What would be a tight grain wood. I would be turning wood knitting needles for my wife and her friends. Something that would not catch on the yarn.
Thanks, Dennis
What would be a tight grain wood. I would be turning wood knitting needles for my wife and her friends. Something that would not catch on the yarn.
Thanks, Dennis
Definitely not oak. I'd use cherry or maple. You may need a steadyrest to do long thin objects. You can make your own. If you go commercial, a wonderful one is the Oneway steady rest.
jet makes a lathe for turning pens
d> What would be a tight grain wood. I would be turning wood knitting
Any of the fruit woods, cherry, pear, apple. They are favoried for the small, mechanical parts used in musical instruments, too. Also hard maple, willow, and rosewood. Stay away from the 'furniture' woods, walnut and oak. Dan
Really, ANY wood-would work... but the smoother the wood, the less finishing might be required.. You might make some of the early one's out of the 2x2" poplar stock sold at the borgs to get a bit of turning experience... Mac
Dogwood. It was used to make shuttles for looms. The more it is used the slicker it gets.
Thanks for the advice.
The needles my wife wants will only be 7" long and double pointed.
I have access to tons of wild cherry and some rose and dog wood.
Again thanks a ton for the great advice.
I will report back with pictures if I can.
Dennis
Where do you live, Dennis?
What times are you and the family usually not home? *g*
Mac
I did some for a customer last Christmas. I used Bocote, maple, mesquite and cocobolo. They were all great for the purpose. I went ahead and did an extra set for my mother who loves them. My client wanted something different than the woods at the knitting stores. The maple needles were dyed in bright colors. A steady rest and a good skew and you are in business. I used a metric wrench set to size them in conjunction with a caliper. I roughed them witht he caliper and did the final sanding until the wrench fit. There are several sizes depending on the use. I did 2 sets 13mm some at 6mm and 8mm seemed to be the most popular. Expect to break a couple of the early attempts. Relax and enjoy the shavings.
Dennis Ewing San Antonio, TX
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