Newbie Turner: How do you match projects to be made?

[Brian Sommers]

Say you want to make 10 spindles/leg chairs/etc the same.

How do you do this using your lathe?

I only have a small 10x18 mini-lathe (HFT)

I see people using calipers and other measuring devices and drawing lines on your blanks?
It still seems to me that there is still a lot left to "eyeballing it."

[Rich Sabulsky]

I like to use a story stick. Basically it's just a piece of wood or cardboard with the points of transition marked so you can make your cuts. Here's a pretty good article that does a better job explaining it than I can: http://www.newwoodworker.com/turning/trnlegs.html

[Scott Lux]

I've used a story stick, calipers, and cutout templates. The best thing I can say is if you need 10 the same make 13 and pick the 10 closest.

[John Keeton]

Rich referenced a good article. I do a scale drawing and adhere it to a piece of scrap plywood or hardboard and transfer to the bottom edge my story stick. This gives me a constant reference for the various cuts and the various transition points/diameters.
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My my apology for the upside down phone pic. I was too lazy to get out the camera and fiddle with resizing the image on the computer.

I can also recommend the Galbert caliper if you intend to do much of this type of work. http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/galbert-caliper.aspx

i would add that you are correct in that there is still a lot of doing it "by eye" in getting the right curves, etc.

[Robert Henrickson]

I simply measure/mark landmarks onto the spindle, establish overall diameters, then turn everything from that point onward entirely by eye.

[Thom Sturgill]

All of the above and if they are for say, hall tables pair close looking ones where they are positioned close together. Ones that are further aprat can have mare variance without being noticeable. I saw a bannister where the turner used three different patterns and rotated between them. That way your eye could not compare the similar ones to see the differences.

[John K Jordan]

Brian,

Making two things identical is much harder than making just one. For 10, it takes a system.

I draw a rough sketch of the profile of what I want on a thin piece of wood and mark each high and low spot. Hold the marked stick up to the cylinder and mark each high and low place.

I measure the original at each place and set a caliper to each diameter (plus a "little bit). I use a thin parting tool on each marked place, holding a the caliper until it just barely slips into the groove. I hold the caliper against the work with my left hand while making the groove with the parting tool with my right.

When I turn the piece I stick the stick with the marks and profile behind the work so I can reference it as I turn.

For most turning you don't need to know the exact measurements (except sometimes for tenons) so very cheap vernier calipers work as well or better then the expensive ones.

A long time ago I bought a dozen of these from Amazon when they were about half the price they are now and no outrageous shipping fee. I don't where to get them cheaply now. They are perfect for the lathe - I used them on almost every project. On some I round the tips a little.

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[Mark Greenbaum]

Make a full-sized drawing of the curves, and glue to masonite, and cut it out and sand it precisely. As you turn use it as a feeler gauge, and you'll be able to see exactly where you need to remove more material. The first woodworking company I worked for made exact templates of 12 gauge steel for the first Brooks Brothers store outside of NYC. All of the checkout stands were tall secretary desks of solid cherry, and the legs had to be perfect.