Micro mini goblets

[john lucas]

I finally had time to get back in the shop and give another try at making really really really small goblets. My last ones were small but kind of ugly in shape so I concentrated more on shape this time. It's still hard to fine tune the shape since the stems measure from about .010" to about .015. I don't have a good way to measure them yet. I was visually comparing them to wire that I could measure with calipers.
The first is a photo of my setup. I had to jury rig a way to move the stereo microscope in very small increments to position it correctly. I rigged my camera bellows attachment rail to the microscope and then attached that to a cross feed vise. That gave me 3 axis which helped a lot.
I attached the wood which is smaller than a match stick to a pin chuck and put that in my big chuck with extended jaws. The tool rest is 3/8" x 3/4" x 1/8" and is attached to the big 1" bar to go into my Powermatic banjo. You can actually move this massive rig a few thousandths to reposition the small tool rest. I love the powermatic for this reason alone.
Laying on the tool rest are my tools. The big roughing out tools are .025" piano wire and the small ones are .015" piano wire. ONe is a skew and the other is a spindle gouge. I used the skew mostly. I shaped and sharpened them on fine and ultra fine diamond hones. Through the microscope it looked like I was sharpening them on the sidewalk. Very rough looking but left a clean edge.
I hope to get a better photo of the goblets than this. I just don't have the equipment at home anymore. Before the great digital revolution I had all the necessary equipment but had to sell it and buy the new junk which is more expensive and won't do the job.
The smallest goblet is .040" high or about as high as a penny is thick. I think that's about as small as I can go because I started blowing up the goblet heads and feet. Don't know why I didn't break any stems because they are about .010" thick. I used Tulip wood for the small ones. I don't know what the big one is. Believe it or not they will stand up. I undercut the base with the toe of the skew just like I do on the big ones. When I do the good photos I'll try to stand them up.

 

[David Drickhamer]

What, no captured rings? 😀
I like turning small stuff but never this small, yet.
Nice work.

 

[Vaughn]

Now that's impressive, John. I heard for ballast, you had four single-serving packs of sugar on the lower shelf of your Powermatic. I hope your lathe bearings are still OK after that workout, too. 😛

 

[Joe Greiner]

Whenever I turn tiny stuff, I use a jeweller's loupe for close-up viewing. Unfortunately, sometimes my nose is in the way. My dentist uses binocular loupes in an eyeglass frame, and I usually warn him not to leave it within stealing distance.

 

[Rob Wallace]

Whenever I turn tiny stuff, I use a jeweller's loupe for close-up viewing. Unfortunately, sometimes my nose is in the way. My dentist uses binocular loupes in an eyeglass frame, and I usually warn him not to leave it within stealing distance.

Joe:

I bought a pair of binocular loupes on eBay (from a domestic supplier - be careful about China/Taiwan sellers) for about $100 and they are very helpful for doing a variety of precision work in addition to turning very small things. If you plan on buying binocular loupes, you'll need to check on the interpupillary distance specific for YOU (...which is why stealing your dentist's set might not work too well! 😉), and consider the magnification versus depth-of-field needs that will match the kind of work you intend to do with them. I have used the "Mag-Eyes" magnifiers which work pretty well, but the binocular loupes are MUCH better overall for long sessions of small-scale work requiring magnification.

Rob Wallace

 

[Alan Trout]

This can be described in one word. Incredible.

Alan

 

[Timothy Rowe]

Penny size

I just want to know where you got a penny that big.😀

Incredible work.

 

[Tim Rinehart]

That is amazing...

Makes me think of the guy who carves the tip of pencils...what patience you must have!
Very cool, captured ring or not!😉

 

[john lucas]

I looked at the loopes my Dentist has. They are expensive and not very powerful. I'm using a 20 power stereo microscope. I tried regular magnifiers but you lose the stereo vision and can't tell exactly where the tool is. It is inconvenient because I have to move it to hollow the goblet and then move it back to turn the outside. That's why I have the elaborate rig. It needs to be improved.
I have some super tiny wire at the house and will look at it this evening to see if it's possible to make smaller tools. Right now I've gone as small as I can go because the tool is as wide as the distance between the foot of the goblet and bowl. Consequently to turn smaller I need smaller tools.

 

[bill easterling]

Tiny Goblets

John,
Contact Joe ruminski .He turns super small goblets.Says he sharpens his wifes sewing needles.

 

[john lucas]

I tried sewing needles at first. They are actually kind of large, like the larger tools shown. They are also somewhat hardened and break easily. I annealed a few and they worked better.

 

[Joe Greiner]

Dental picks (from a surplus supplier, not my dentist) can be sharpened to a needle point, and they have handles already. The hook type can even be used for captive rings.

I was only kidding about stealing the dentist's binoculars. And twin loupes have limited magnification, because of the interpupillary distance that Rob mentioned. I investigated a DIY version a couple years ago, and found that beyond about 4X some sort of periscope light path would be needed for each eye, and then focusing distance goes to pot. Ordinary binoculars have periscopes too, and binocular rangefinders even more. In stereo aerial photography, the "interpupillary" distance can be about half a mile.

 

[cwearing]

Heads or tails you have a winner!

 

[john lucas]

I have played with dental tools. They work down to Doll house scale but are either too large or flex to much for my scale. I have a whole set that I use for camera repair problems but gave up on them for turning. It only takes a few minutes to make any tool you need.