Which ball turner?

My scrap material Bedair variation. Like Jason, made to suit centre height. The screw head sits in a cross slide tee slot.

Hi Clive

I can now see how a smaller lathe with a boring head fo a ball turner is a bit of shoe horn job.

A round piece of tool steel does a good job and cuts left and right

This is the MEW Boring Bar set up as a Ball Turner. Has turned out a lot of stainless knobs to replace plastic ones.

Eric

Well I’ve bought the Hemingway kit from Clive - thanks for all the advice everyone. Much appreciate the ideas and input.
Cheers,
Jim

Hi Jim,

If you go to the boring head style make sure you look at **LINK**

He shows the best idea for a cutting tool, using a circular insert ceramic tool tip. No grinding of difficult angles for the cutting tool, a brilliant system! ------ I see I am too late as you have made your decision, but any others either using or contemplating the boring head style should take time out to look at this.

Regards,

Nimble Neil

From the dark distant past. That's a lump of bronze in't middle.

I can't recall using it for much more than a couple of handles, as on the turret here ...

Cheers.

Sam

My ball turner is the second one in this link.

Ball Turner

I chose to use a slim insert to give good access but it still fouls the workpiece sometimes. I think using a triangular insert would be even worse.

I also made a ball turner for my wood turning lathe using 6mm round carbide inserts and that works very well. I have seen a metal ball turner that uses the same insert but I don’t know how well it works cutting metal balls.

Here's mine:

Accessory adapted for my dividing head. The cutter carriage is a surplus Flexispeed topslide riveted to a No.2 MT, although this could easily be a boring head ( I didn't have one at the time I made it). The tool is manipulated by using the helical gear as a hand wheel.

Rod