Turning Bollards

[ron david]

I have turned over a 100 of these over the years for the town I live in. they go along the waterfront, 8 1/2"Dia x 42" with a 2 1/2" hole x 12" deep in the bottom
these are the blanks from the sawmill


with all the corners knocked off


turned but just have to clean off the spigot on top


done 1 1/2 hrs each

going to the works yard. you can see the hole in the bottom


there is always a little variety
ron

[Brian Kent]

Beautiful, Ron. Do they keep a natural finish or are they painted?

[ron david]

they put that ugly orang tinted cetol marine varnish on them
ron

[John K Jordan]

Fantastic! And that is the vehicle I need!

What are your tools of choice for turning large spindles?

JKJ

[Mark Greenbaum]

Fantastic work, there, Ron. What type of wood? Cypress? Do they sit on a steel post anchored into concrete alond the pier? Please show a photo of the installed product, and of course the rest of the panel van (Willys, Chevy, Dodge?). Thanks for posting.

[Adam Petersen]

Cool project. What do these do exactly? Sorry, I'm severely landlocked and have never heard of a bollard. Cool looking store too! Handsome shop-dog!

[Brian Kent]

They can be used for anchoring ships to a dock, or nowdays for traffic control and safety.

[David Delo]

2 1/2" x 12" deep is a pretty good size hole. Did you drill them on the lathe or some other method? I've done some holes that deep for a couple vases but only 1 3/4" D with the Carter Strongbore system. If I was making a bunch of them, always thought it might be quicker or easier to come up with a fixture to hold them vertically on a radial drill press.

[ron david]

Cool project. What do these do exactly? Sorry, I'm severely landlocked and have never heard of a bollard. Cool looking store too! Handsome shop-dog!

thse are what the bollards look like installed and also a sign that I carved for them


ron

[ron david]

Fantastic! And that is the vehicle I need!

What are your tools of choice for turning large spindles?

JKJ

i just usually use a big bowl gouge to even it up, then on these I use an 1 1/2" shew. there are a lot of nasty knots in these things too
ron

[ron david]

Fantastic work, there, Ron. What type of wood? Cypress? Do they sit on a steel post anchored into concrete alond the pier? Please show a photo of the installed product, and of course the rest of the panel van (Willys, Chevy, Dodge?). Thanks for posting.

the wood is Douglas fir and the do sit on a steel post. a picture has been posted. It is not called a panel /van; just a panel. it is a a 64 GMC 4 x4 panel which I have had for 26 years. it did have a 4 cyl Detroit diesel in it for years . it is going thru a major rebuild as I have gotten a much better body for it a gone back to a small block chev; a 283 actually and a 5 speed. also had a 5 speed o/d behind the Detroit.


ron

[daryl moses]

You do great work! Love your pups.

[ron david]

2 1/2" x 12" deep is a pretty good size hole. Did you drill them on the lathe or some other method? I've done some holes that deep for a couple vases but only 1 3/4" D with the Carter Strongbore system. If I was making a bunch of them, always thought it might be quicker or easier to come up with a fixture to hold them vertically on a radial drill press.

it is a process and after you have done 30 of them you know you have done a days work. they are all bored out on the lathe. I know I had pictures of the process, but cannot find them so I will take some more as it is easier than trying to explain it. I don't buy any fancy systems for doing my work. usually I will just make what I have to do the job. I had a discussion on here about this a while back and a few people got annoyed with me
ron

[ron david]

You do great work! Love your pups.

Thank you. there has been a Chesapeake Bay retriever in my shop everyday that I have worked for the last 42 years. they are my eyes and ears around the shop while I am working and good company
this Moge and I brought her up out of Sebastapol


this guy was Inde and he came up out of Wellsville, Mo

[ron david]

as to boring the 2 1/2" hole this is what I had to do. it is a 3 stage set-up as drillong end grain can be a wandering process. I built this box just for this but have made adjustments to use it for others. the box does get centred and fastened to the lathe bed. the 3/4" sawtooth is used first as it will go straight for it's legth. I then use a 3/4" ship's auger and first cut the spiral tip off so that it will not pull the auger in. I supply all the power by pushing the square blank onto the auger and it will then go straight until it reaches the desired depth. it is a stop and go process as one has to stop and clear the waste. then I mount my 2 1/2" cutter in the chuck. this is where a little muscle is required. this drill or cutther is made from a length of 3/4" cold roll with an aluminum square shank mwhich i also made to fit to stop it from spinning in the chuck when the pressure is applied. the cutter is made from part of an old planer blade and silver soldered in. The shaft protrudes about 7/8" in front of the cutter so that it can use the auger hole as a guide. from there on it is push stop clear it out and the guide hole gets filled also. i had my feet propped against something so that I could push at times



the chuck is an early axmimster 5" 4jaw. think I got it in 89 when I upgraded my headstock. It was discontineud years ago but all the newer jaws will work in it
ron