMeOrangeJoe]

+Matthias Wandel Now that will be impressive. Are you doing self centering or independent jaws?

[@josephawatson]

saw a neat trick recently where you print a circle on a piece of paper and use the shadow of the work piece to conform to that circle drawing get it pretty close to spherical without the guide.

[@matthiaswandel]

+Joseph Watson That's a cool idea!

[@HouseofKendama]

I use a small wooden cup I turned to check the roundness of my spheres, very impressed with what you managed to do with that lathe. Turning is too much fun.

[@alspezial2747]

one trick i found to make sure a sphere is perfect, is to take something with a circular opening, put some colour on the edge of it and rub it against the sphere. then just knock of the spots where the colour sticked to the sphrere and repeat until there are no high spots anymore.

[@tomodonnell6383]

'Oh good no flying bits' Ha, I'd say your outtakes are amazing!

[@shanetimberedowl9541]

although it may not be a top quality lathe, it's far better than those early treadle models, and some fine work has been turned out on them. Still, if you don't have a lathe and find yourself needing one for a project, this is perfect!

[@SmallestWorkshopGH]

I like the way you show that with very basic tools and little or no cash you can make those elusive and usually expensive power tools. Well done and look forward to your ongoing videos 👍

[@ryancl03]

if you have a foot switch that disengages the machine upon release, that would help with the safety aspect.

[@Steve.Garrison]

If you made a cup center to fit the head-stock and tail-stock points, then you could keep re-positioning the wood to make it more spherical. Nice work!

[@matthiaswandel]

+Steve Garrison True, but then I would keep tweaking it forever.

[@CMAenergy]

If you put directly under the assumed center of the ball to be cut, a pivot point attached to your cutting of the ball and swing it in an arc. you will have a true sphere. and you can stretch the radius arm to make any size ball.

[@johnbarneswood]

Nice little tip, using the same semi-circle to make a (close to) perfect sphere.

[@andregross7420]

Has this lathe earned a coat of green paint yet?

[@DEADB33F]

+Andre Gross Should have probably done that before greasing the bearing for the first time

[@Everfalling]

well of course the next video should be about making a jig to create flawless spheres!

[@matthiaswandel]

+Everfalling want to bet money on that? I'll bet against you!

[@Everfalling]

+Matthias Wandel damn

[@deezynar]

+Everfalling I think Izzy has one already.

[@deezynar]

Everfalling You haven't seen Izzy's.

[@Everfalling]

+deezynar i have. Not my point though.

[@gamingSlasher]

The low inertia and easy slip of the belt seems like a good feature for all of us that are afraid of lathe catches.

[@benlucas1039]

For the tail stock problem, you can take a 1/2 threaded rod and grind the end smooth, and put a couple of locking wing nuts on the shaft.

[@pheenix42]

That's why turners will use a cutter on a pivot for ball turning. Nice job over all! If you get the details hashed out, I wouldn't mind a set of drawings to make one of my own!

[@thedge7]

Now just make a few more and you have a croquet set.

[@daki222000]

you could sand it with a ring with sandpaper glued to it. cheers.

[@BlueyMcPhluey]

+Flip de boer this is what I came to the comments section for, thankyou

[@Dimka2]

maybe build a cap at the end of the tail stock with a knob or a screw, then you be able to lock in the shaft and possibly give it fine adjust pressure option, basically a box to go around end of tail stock, then you put a bolt through it lining up with the shaft

[@wbtittle]

Pointing out the flat spot increases my confidence in you...

[@WoodenCreationz]

Great video! And yes I was shocked you answered my Pantorouter question shortly after I sent it last night/this morning. Thank you and I do plan on buying your 3d panto template. I bought your big print and use it a lot! Amazing software if anyone has been on the fence about buying it. Ty - Brian

[@eusouosete]

Watching this whilst listening to People Will Always Need Coal from Public Service Broadcasting was a surprisingly good experience

[@davidburson2088]

Matthias, I never expected you to refer to the headstock moment of inertia, which is a dimensional characteristic rather than an indicator of angular momentum. But that faux pas gave me this opportunity to say I look forward to all your posts and am humbled by your creativity.

[@matthiaswandel]

+David Burson Angular momentum is a product of moment of inertia and speed. Moment of inertia is the property of the lathe (I could run it at any speed I want). Please read up on physics.

[@matthiaswandel]

+David Burson Angular momentum is a product of moment of inertia and speed. Moment of inertia is the property of the lathe (I could run it at any speed I want). Please read up on physics.

[@davidburson2088]

+Matthias Wandel MOI is a dimensional quality only, often expressed in inches to the fourth power. A wooden object has the same MOI as a cast iron object of the same dimensions. The mass of the object, which I think is what you care about here, isn't part of the equation. It didn't strike me that you were speaking about the POLAR MOI OF A MASS, since we don't interchange those terms in the industry. I haven't read up recently, but spent 28 years doing the calcs. Sorry to irritate you.

[@DownThereForDancing]

+David Burson I believe you are thinking of the radius of gyration k which is determined by geometry. Mathias is probably irritated because you didn't bother to take a minute to look it up on Wikipedia before calling him out on his 'faux pas'.

[@guineafowl8029]

Matthias is correct - moment of inertia, or rotational inertia, is a property of an object spinning about an axis and is related to the overall mass and its distributon. What he means is: The running gear of the lathe is light so it's easily stopped.

[@_cb336]

Yet another use for the ubiquitous yoghurt carton :)

[@DaWalkDude]

I'd say that sphere you did there could be a very, very nice doorknob!

[@stefantrethan]

Now you just need to make a wooden cannon.

[@10175978]

Press a couple bearings onto that tailstock shaft, then you can hold everything in place easier plus have a spinning tail. Or just put a pin through it so it cant move back.

[@DominikWegerle]

I thought of a simple bolt screw in line, so you could tension or loosen the shaft.

[@karm65]

you need a Shaft Collar on the tale stock shaft their supper cheap they come in two basic types. split ware you have 2 half circle pieces usually held together with screws. and solid ones held with a set screw.

[@webchimp]

Frank Howarth has some nice videos on turning spheres.

[@wparo]

wandelball

[@matt3642]

Neat work! I know it's not your thing but I'd love to see you turn a bowl or something like that as a proper lathe project

[@matthiaswandel]

+Mats Turnings woodgears.ca/lathe/bowl.html

[@matt3642]

+Matthias Wandel ohhhhhh yes I remember that one sorry my bad ! We all want another bowl lol! Thanks for replying

[@tilsyyy]

I have an idea that might fix the problem with the tail stock: drill a shallow hole in the end of the shaft, place a single ball bearing there, and have another piece of wood bear against that by fixing it to the tail-stock frame. Then figure out a method to prevent the bearing falling out when the apparatus is not under load.

[@MattTrevett]

The idler shaft isn't even spinning so you could keep it from pushing out no worries.

[@MurcuryEntertainment]

I wonder if you could make an all wood ball bearing.

[@LamarSineath]

it's probably already been mentioned but I think if you rotate it 90 degrees and put it back on the lathe, you can fix it. you just missed that step. great video, M!

[@PeteHowlett]

I like how you don't care Matthias what people say or think. That you can do any of this stuff amazes me. Well done - even if your lathe tool techniques is suspect :)

[@DaveChurchill]

Could you line the inside of the guide with sandpaper and use it to finish the sphere close to the end?

[@cryophile]

You...you got props from Adam Savage! Congratulations!

[@gsp0113]

Now you just need to make 11 more of them and you can build your own Skee-Ball game.

[@willemkossen]

Perfect sphere, hardest thing. Try a little snowman next. Or maybe a pipe fitting if that is more fitting. (Saw a picture on reddit of one this week)

[@CommodoreFluffy]

oh! i think it might be interesting to see what you can do with wooden ball joints!

[@Dwn2marss]

Came here because we're reading "Art of the Lathe" in English and I didn't know what a lathe was.

[@lxgxfallendrummer5233]

I'm not sure if you will read this but I love the videos. Have been watching every single one. I would love to see you tackle a small model V8 engine out of wood. Designing the block. crankshaft. Pistons. Camshafts. Etc. I think it would be a fun challenging project.

[@CommodoreFluffy]

also i suggest maybe installing e clips to prevent headstock slippage

[@Vnix]

-Homemade Lathe -Building a wooden sphere -Improvised tools ok matthias, ok, im subbing.

[@TheTigero]

you're new here? tons of great content to watch, congrats on the sub, one of my favorite channels

[@alex46215]

now make wood marbles for the marble machines lol...

[@hankus253]

Why not put a cap on the tail stock piece if there's risk of the center moving to the right?

[@HeavyboxesDIYMaster]

Obviously it's not an ideal lathe since it was homemade with basic materials, but still worked very well for basic projects! Well done!

[@brh4015]

This video did not show up in my feed, in fact it still doesn't.

[@simonhopkins3867]

I remember my first attempts at a sphere. lots of shavings and egg shapes :-)

[@vantonspraul]

I'm waiting for the panto-lathe.

[@eternalknives9829]

me too, i guess we will wait 7 more months

[@colinbunnell]

I bet you could make a wicked croquet set!

[@Davedgoochgmail]

If you tumbled an almost sphere wood with some raspy metal, would the sphereosity increase?

[@johnbouttell5827]

Good work. I'm sure you will make a perfect sphere with practise.

[@dannyjepp985]

I understand the benefit of some slack in the belt to allow the belt to slip if need, but it seems like the belt is wobbling a lot when cutting into the piece. Would a third guide-wheel help keep the belt aligned, or would it add too much tension and defeat the purpose of the slack?

[@JuanVillaG]

And next step is: Matt will develop something really amazing to make a perfect sphere...

[@adamgabbert]

This is awesome. Even though I'm a little disappointed because I was expecting the pantorouter to be involved on some level. ;)

[@themaconeau]

Maybe an adapter/adaptor for holding the ball in place, while you shape the ends of the ball after cutting and minor sanding? Something that would go over the existing setup or cound be interchanged, so the work isn't skewered yet, still doesn't fly away. It would be your version of a jaw. I also take it the tension on the belt is adequate? it did jump about a bit >.

[@MrHuyche]

This was incredibly satisfying to watch. Subscribed.

[@bigcat2501]

I think a pedal-powered grindstone would be a cool project.

[@lopezrudy387]

this is a very relaxing video

[@imbored7779]

I don't know much about belts and wheels, though i cant help but feel that this would work better if the motor was further away so that the belt would be tighter?

[@billfromelma]

Hey Matthis, there you go! Now your ready to make fancy Christmas ornaments !

[@lennyf1957]

Far better than I could ever do.

[@saxon215]

May I make a suggestion for lathe related projects, one would be some handles for tools like files, chisels and such, the other idea is conical friction discs for experimenting with wooden constant velocity transmissions.

[@kafeltz]

How do you feel when something you did has a flaw? Perfectionism is a constant pain if you are one!

[@godfreypoon5148]

+Ismael Kafeltz *perfectionism ;)

[@kafeltz]

+Godfrey Poon Sorry, my browser for some reason did not trigger error highlight. (english second language stuffs). Fixed.

[@spinafire]

Why not put something like a nail through the smooth shaft, and then put a washer behind it with the washer sitting on the wood bits to keep the shaft from sliding? Really nice set up for being made out of recycled materials.

[@jameslawrence8734]

+Roborvski There's a lot of ways of preventing it. One i'm going to try is drill from the top through the rod and drop a nail in as a keeper

[@DEADB33F]

Now to make three more and some Croquet mallets. ...Or a giant wooden pinball table.

[@ampedshooter1714]

I was thinking about making a garage pantry/cabinet for can foods and other less used kitchen stuff like large pots and pans. can you offer some insight as to what to use and how to build it? maybe a project idea for you, would be great to see how you build it. thanks

[@Patricksworkshop]

the comments are fun to read

[@athiker7209]

+Patrick's work shop yes they are. Hope your dog is still feeling well.

[@kennedygodfrey9717]

They are always fun to read lol

[@Patricksworkshop]

Ron Briz Ice is doing very good thankyou for asking

[@experiencingtechnicaldiffi5184]

If you thread the right end of the tailstock shaft and put a nut ahead of the right side support the tail can be easily tightened. Drill the shaft and place a smaller center shaft inside against a bearing ball to have a live center. Mike (o\!/o)

[@karagiannwoodmade9330]

Circling the square done, next project squaring the circle.

[@HagobSaldaldianSmeik]

pro tip: make the guide with the same flat foint and it will match the flat surface on the sphere just fine ;-)

[@plunder1956]

Did you have vacuum dust extraction below the lathe? I could see the airflow when you were sanding the ball. For metal and perspex, I use a ball turning tool that pivots the cutter in a perfect arc as I advance the cut. I think you could probably make something like that for your lathe, to get a perfect sphere. An extension of that concept could be used to cut parabolic curves. Or possibly using a template to cut more complex shapes repeatably.

[@fr0stb1te]

what if you took a perfectly round container with sandpaper edges to sand it?

[@alandouglas104]

How about knurling the stationary shaft to prevent slippage?

[@jijzer4581]

Love the idea just rplace some wood for steel an for sure use some ballbearings and you wil have a nice lathe withoit no problems your clever enough to work that out

[@JasonToewsFTW]

If you mount your pantorouter to the table and make a guide, you could make it round...

[@Moraren]

+Jason Toews Why just Do it, when you can Overdo it!

[@MrGreenbottleblue]

Is this how they make the wooden balls for playing ski ball?

[@birkswensen3890]

Love this!

[@DerekRaycraft]

I've heard a large is the only tool that can build it's self. I'm not sure how that would work.

[@jesuizanmich]

Most small lathes I've seen have a heavy headstock wheel, this acts a bit like a mass, which may keep the moment of inertia. Maybe the whole thing is too light and easy to stop. If it is not too dangerous, you could maybe add a bit of mass to the headstock.

[@matthiaswandel]

+Laifs I actually like that it stops easily. Safer that way

[@jesuizanmich]

+Matthias Wandel Ah ok. It seemed at the time that a low moment of inertia might be a bit of a disadvantage. I do agree with safety, a heavy flywheel on the lathe would be something dangerous.

[@MrPeterwaldi]

Thanks for another great video. I have a suggestion for another test with your joint testing apparatice. Steve Ramsey showed in his video about everybody's favourate joinery (pocket holes) how he kind of seals the endgrain of buut joints by smeering a lot of glue in it. I would be very interested, if this method makes butt joints stronger.

[@ronaldziehlke9720]

If my youngest son was to see that, he'd want to play catch with it.

[@Fwumiko]

I was fully expecting the tablesaw to spring up and cut the sphere in half

[@redfreckle2044]

Probably could have gotten it perfect by glueing a peice of sandpaper to the inside of the guide and using that to shape it on the lathe, starting with like 50 grit.

[@K20a3RSX]

Smart!

[@doubledarefan]

Or make the guide out of steel, sharpen the inside, put a handle on it, and use it like an oversize lathe tool. May have to swap out the motor for a beastier motor though.

[@redfreckle2044]

+Double Dare Fan +Double Dare Fan Yeah that would work, although inside curves are notoriously difficult to sharpen well I'm sure Matthias could throw together a jig to do it

[@amanmanvar5832]

What if you glue a sand paper on the inside of the guide and then use it as a tool with Steve Garrison's idea?

[@aiden73967]

if you had made the guide out of sharpened metal would you have been able to cut a perfect circle with it?

[@matthiaswandel]

+Ahmed Canatan Probably not. It's best to cut on just one spot at a time, otherwise it's too much load on the workpiece.

[@jojomoman]

You should try building a wooden bearing out of balls like that.

[@1234Fullerton]

You should make a sphere making jig!