Re: Making toroids

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "Antonio Carlos M. de Queiroz by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <acmq-at-compuland-dot-com.br>

Tesla list wrote:
> 
> Original poster: "Andy Cleary by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>"
<cleara-at-twcny.rr-dot-com>
> 
> The bulk of my time down there has
> been turning down a piece of steel to correctly fit into the
> tailstock, turning steel is slow going, especially when going about
> 1/2" depth!  Besides that, it seems pretty easy.

I have been making balls by metal spinning with success:
http://www.coe.ufrj.br/~acmq/spinning
I can make balls with up to 15 cm of diameter with this setup, maybe
a bit more.
A toroid can be made with a similar procedure, but two forms are needed.
What you want at the tailstock is a "live center". I improvised mine
from a tool holder, a ball bearing, and a cut screw. It's not
necessary to make this part from steel, as the forces are not strong.
Of course, a steel tool lasts longer.
The procedure is easy, but you will fill some trash cans before
dominating the technique...

Antonio Carlos M. de Queiroz