HUBBA HUBBA my 32-4 Tudor tribute to Gramps

Now this is a motivating photograph! In a totally different way than @Flop stuff.


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I thought this would be easier. Figuring it out as I go. Having a hard time keeping a consistent edge at 7/16 diameter.



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That looks good!!

 

Actually looks really good for what you have to work with.Who ever says its easy is a liar or never done it before jk.Its really tough to do it with out laying it out with guide lines or doing it on a machine with a cross slide indexer.I did my little sample on my bridge port using cratex.Worked pretty good on my sample but not so good on my small panel that had the holes already in it,doesnt like to cut on half a hole.Yours actually looks pretty good.

 

i saw Norm Abrams use a sheet of peg board as a movable table. he had pins in the table of the drill press and a way to anchor the piece he was drilling to the peg board. he would work the drill, then pick the peg board up and move it one hole, work the drill, then move etc...... i think he was laying out for shelf brackets, but something like that could be done for that.

 

@Runnin shine the human milling machine...that looks pretty awesome from this angle. Cool shot too with the reflection of the burnishing tool.

Are you chopping the dowel down to maintain the edge or did you radius the edge?

 

So I’m totally fine with the pattern and straightness. I made my peace with this when doing some preliminary research for going DYI after seeing how costly engine turned stainless sheets machine made are. Once I saw how flashy some old ones were back in the day like Doane’s in an earlier post I realized how it would fit my build better if it was a little sloppy. This works to my advantage all the time with making the car aged instead of Riddler.
My current problem is when I cut a dowel down with a hack saw while the drill press spins away, after I get it cleaned and squared up some(need lathe bad here), I’ll test and break it in on a test piece. I’ll do 5-7 tests loading the face with the compound and it gets dialed in with a even consistent pattern.
When I start using it on the gauge panel I get around 10 or so before I start loosing the sharp edge or a weird glazed portion about halfway from the center to the outside. I’ve had some not swirl about .030” of the center maybe 10-15 times. One dowel pitted itself in the center and some get a build up at the corresponding hallway Point I mentioned.
Im using poplar dowel rod I don’t know if oak would have been better. I have no idea what I’m doing. I’ve tried different rpms, length of duration, pressure, amounts of compound, and tried Adding some every time or 2,3,4. It’s hard to come to conclusions as to what is creating which results. I’ve also shimmed the base to get a more consistent even pattern and this still fluctuates. Again my main complaint is loosing the crisp outside edge. I’m getting tired of removing and fudging with the dowel heads already. And wear rubber gloves let me tell ya.
It is actually pretty enjoyable work and does look cool when you step back. It’s when you peer in that you see the slop. I’ll keep pushing on and get it done. Can’t wait to see it with gauges and the dash painted. If it gets more inconsistent as I go I know people will still be like whoa when they realize I made it myself, the best way after all.
Here’s another one that influenced me but I do not require mine to be as nice



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I think I’m going to use a valve chucked into my drill press, should keep a nice edge and shape but not sure what to use for abrasive as sticking something to it may result in your same issue.

It’s looking good man, glad to see you making some progress

 

I have to apologize to all the boys and girls. I know I post too much and use way too many characters. Outside of Google and my own opinions you are my only consul for this hot rod suit and I don’t want to lead myself to a traditional perjury or ratty verdict?
I went to snap a couple shots of the dowels and somehow misplaced two in the mess. I wanted to show the different wear patterns I’m getting.

I think this is the first one I messed up from overlapping the sheets rough edge on the first row. It makes a smaller pattern and has a dished out center.

This is a fresh test of a prepped dowel, looks good. You see just to the right how far off they can get when the face gets messed up?
Here’s one of the sloppier areas on the panel


And here’s a little better

I’ll post a nice one if it ever happens
And one tip I can share that seems like a no brain’r. Go ahead and keep wiping the compound off to check your progress. It scratches it up really nice



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Try maple or oak dowels. I think both would be harder, more durable than the poplar.


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First off I'll say it again that progress pic looks fantastic. You don't have any idea...your pioneering just like back in the day with a mechanical sense and learned knowledge. Its just another challenge.

Hey heres an idea for re surfacing the dowel...how about placing a protected flat surface carefully under the dowel in the press and use different grades of sandpaper to dress the end. Just run the rotating dowel down into the paper...maybe 120/ 200/ 400 what finish gives the best result?
Hey maybe you tried it already...I know your a thinker.
Heres another ponder... perhaps cutting reliefs as in an X pattern into the end might help or removing a pie relief to the dowel.
One thing for sure the rotation/ sweep is lesser as you get to the center. So the center is not cutting as much which adds a dynamic to the situation...

One of the biggest things that helps pioneers to the top is using a test piece...kudos to you...

So Runnin have fun stay safe...I'm enjoying the milestone...many more to come...

 

Stuff makes your eyes go funny...

Hey I can see it now

'Runnin shine's
Winterfront Reproduction
& Engine Turning Service'



From your last pics your dash is again lookin fantastic...​

 

When I’ve used the drill press to push down onto sand paper it has round the edge some and you can instantly tell in the next results when going back to work. I’ve also tried carefully running the dowel down a file by hand. Currently I’ve been scraping it with a razor blade it taking down the highs. The compound also sands it down. I don’t know if I’m messing up dowels from pressure, speed, or just the service hours(minutes).
My most recent application has been 370rpm with a mildly firm pressure and I count to 7 and sometimes 9 or 10 fairly quickly. When I first started I was counting to around twenty seconds. This was making the metal hot and putting some deep grooves. You could see a step in the stainless between 12 and 4 o’clock. I figured this had to be rough on the dowels.
I wish I could whip some out of my guitar scraps. Some hard rock maple? I wondered what a metal dowel might do. My thoughts are that the Clover is supposed to be doing the work. I suspect if I turned a Aluminum panel it would be easy. The stainless will look more period and classy. Maybe next time I’ll do it on nickel my favorite shiny stuff, well in between copper and brass.


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Try an "elevator bolt" instead of the dowel.

 

We did miles of this for one custome rin a machine shop I used to work at. In both brass and stainless. I twisted wire wheel with tightly wrapped tape around it worked quite well.

 

Looking good.

 

I tried using lapping compound and gave up.The cratex rod was cheap around 20 bucks shipped and stays sharp for a long time unless you have an intermitant cut like I did.The lapping compound was hard to clean up with out leaving lots of scratches.Takes lots of experimenting to get the pattern to look right.

 

A few thoughts. First, have you tried pushing lighter or for less time? I’m sure the stainless is pretty hard so it might take that much but if you could at it in half your sticks would last twice as long. Second, with the overlapping nature of these patterns I doubt in the end that the odd ones will even stand out. If anything a really bad spot might just look like a wear spot from decades of leaning on it to get out of the car or something.

I’ve got a small panel in my mind that I think I’ve got enough aluminum scrap to make but I’m still super curious how each person does there turning.

Seems to be as many methods as swirls!

 

My initial plan was Cratex but then I went overzealous about what supplies I had on hand as apposed to the wait. The initial test results were awesome and made me too confident. I then committed and now am afraid to switch. I’ll try to sneak in a few more rows today and see. It honestly probably fits my build theme as it is working out. But it’s natural to expect more once you start getting geeked out in the process. Who hasn’t laid a nice weld bead and than start wanting a row of dimes every time?
@Tim you would think the abrasive would scuff it really quick. But light pressure and short duration is the biggest factor in my edge problem. It may be a squareness issue(HF drill press). The longer duration and higher pressure is what is making the ruff inner patterns. It’s a compromise.
Thanks everyone for the feedback and support, I’ll try to not let you down.
Wyatt


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My contribution for inspiration......see link below...
and as you said continue with your method its labor intensive and just do it over a few days due to the face adjustments.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...ngine-turned-material-lets-see-yours.1062519/

​

 

I like the home made look you have in this work....Keep going!

 

Wyatt, just remember perfection is boring that is why we like cars with some wear and character, keep going it will look fine once in the car and no one will ever notice except you.

 

In Florida for a few days. First thing that hit me is that there are fools who don’t have to slow down build progress due to cold snowy winters. I’m jealous right now.


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Ya man, our summers are the time our builds slow down, too damn hot some days!

 

Wait you slow down in the winter? Growing up in Iowa and Nebraska winter was build season

 

I wonder how it would work if you took a hack saw and cut 2 or 3 groves on the end of the Dowl. It might help reduce the surface area. It might help by keeping compound in where the polishing is taking place.

 

Half way done, should be a couple more days. I’m getting the hang of it but it’s a very imperfect process. Lots of trial and error. Weird stuff going on like the panel warping concave even though I welded it to a thicker sheet ahead of time when I saw the test panel dents from the drill press pressure.
It should be really cool. One complaint or troubling thought I have is... on the first few rows I lightly polished it with Mothers shown in the previous pics. This evens it out and shines it closer to chrome like. I’ve noticed now that the rows I have done since look much more contrasting and machined. Sadly I’ll most likely have to polish the rest too for balance. It ends up looking like my stock insert which I had thought was worn out from all the years.

It didn’t have much pop. I’m afraid the polished version will sometimes not show the turning. Like when all my fans look through the chopped door window opening at all the big shows while I collect my trophies


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You are way more patient than I am

 

My patience tends to wax and wane. It’s getting better with age. Sometimes I’ll try to push through on things like this to get something I really want. Thing about me is when I like or love something I really like it a lot. I have have a terribly addictive personality. I want to achieve my vision with this car more than anything and I fight hard to not settle for less than “cool”. But if you really look through my crazy you’ll see that I take on these stupid proceees to have something that I lack the patience to obtain by normal means.


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I suppose I have around 4-5 hours in the engine turning part not the set up. Hopefully another 3-4 will finish it,then holes and cut out.


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