The following photo
tutorial will describe how to prepare, turn and finish
an EPR Bottle Stopper. First, you'll need an EPR stopper block, available
exclusively through Arizona
Silhouette. You'll also need a cone
stopper base, stopper mandrel, drill
chuck, a 23/64" drill bit,
a
3/8" tap and tap
handle, wet/dry sandpaper, various hand and power tools, eye protection
and a dust mask of some kind.
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First,
put on your safety glasses and dust mask. Then secure
your EPR block in a pen vice as shown, to hold the block
securely while drilling. Mount your 23/64"
bit in the drill press and drill a hole in
the center of the block approximately 1" deep.
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Use
a belt or disk sander to sand the hole-end of the
stopper flat.
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Use
a square to insure that the end of the block is
true and at a 90 degree angle to the body of the
block.
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A
3/8"
tap is being used to thread the 23/64"
hole. This is the same thread pattern that the
stopper chuck and chrome cone stopper base use.
Be careful when beginning the tap, to enter the
hole squarely and tap the threads slowly and gently.
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Note
the small chip at the edge of the tapped hole. This
is normal and to be expected. Also note that the
stopper
chuck has been mounted in a #2
MT drill chuck and then installed in the lathe's
headstock.
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I've
made a little wooden block to go between the tailstock's
live center point and the end of the block. This
helps steady the piece while turning, without making
a dimple in the block's end that might split the
block, and would have to be turned away later.
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The
block has now been threaded onto the mandrel and
the steady-block has been installed between the
tailstock and the end of the piece...ready
to turn.
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Note
that the hole-end of the block is flush against
the mandrel's bushing, providing lateral support
for the piece while turning. The mandrel bushing
also acts as a stop-gage, indicating where the EPR
block and metal cone stopper base will transition.
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The
toolrest has been moved as close to the turning
as is safely possible, and about 1/4"
below the turning's center line.
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Using a sharp skew, approach the
piece high, and gently move the skew down until
the bevel meets the turning and begins to cut.
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Here
I'm using a different skew with a rounded cutting
surface. This is a useful tool for cutting concave
surfaces in EPR.
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Now
the tailstock has been moved out of the way and
the toolrest has been moved to the turning's end.
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Again, using the skew, and starting
high on the turning, engage the skew's bevel point
and begin cutting.
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After the piece's shape has been
finalised, it's time to sand. Always wet-sand plastic.
I'm using Silicon Carbide wet/dry sandpaper, cut
into 2" squares. The grits from left to right
are 240, 400 and 600.
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Keep
a cup of water handy to wet down the sandpaper.
We'll use each grit of paper to sand the piece while
the lathe is running at slow speed.
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You'll
know when the sandpaper and turning are wet enough
by the fine slurry that's produced. You don't want
to see any dust at this point.
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After
sanding through each of the three grits, turn the
lathe off and wet sand using 600 grit paper in the
direction of the headstock for a minute or so to
remove pesky scratches.
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Then
remove the turning from the lathe, and you're ready
to finish the piece.
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I prefer to buff using the first two wheels of the
Beall system (Tripoli and White Diamond) immediately
after wet-sanding. A robust Tripoli buff will
remove 100% of any residual scratches and the White
Diamond is a very effective final polish.
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Here
is the finished turning, ready for assembly.
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