You?ve seen the special eccentric chucks - you know, the $250 to $400 ones - the Escoulen versions with the ball with a hole in it or the screw that can be moved off center on the chuck. If you?re a tool phreak you?ve probably got one of them on your Wish List. Well there is another approach that doesn?t require a special chuck - but rather a different use for a set of jaws you probably already have.
The October 2006 (Issue 167) Woodturning magazine - a Guild of Master Craftsman Publications, Ltd., has a 5 page article by Dave Regester on how to turn his trademark eccentric trunion box (imagine an eccentric Escoulenesque piece, with a variations of a loose ring in the middle, but rather than a ring it?s a two hemispherical ?box? with a shaft running through the middle of it). The key to his method is to turn a ball on the end of the work piece and chuck it up in a set of spigot jaws - instead of turning a tenon on the piece and sticking it in a hole in a ball in a special chuck.
Turning a ball end is pretty easy, even for a newbie like me. I already have a set of long spigot jaws for a SuperNova2 chuck. Had a roughed to round piece of oak with a short split on one end that became the test piece. Between centers turned ball, change over to the chick, tilted the piece off center so that the live center on the tailstock was close to the edge of the piece, away from the split, and it was off to the races. Turn the tail stock side down with multiple centers - with live center support, then remove the tail stock and turn the chuck side half of the piece, supported only by the chuck. I skipped the loose ?trunion box? part - I?ll try that one - someday - maybe. Works like a champ though I need to better understand how to blend shapes.
The $8.75 US price tag for this Brit magazine, available at my local Barnes and Noble, saved me $240 - plus shipping and handling. Great bang for the buck and got me to try more eccentric turning. Never thought to put the ball on the work instead of in the chuck. Learn something new every day!
charlie b