Project Tutorials

Rolling Pin

Click image for enlarged view

I have a wood scrap in the chuck that I turned a ½” tenon and a square shoulder on. This centers the shaft hole on the headstock end and acts as the drive center under compression.

With the cone center in the tailstock end of the barrel, I now size the barrel to its finished diameter. I sized to 3” plus about 1/64” to allow for wood removed during the sanding process

Light cuts with a sharp skew will leave a good finish for sanding on most woods.

I am using a 1 ¼”skew with a straight profile on the edge to take light scraping cuts that remove any ridges. Starting at on end and working across the barrel, I can make this a true cylinder ready for sanding.

Check the barrel with a straight edge. You want a flat surface all the way down the barrel length. If a dip is found mark the area and turn the rest of the barrel down to it.

I wet the wood for sanding. The rolling pin will be washed at some time and that will raise the grain. I am pre conditioning the wood and removing the grain raised by that washing. I also reverse the lathe direction between grits of sand paper and re wet the wood. Grain pushed over and uncut by one grit of sand paper is then cut when reversed by the next. I sand up to 400 grit on this project.

Turn the tenon away and clean up the endgrain. Make the end straight where the face of the handle will contact the barrel.

The purple heart blank for the handle. The piece is 1 ¾” square because that is the thickest piece I have. Rough the blank to round.

True the end in preparation to drilling. I use a flat side of the skew to check the end.

I am drilling a 5/8” hole to fit over the shaft. Drill the hole deeper than the length of the finished handle so there is a hole all the way through after parting off. I am making the handles 4 ½” long. The hole in the barrel is ½”. The larger diameter shaft in the handle will give me a positive stopping point when I glue the shaft in place.

Part through the handle cylinder at this point.

The cylinder parted off with a 5/8” hole.

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