Nose cones !!!!

[Funkworks]

Unless it is a ball bearing drill watch it for heat.

I would start with balsa, but I think it's a DeWalt 20V brushless. In any case, it's yellow. I'll check the model number when I get back home and review the specs for any hints on friction management.

 

[Greg Furtman]

C


Check out You Tube, search using "wood turning hand drill"..

Here's a couple of YouTube videos about making woodlathes out of mostly plywood.



I have an old Rockwell lathe but if I was going to build one I'd use Baltic Birch plywood and order a "replacement part" spindle which would have both a Morse Taper and a threaded end for faceplates & chucks. There is a company in Lincoln, NE, Surplus Center, that sells very nice bearings at a low price.
https://surpluscenter.com/

 

[Funkworks]

Unless it is a ball bearing drill watch it for heat.

So my drill is this one and I can't confirm any ball bearing is involved.

In any case, I'll first try it with balsa and 40 grit sand paper, and check for heat.
Then I can gradually try chisels and different types of wood until something bad happens.

 

[Greg Furtman]

So my drill is this one and I can't confirm any ball bearing is involved.
In any case, I'll first try it with balsa and 40 grit sand paper, and check for heat.
Then I can gradually try chisels and different types of wood until something bad happens.

@Funkworks DeWalt makes good tools & this looks pretty HD. Should work!

 

[58pan]

So my drill is this one and I can't confirm any ball bearing is involved.

It will work.
It is just almost all drills are not designed to run steady for long periods. So they are built with bushings instead of ball bearings. Consider how long it takes to drill even a big hole to how long it will take to turn a nose cone.
I just wanted to let you know to keep checking it because it will get hot.

 

[Blast it Tom!]

The other thing about drills is they really aren't built to take side loads. The don't care too much if you try to ram a dull bit through hardened 4140, but too much side loading could cause bushing wear and a wobbly chuck. Which is not the same as our dear Dr. after umpty 12 hour shifts in a row handling coronavirus issues. (or maybe it's similar...)

ETA: of course, we do use drills that way sometimes- wire brush wheels and the like - so try to keep the side loading aspect light and you ought to be ok.

 

[dosco]

Wow, some excellent ideas (plastic goblet, for example) that I'd never considered. Dang!

 

[caveduck]

I made hundreds of balsa nose cones on a vintage 1970s no-name corded electric drill clamped in a bench vise, and later on a Milwaukee corded 1/2" drill until I finally knuckled and got a drill press and lathe. They all worked fine...the original one's service life came to an end when the switch wore out. The drills got a little warm but nothing catastrophic. Side note - the best balsa roughing tool I ever discovered was the back side of a box cutter knife blade.

 

[dosco]

Dave:
Could you be a bit more specific on the "box cutter knife blade" ...?

The box cutters I used back in the day used a single edge razor. The backside was a thicker piece of metal folded over the blade.

Cheers-
Dave

 

[caveduck]

@dosco I don't think they're the same thing. Mine (20+ years old) is a metal handle with trapezoid shaped one-piece blades. They are relatively thick and have a fairly sharp bevel down to the cutting edge. There are other kinds of handles out there that hold single-edge razor blades, which sounds like what you're describing.

 

[dosco]

Dave:
Ah, I see what you mean by "box cutter."

So … how do you hold the blade to use the backside to hog balsa? Isn't there a distinct possibility of the sharp side slashing the heck out of your hand/fingers?

Or, are you holding the blade in a different way? (sorry … yes, I'm slow, dim-witted, and confused)

Regards-
Dave

 

[caveduck]

Just a two-handed grip for a bit more stability...pretty minimal risk, in all those years I never cut myself *this* way. . You can play with the angle of the point to control the rate and precision. I also tried regular wood lathe turning chisels, but for smallish nose cones, say BT-50 and under, they seemed harder to use.

It's worth mentioning that commercial nose cone makers use Dremel type rotary tools as the cutters on a lathe. I never tried that by hand but it might be worth a shot.

 

[Greg Furtman]

I made hundreds of balsa nose cones on a vintage 1970s no-name corded electric drill clamped in a bench vise, and later on a Milwaukee corded 1/2" drill until I finally knuckled and got a drill press and lathe. They all worked fine...the original one's service life came to an end when the switch wore out. The drills got a little warm but nothing catastrophic. Side note - the best balsa roughing tool I ever discovered was the back side of a box cutter knife blade.

The only tools I've ever owned that I needed to replace switches were Milwaukee. Go figure.

 

[Greg Furtman]

@dosco I don't think they're the same thing. Mine (20+ years old) is a metal handle with trapezoid shaped one-piece blades. They are relatively thick and have a fairly sharp bevel down to the cutting edge. There are other kinds of handles out there that hold single-edge razor blades, which sounds like what you're describing.

I worked contruction and cabinet making for many years. I discovered a very nice, well-build utility knive made by Sheffield in England. Tey are very nice and really hold the blade very well.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000EFBAFK/ref=twister_B081XFTCKR?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

[dosco]

@caveduck
Now I know why I was wondering about "box cutter" … I call that thing a "utility knife."

Anyways, thanks for the pointer.

-Dave

 

[beeblebrox]

Nothing works better than a belt sander...I set the side of the sander on the edge of the drill press table. For longer nose cones, I 3d printed a bearing block for a dowel. Put a dowel in both ends of the balsa block. One goes in the drill, the other in the bearing block. (This is a back up plan now, as I am 3d Printing all cones now...)