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Duplication multiple turnings

John Torchick

John Torchick

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I have a footstool project in mind for my small man cave. Turning a leg is no problem but making the other three the same is the challenge. What are some ways to do this? I'm sure there are several ways. Thanks for your hlep.
 
The easiest is a lathe duplicator, the next is a story board with measurements along the entire piece
defining the high points and low points. Mark your spindle showing the high and low points and work your
way across the spindle matching the dimensions on your story board. Use your first finished leg as a master
and mount it behind your next spindle on the lathe so you can look at both pieces as you are turning.
 
Lathe duplicators actually have a learning curve also. Mostly in the set up. To duplicate a spindle simply take accurate measurements and sneak up on all the cuts. I use my parting tool to define certain areas and depth of cuts for the top of beads and bottom of coves. I use outside calipers and dividers to check dimensions and spaces. Sometimes it helps to make a full size negative cut out of the piece so you can lay it over the piece your turning and check dimensions and spaces.
 
I demonstrated the technique of the parallex system when I did a demo on duplicating. It works well. For new turners I suggest sneaking up on the design with scrapers. I know a lot of people including me put them down but when you have to really nail the shape of a bead it's hard to beat a skew on it's side. Same thing with coves. A round nose negative rake scraper is excellent. I have finally gotten to the stage where I can do match shapes with bevel rubbing tools but it took a long time. Quite often a customer gives me one piece of rare wood to replace a broken spindle and there isn't a second chance. If I feel nervous at all I reach for the scraper for fine tuning the design.
 
Thanks to all for your helpful advice and the link. Negative pattern- I made on to use for a common shape of a grip for a fly rod. Cut out the contour, put on a 2x2 pine adn marked the outline, cut it on bandsaw and sanded it to remove the fuzzies and high places. Double edge tape and sandpaper completed the pattern.
 
One thing I do when trying to replicate a design is to make the second (and sometimes third or fourth) out of cheap wood to work out any tough spots. Takes the pressure off to be perfect the second time. Once it goes fairly easy, I switch to the good stuff.
 
I am a duplicator--- by hand. I have previously done primarily architectural turnings for 35 years or so. That is balusters, newels, finials, and rosettes, mostly for older homes. I have made as few as 1 duplicate and as many as 75 all by hand and with a story stick. I once bought a duplicator attachment and a separate dedicated lathe and sold it all quickly. It's a long story and I won't bore you all with it here.
 
In the day, a duplicator would be the tool to use for replicating parts on a commercial basis.
You still need a pattern or master spindle to use on the duplicator, many experienced turners
can freehand a spindle quicker than making a pattern and using a duplicator. A duplicator
will reduce the skill level required for making multiple spindles for a project. I have a duplicator
for one of my wood lathes that I use on occasion, I still rough the spindle by eye, but use the
duplicator to make the final profile cut and then sand.
Today a CNC lathe would be programmed to produce duplicate spindles quickly.
 
Duplicator are worth the money if your doing a 50 or a hundred of something. Even 50 might be questionable if you only do it once and you buy a high end duplicator. Practice is what makes duplicating easy. Look at all the guys making Windsor chairs. They get really good at turning those legs just 4 at a time but repetition makes it easy to do a duplicate.
 
1-IMG_0867.JPG It is not

really that hard to duplicate a piece. I use a template with dimensions marked and set all my calipers for the different measurements. Then round to the largest diameter and mark all the smallest . From there it is just a matter of beads and coves and as John said unless you two together you would never see the difference.
So now PICK the pawns that are different.
 
Last edited:
Bill Boehme said:
They don't have to be precisely the same as long as they're close. When the legs are installed on a table or chair or stool, nobody but you will know about small differences.
Click to expand...

This is the fundamental fact -- whether table legs, pawns, whatever. And the more items involved, or the greater the separation of individual spindles, the harder it is to identify small differences. Your eye can be remarkably accurate for turning to size and shape, especially with a bit of practice. If you are really concerned make one or two extra, then choose the ones to use.
 
The biggest problem I had early on when making balusters for stair cases was that my technique would improve as I progressed through the pieces. That is, baluster #5 looked better than #1, and baluster #25 was so much better than the early ones, I'd have to start over and pitch a few of them.
 
I agree with Bill. The ones on the right are darker than the ones on the left. There is about 0.002 difference in the two in the front row on the left. I noticed this after I cleaned my bifocals. 🙄
 
John Torchick said:
I have a footstool project in mind for my small man cave. Turning a leg is no problem but making the other three the same is the challenge. What are some ways to do this? I'm sure there are several ways. Thanks for your hlep.
Click to expand...
you could make them very different so different that no one could tell themselvs that they were supposed to be the same. Celebrate a variety in form
 
I've made large batches (50-100 pieces each) of miniatures for earrings - tiny birdhouses, cupcakes, etc. Not quite identical, but made into "matching" pairs by sorting of size or other characteristics. The final escape clause is noting they're separated by a few inches of the wearer's head.
 
Gerald Lawrence said:
View attachment 21338 It is not

really that hard to duplicate a piece. I use a template with dimensions marked and set all my calipers for the different measurements. Then round to the largest diameter and mark all the smallest . From there it is just a matter of beads and coves and as John said unless you two together you would never see the difference.
So now PICK the pawns that are different.
Click to expand...
Nice work. I've thought about making a chess set just so I could get some practice duplicating parts. 16 pawns seems like just the right level of challenge.
 
At one symposium I taught a class on duplicating spindles. It was the worst attended demo I've ever done. Apparently people aren't interested in learning to duplicate.
 
john lucas said:
At one symposium I taught a class on duplicating spindles. It was the worst attended demo I've ever done. Apparently people aren't interested in learning to duplicate.
Click to expand...
Perhaps it seems too much like work? 😉

I'm warming up to duplicating work. Turning with an idea in mind introduces a challenge that we might not otherwise experience when just spinning a bowl blank to see what comes out. Not that it's always an absolute dichotomy, of course. But I think the control that it takes to turn multiples of the same shape helps develop our woodturning skills in general.
 
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