[brushpopper]

hey guys, i'm new to woodturning but i've turned out a few duck and deer calls over the past few months. lately i'm noticing that my holes are coming out off centered. i thought the mandrel on my lathe may be bent so i ordered a few new ones from rockler.com and tried one out tonight and the problem is still occurring. I sharpened my rough out and tried it on a block this evening. the mandrel came off the tailstock and bent pretty badly. i tried the other mandrel (also new) and when i got finished with the barrel, i still had one side thicker than the other. any thoughts on what i'm doing wrong?

 

[Gary Beasley]

Maybe your bushings are off center. Have you checked for runout on your setup? Mount the bushings and bring the rest close and hold a tool just brushing the bushing and rotate the drive by hand and observe the contact. Check to see if the tailstock lines up with the drive point.

 

[brushpopper]

i'm not sure what runout is. i did set everything up, minus the wood, and run the lathe with a pencil in the middle to see if the mandrel was warped and it did bounce a little. the bushings i'm using aren't very old, i got them for christmas.

 

[firehawkmph]

You may be putting to much tension on the mandrel, causing it to bow. When you bring the tail stock up, don't over tighten it.
Mike Hawkins

 

[Bob Willing]

What type of mandrel are you using. Are you using the expandable rubber bushings that use the pen mandrel? Try this link http://www.flinthillsduckworks.com/Mandrels.html

I started out using home made mandrels than bought the Hut expandable rubber ones and settled on the ones in the link.

Here is another choice which uses a collet chuck from the same supplier.http://www.flinthillsduckworks.com/Collet-Mandrels.html

 

[ghost5]

If you are using the expanding rubber bushing there is a simple fix for them. Take them off the mandrel, open the door and throw as far as possible. For every turner that can make them work there are a bunch that have your problem. I turn using a $15 pen mandrel and had the same problem until I turned a set of tapered jam chucks to go on the mandrel instead.

Drill a hole in a piece of wood the size of the mandrel shaft and put it on. Turn two cones out of it and part them off. Done. When you turn a call one cone goes on the left end then the blank then the other on the right add bushings until you can tighten the knurled screw. It is a little harder to finish the exhaust end but at least your blanks run true on the mandrel.

 

[BassBlaster]

Would a pin chuck be a better option than a pen mandrel?

 

[ghost5]

Would a pin chuck be a better option than a pen mandrel?

I need to make a couple of those to try out. If nothing else they would make finishing the exhaust end easy.

 

[BassBlaster]

Nova sells a set of pin jaws of you have one of thier chucks. I have a set and use them alot.

I would assume a home made pin chuck would require the use of a collet chuck so thats something to consider if you dont have one.

 

[Bill White 2]

Check out Capt. Eddie Castelin's site. His latest post is about making duck calls.:thumbsup:
Bill

 

[ghost5]

Went and checked Capt Eddie's video. Now I like Capt Eddie I subscribe to his channel but man if people think that is the way to make duck calls correctly they might be in for a surprise IMHO. 4" barrel which create little back pressure, an insert which he keeps calling a trumpet only a couple of inches total and him saying measurements don't matter. Oh well not my worry but I know a lot of folks that make them that might disagree. I think I will stick to what I do on duck calls.

Still like Capt. he does cool stuff usually with what is around the shop.

 

[Bob Willing]

hey guys, i'm new to woodturning but i've turned out a few duck and deer calls over the past few months. lately i'm noticing that my holes are coming out off centered. i thought the mandrel on my lathe may be bent so i ordered a few new ones from rockler.com and tried one out tonight and the problem is still occurring. I sharpened my rough out and tried it on a block this evening. the mandrel came off the tailstock and bent pretty badly. i tried the other mandrel (also new) and when i got finished with the barrel, i still had one side thicker than the other. any thoughts on what i'm doing wrong?

If you want real advice on game calls go to these forums:

http://www.customcalls.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl
http://thogamecallsforums.com/index.php
This forum may have experts but the above links are the best!

 

[Manuka Jock]

i'm not sure what runout is.

No worries there mate , I'm not sure what a duck call barrel is :laughing:

Runout ? miniscule 'wobble' in the machine

Check this out