Deadeyes. Another Approach.

Following on from the previous post, I was not happy about the requirement of changing the work holding for every deadeye, when I intend to make several hundred of them. The problem is the need to drill holes in one axis (the Z axis) and then to turn or cut the outside circumference and to turn a groove into that outside circumference. Plus rounding over all of the sharp edges. All in a piece of wood which is smaller than a flattened pea.

So, I consulted my expert CNC friend Stuart, on the suggestion of Brendan, another GSMEE member, who remembered Stuart’s brass handwheels which he made on his Boxford and churned out multiple copies.

“Why don’t you use the Boxford CNC lathe?” Stuart said. “Ideal for such small objects”. “And use the milling attachment for drilling the face holes”. (without changing anything except the tool)

He came up with that solution in about 10 seconds, after I had explained what a deadeye is.

That model deadeye is 5mm diameter, 3.2mm thick, and has 3 face holes about 0.8mm diameter

I had been thinking about solutions for several days, and spent a whole half day making the annular cutter which I described yesterday. Using Stuart’s solution, the annular cutter wont be necessary. Oh well. It will come in handy one day. Maybe.

IMG_8279
This is my Boxford TCL127 CNC lathe, and shows the CNC milling attachment on the tool post. So it has X,Y and Z axes, and a motorised CNC rotary axis, which has an independent speed control, and can be instructed to go to any angular position. The attachment was designed by my brilliant friend Stuart Tankard. Made by me. It is small, but IDEAL for deadeyes. Definitely the way to go.
Some tiny handwheels made by Stuart on his Boxford CNC lathe with milling attachment. A bit bigger than my deadeyes, but more complex. The deadeyes should be deadeasy in comparison.