WTB Lathe Duplicator

Flute Maker

Mike
User
I am a flute maker and would love to have a lathe duplicator for my Jet 1642...something like the Vega D36 or maybe some other model would be great.Or if you had started making your own and gave up on the idea and want to sell what you have started or if you have ideas that would help me that would be appreciated!

Thanks in Advance
 
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Colin Helms

Colin
User
Mike I have the lathe duplicator that I bought to cut 4 table legs that will work for your lathe. I paid over $400.00+ for the duplicator and I have an extra cutter for it too. Make me an offer.

Colin
 

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chris_goris

Chris
Senior User
Ive got one too... Its a Delta, let me get some pictures, Ill sell it cheap! ITs in my way
 

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Oka

Casey
Corporate Member
You can just make a guide jig on a stand or attached to the lathe frame and then rough in your design close to the jig. Finally use the jig and a skew to detail it out. The Chisel would need a 90 deg tab to follow and track on the jig.
 
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bob vaughan

Bob Vaughan
Senior User
I appreciate it but I thnk Im going to pass on the idea. Thanks a bunch!!!

Your intuition is spot on.
As an add-on accessory to a manual wood lathe, the gadgets sold as "duplicators" really aren't all that one would hope for. "Hairball Approximator" would be a more apt definition.
Decades back I read Ernie Conover's comment that the best duplicator is on the ends of your arms. I was disappointed to read that at the time. After some turning practice and having tried a couple of "duplicators" I came to understand his point.

A good steady, razor sharp tools, and a little practice and turning one at a time by hand is much faster. Below are some poplar spindles I did several years back.

1 duplication - 1.jpg
 

chris_goris

Chris
Senior User
Your intuition is spot on.
As an add-on accessory to a manual wood lathe, the gadgets sold as "duplicators" really aren't all that one would hope for. "Hairball Approximator" would be a more apt definition.
Decades back I read Ernie Conover's comment that the best duplicator is on the ends of your arms. I was disappointed to read that at the time. After some turning practice and having tried a couple of "duplicators" I came to understand his point.

A good steady, razor sharp tools, and a little practice and turning one at a time by hand is much faster. Below are some poplar spindles I did several years back.

View attachment 197676
It depends actually.... While I dont disagree honed skills are FAR superior, These skills can take years for the casual user to develop, This I know first hand!. I have seen very few really good spindle turners in all my days woodworking. They are typically chair makers. A duplicator actually works quite well in lieu of all these skills for larger diameter turnings. Table legs for instance, where the details can easily cleaned up after the "hairball approximator" does its job, many times with just sandpaper.
 

bob vaughan

Bob Vaughan
Senior User
I think both Mike and I would be most interested in the make and model of the duplicator you used that you found successful.
Most I've seen relied on a 1/4" round scraper point. The Vega a friend had was pretty good at getting close but my tests with it felt a little clumsy. I had a Toolmark that I tried for a few jobs and found it lacking. I still had to dismount the mechanism to do the finish turnings. When doing that, getting the spindles re-centered accurately was problematic. Besides that, the cutting tool would dull quickly and had to be removed to be sharpened. This meant resetting things again.
 

bob vaughan

Bob Vaughan
Senior User
Oh.
I should not have missed that and I did.
That Delta 46-408 a pretty good duplicator as bolt-on duplicators go. Way better than the Delta 46-840 I'm used to seeing for sale.
List price for the 46-408 in the 1998 price list was $743.00. The lesser 46-840 was $477.00 in the 1998 price list.
 

kevin waldron

New User
Kevin
Minimax T 124 is a Fairly quick and accurate duplicating lathe...... have had one for years and love it for small items and spindles... it allows Lexan patterns as well as actual parts... Lexan patterns work much better and can allow much sharper following. Fast and accurate in fairly fast fashion.


Also have two Vega lathe duplicators both being over 8'. Best reproduction can be had using a router and a 1/8"- 3/16" bit... ( Still have a Delta as shown as well and it does fair work with the proper bits and the proper templates...... actual parts never work well. I've found that acrylic or Lexan templates work best... even above hardboard or plywood) Vega duplicators work very well if you need to produce left and right turns (clockwise and counter clockwise) say like on a reproduction grandfather clock if you use the router. Vega duplicators also allows you to do pencil post beds using the router if you have a long lathe and copier.

Note: Vega Duplicators on the back of large lathe.

You want the best go for a CNC and CAD software.....Laguna as well as a Techno all work well

kw
 

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Willemjm

Willem
Corporate Member
I tried a duplicator once, on someone else’s lathe.

The challenge is speed of production.

Turning by hand is about four times faster. For new turners, copy the critical dimensions with calipers and on the curved sections use a profile gauge. But once a few copy attempts are successful the profile gauge never gets used again.
 

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