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I Forge Iron

How many people here spin metal, would like to learn to spin metal or would like to discuss the process?


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Hay Mark-

Take some pictures of the failures and maybe I can help you out. I tought myself spinning from watching youtube videos and I've failed a piece in all the ways possible.... I think.... We can do the Q and A here or you can PM me, either way, I'm happy to help!

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  • 3 months later...

Hello,

I just joined the group, looks like a great bunch of people with interesting projects.

I've been involved with spinning for mos my life as my Grandfather ran the family spinning shop.  My Dad and uncles all worked there and I became a cabinet maker part time spinner.   I would enjoy a forum of sorts on spinning and I imagine I could learn a lot in the process as well as contribute.

Michael Johnston

Wabasha Minnesota

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Welcome aboard Michael, glad to have you. what kind of spinning shop did your folks run, hand or scissor tool shop? Dad's shop was a high production, scissor tool shop in a very competitive market till CNC pretty much took the field.

 

The closest thing I've done to hand spinning is trimming, everything else I did was on scissor tools. There's a world of difference and a lot of hand spinners refused to consider scissor spinning metal spinning at all. If he had to Dad would point out who was applying for a job with who. Once trained it's really hard to go back to the hard old way.

 

Oh yeah, supposedly spinning is the oldest mechanized method of metal working. I don't know but you can spin with next to nothing, a tree with a springy branch, couple boards, couple nails, something sharp enough to cut wood and some grease about covers the MEL.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

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Thank you for the welcome,

My grandfather started at the shop when he was about 16,  so all hand spinning of course. Scissor tools came in time and in about mid 60's ( my Grandfather had bought the company by then) one of the spinners took a power steering pump out of an old Buick and assembled power assist spinning,  where before the handles on the scissor tools being about six feet long, (for heavy material)  my Dad on one my uncle on the other, now with the power assist tools it only took one spinner to do the work. When my Grandpa retired they rebuilt a 22 inch Grabo and sent him home with all the hand tools , patterns etc he wanted and he spent the next 10 years doing small jobs for various people. I inherited his lathe patterns and tools, though I still am a cabinet maker full time.

Michael

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Hey Michael-

Welcome!

It'll be nice to have someone to discuss spinning work with! I started out as a cabinet/furniture maker. I do a bit of same every now and then. I'd like to get more into furniture design and build using more smithing as the structural parts. I spin stuff because I like the way the metal moves... Haven't been able to make much $$ at it yet...

 

Nice pictures you posted of your grandfathers work-

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Michael: I missed the pictures, where are they? Looking at the pic in your header I realize I didn't need to ask what kind of spinning you did. You guys came up with hydraulic assisted spinning? Cool beans. Dad used hydraulic assist when he had to but learned it at Boeing during WWII, maybe before. He spent the War as a guard in a POW camp in Texas. He had critical skills asa a spinner so they wouldn't send him to the war zone. He spent the war running a spinning shop manned by POWs. The first two years they wee German POWs, no trouble and GOOD spinners/machinists/etc. The last years he had American prisoners, murders, rapists, thieves, etc. and had almost nothing but trouble but he turned out spinners so the Gov. was happy.

 

the war years is when he figured out how to build lathes from scrap vehicles and turn scrap into stock to spin. The prison was on a brahma cattle ranch and that was a good reason nobody ran. Dad said it made salvaging materials . . . Interesting.

 

Darn, rambling again.

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You should've heard Dad tell spinning stories. I didn't even think of the Gallery. <sigh> I'll go look.
 
Frosty The Lucky.


He could spin quite a yarn could he? :)

I have noticed you mention scissor and hand spinning in other threads, would you or anybody care to describe the different systems and their tooling?

Alan
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He could spin quite a yarn could he? :)

I have noticed you mention scissor and hand spinning in other threads, would you or anybody care to describe the different systems and their tooling?

Alan

 

I'll give it a shot Alan but it'll take me some time. I need to make some drawings and I've so little experience hand spinning all I can do is show drawings of how the tool is held and a general description of the movements.

 

While the result is pretty much the same, the techniques are a lot different. It's hard to explain so I'm going to have to give it some thought. I think our new member hereditary metal spinner can do a better job. The pics he uploaded today are of parts of a scale you didn't often see from hand tool shops. Seriously impressive work.

 

Please remind me, my memory is in easily distracted mode all the time. <sigh>

 

Frosty The Lucky.

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Just a thought,  this could almost be a skype moment.  (or other video chat such as gmail)  I could set up a bowl pattern on the lathe and go from there.

My favorite thing to do,  well,  one of my favorite things,  is to put a spinning tool in the hands of someone who has never seen it done, the look on their eyes..

I gave a spinning workshop to a wood turners club once, Within those who dared give it a try there was a complete range of abilities.

A concept they find early is that the pressure applied to the metal by the spinner is not constant through the process.

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Nice video! I've always wanted to do some split mandrel spinning. Haven't been able to justify the time to make the mandrels yet... To many other projects to do...

 

It is fun to watch the "Aha" moment in peoples eyes when giving a lesson/demo. 

 

As said above- Any more video's?

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  • 3 weeks later...

That was not my video,  I was just sharing it.  Planning is the operative word when designing sectional chucks, the #1 piece has to be able to fit through the opening of course.

My Grandpa used to tell me of how he once spun a silver sphere with out any seam. I wish I would have learned more from him.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Ok got a ?? is there a certain  rpm you should shoot for to spin ? if so what is it ??

 

I have thought about spinning over the years cause few do it, I will need to make the tools no problem have a welding shop

my lathe is a Large !! La Bond 24" swing 10' table only thing is the new back gear for low low speed work is on the shelf

witch means a total tear down of lathe to put it in, that needs to be done someday but other things are more important 

Unless theres a need or use for it that makes money

 

I can run a lathe but in no way will I call myself a machinist ! there is no machine work here anymore :(  so the lathe sits :(

its way to good a machine to junk & hard to move lol also have a mill that sits

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  • 7 years later...

And...   nine years later, here I am.  Yes!  I'm teaching myself metal spinning on a small wood lathe with shop-made tools and one or two I found on etsy, with the help of a five-day class at the Marc Adams School.  Came here by way of googling instructions on making multi-part mandrels for complex shapes, then remembered I have Terry Tynan's dvds.  Guess I should start there, huh?  I used to have a source for aluminum practice disks, but that dried up.  Does anyone else have a source?

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