LOML wanted some wooden curtain rods for our front windows. Problem is, they only came 8' long & the window was 9' + to outside of casing. So I needed to splice 2 rods together to make the length. I'm using a splined rod, so it has to align fairly straight. Here's how I built a jig to line bore the rods for a dowel glue up:
First, I took 4 pieces of PW 10" x 10" and cut a 'v' notch in the center that coincided with the height of the bed tube on my Craftsman lathe. I then cut a dado in each piece to spline them together & drilled leveling screw holes in the 4 base points.
After that I squared the bases with the lathe bed & spotted register points on the bases. The upper supports were then registered to the base by placing the drill bit back into the thru hole drilled at the spindle center & sliding the v up to it. A notch was then made in the bottom of the upper support to clear the bed tube & the base v was lowered for larger stock.
A slot and corresponding hole were drilled in each set using a 3/8" router bit in the drill press for height adjustment. Then a stretcher was added & here it is:
To set up, I chucked the piece to be turned in and adjusted the headstock end to seat the piece in the 'v'. I then used 2 try square heads on one ruler to establish this height off the bed. Moving the tailstock end to the same height produced a seat for the piece that was in line with the centerline of the headstock axis. And we're ready to drill!
I thank you for looking & hope you find this useful.
First, I took 4 pieces of PW 10" x 10" and cut a 'v' notch in the center that coincided with the height of the bed tube on my Craftsman lathe. I then cut a dado in each piece to spline them together & drilled leveling screw holes in the 4 base points.
After that I squared the bases with the lathe bed & spotted register points on the bases. The upper supports were then registered to the base by placing the drill bit back into the thru hole drilled at the spindle center & sliding the v up to it. A notch was then made in the bottom of the upper support to clear the bed tube & the base v was lowered for larger stock.
A slot and corresponding hole were drilled in each set using a 3/8" router bit in the drill press for height adjustment. Then a stretcher was added & here it is:
To set up, I chucked the piece to be turned in and adjusted the headstock end to seat the piece in the 'v'. I then used 2 try square heads on one ruler to establish this height off the bed. Moving the tailstock end to the same height produced a seat for the piece that was in line with the centerline of the headstock axis. And we're ready to drill!
I thank you for looking & hope you find this useful.
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