fluting on lathe

[jeff oldham]

I just bought me a full size lathe,,i did have a mini,,the rikon 70-100 and it was really nice but my wife was wanting bigger bowls and such,,lol,,and I was considering doing fluting on it but don't know much about it other than the flute master that you can buy online,,can anyone give me some info on it,,or for that matter,,doing flutes in general,,,thank you,,and I just signed up,,lol,,this is my first ad,,lol,,I live here in Greensboro,,

 

[Henry W]

Hey Jeff - welcome to ncww.
I can't help with your question - because I have not done it. I will follow the post to learn though. What I do know is that typically I read about people building some sort of jig or platform for the lathe and then using a router to flute.
Hope that helps.

Henry W

 

[jeff oldham]

that's what I was thinking also,,i was just hoping I could find someone who did,,lol

 

[Roy G]

Jeff, if you can get a copy of Mike Dunbar's Woodturning for Cabinetmakers, he has a chapter on putting reeds and flutes on a spindle. His technique is to use hand tools, but it gives you the idea of how it can be done. You might need to get hold of a magazine article on how to set up a router to do the job.

Roy G

 

[Joe Scharle]

I made these on a Routercrafter, but the process is similar. A carrier for the router and an indexing wheel for the lathe. For flutes, that's all that's required. Even though you didn't ask, you can get special effects with a coordinated system like the Routercrafted. Unfortunately, I don't think they're made anymore.

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[ErnieM]

All you need is a router, lathe, and a good jig. Here's one (View attachment FLUTING JIG.pdf) I downloaded from Fine Woodworking magazine. I built it years ago and it worked great for making flutes on tapered spindles. If you don't need them tapered, it's even easier by eliminating the tapering function of the jig.

 

[ehpoole]

I am not a turner, but I have seen people use indexing heads on their lathe combined with a router sled clamped to/above the lathe just above the workpiece. The sled constrains the router's path so that it always takes the exact same path along the length of the workpiece without deviation. The indexing head ensures that you always rotate the lathe by precisely the same number of degrees with each step. Combined you have a means to route fluting, or other, details into your project consistently. I have also seen such used to turn specific sections into polygons, etc.

 

[KenOfCary]

Depending on which lathe you purchased it may already have the indexing built in. Lots of the higher end lathes have an index disk built in. Be sure and check that before you buy or make one. Then you'll only need the jig portion to make your flutes.

 

[Jim Wallace]

Once you mark the flutes using the indexing wheel it's very easy to carve them by hand, especially on a tapered spindle. You carve from the large to the small end of the taper so you are always cutting wood with a longer fiber behind the one being cut.

 

[Steve_Honeycutt]

Jeff,

I made a router jig a few years ago that I used to make two half columns (one column split into two pieces), before I had a lathe. While they were not perfect and it took me much longer than it would have on a lathe, it worked. You can see the columns in this picture:

...and here is a picture of the jig

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I did not use it to flute the columns, but I imagine that it would work the same way.

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[danmart77]

All you need is a router, lathe, and a good jig. Here's one (View attachment 19691) I downloaded from Fine Woodworking magazine. I built it years ago and it worked great for making flutes on tapered spindles. If you don't need them tapered, it's even easier by eliminating the tapering function of the jig.

Jeff that's the one I built with a couple little mods. You can't get much better than that jig for working with a lathe. I work on a General lathe that is in another shop I share with a friend. He turns mostly face plate projects but he uses the jig for other things and loves it too.

I have never used it to just flute a leg in solid form. All of my fluting projects are for quarter columns and this includes the glue up with paper to be split out when done on the lathe. With hide glue its easy. Others use the yellow glue but complain about the clean up. They both work.

After looking at the musical instruments you have featured in the gallery I am sending along some address info on Ed Wright from the Hay Shop in CW that I thought you might get a kick out of viewing.


http://www.history.org/experience/thoughtsonwar/cabinetmaker.cfm
http://msummerfieldimages.com/harpsichord-maker-colonial-williamsburg/
https://anthonyhaycabinetmaker.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/edward-wright-biography.pdf
https://anthonyhaycabinetmaker.word...tions-to-our-harpsichord-maker-edward-wright/