Making Bridge Pins for Sir

Timbuck

Timbuck

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Pete Howlett (The Headmaster ;)) has given me a task..He wants some Ebony bridge pins making for his new "Firefly Bass ukes" ...After a few initial setbacks (co's this is the first time I've ever made these things)..I finaly found an easy way of making e'm..it involves making a couple form tools but it looks like I'm making progress at last :D..Here is a Video I made of the set up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpRvZW4Ooio&list=UUZy2EMxIuULsTGoMthfyFvw
 
I've been doing a similar thing on my Schaublin lathe Ken. I use a button forming tool on the far side as you are, and long form tool to do the entire taper in one cut rather than moving the cross slide. Mine's set up on a double cross slide with a lever and stops so it's very quick to turn out a set of pins.
 
Allen said:
I've been doing a similar thing on my Schaublin lathe Ken. I use a button forming tool on the far side as you are, and long form tool to do the entire taper in one cut rather than moving the cross slide. Mine's set up on a double cross slide with a lever and stops so it's very quick to turn out a set of pins.
Click to expand...
I started out with a full form tool "ball and taper"... The idea was to do them all in one go..took me 2 hours to make it out of tool steel...It was no good tho', the full cut was too much for ebony and it just tore out of the collet:(...It should be ok with black delrin tho so i'm saving that tool for another day.:)
 
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I found that the longest part of the job is turning that square stock round, then making the pins. I now have a 4 jaw chuck and I'm going to try starting out with some 10X10mm stock and see if the interrupted cut is going to cause too much grief. If not it will certainly speed up the production.

Derilin will be piece of cake.
 
Allen said:
I found that the longest part of the job is turning that square stock round, then making the pins. I now have a 4 jaw chuck and I'm going to try starting out with some 10X10mm stock and see if the interrupted cut is going to cause too much grief. If not it will certainly speed up the production.

Derilin will be piece of cake.
Click to expand...
Square stuff works ok but you just have to feed in the tool more steady till the corners are knocked off, and then away you go :)
Getting the square stock central with the 4 jaw chuck is the only problem ..but if the sizes are all exactly the same..once set ! you just use number 1 & 2 jaws .. In my youth the old guys used to mark these two jaws with a splash of whitewash to remember...Now I'm an old guy:eek:ld:
 
I managed to get about 80 pins finished up to this stage....The black hard ebony machines the best:) the brown softer wood has tendency to splinter but they still look ok.... Next i've got to work out a method to cut off the end waste and form a nice polished end button.
 
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I make them when there is a special wood that I want to use. You can't get any of the local Aussie hardwoods in bridge pins from Gurian. But it's just a few minutes work as Ken just demonstrated.

I also inlay all the ends with shell now. Dead easy job in the lathe with a fine feed tail stock. Even those that I have from Gurian, as for so much of that stuff, they won't export any more from the USA.
 
I've noticed that cleaning up the pin ball end to a polished finish isn't that easy against the end grain especialy at the centre tit end after parting off...Maybe inlaying a shell dot is one way to cover up any defects.;)
 
Job Done

Thats about it then about 70 in total (I miss-counted before)....I've looked at a few images of other Ebony pins on the web and these compare quite well...Some commercialy produced ones have an all over high gloss finish..I think this is done with a process called "Hot barrel coating"..where a shipload of pins are put into a machine that rotates while the laquer is applied under heated conditions...But thats out of my league ;) ..if Rick Turner was still here I imagine he could tell us more about it.:)
 
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Very nice work. I'd like to visit you and your shop someday. Bad news is I can't swim that far.
 
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