# First stab at spinning metal



## boltmaster (Aug 16, 2011)

View attachment 2560274
I am a pretty good turner but haven't tried to spin metal until today. After some research and a lot of U tube watching I made my own tools and and a form to try to turn copper disks for my birdhouses and feeders. Here is some pix of my set up and a first try. Anyone spinning metal that has any thoughts or comments.


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## boltmaster (Aug 16, 2011)

Finished top


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## boltmaster (Aug 16, 2011)

Tools I made 
Tried to upload all pix on first post but could only load one at a time


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## richg99 (Aug 21, 2004)

Looks great. I know nothing...so...if this is a stupid question...I am sorry.

What did you spin? Was the copper plate flat and then you bent it on the wooden "anvil" Did you cut the circle out of a flat square piece??

Just trying to learn something today. thanks, richg99


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## boltmaster (Aug 16, 2011)

richg99 said:


> Looks great. I know nothing...so...if this is a stupid question...I am sorry.
> 
> What did you spin? Was the copper plate flat and then you bent it on the wooden "anvil" Did you cut the circle out of a flat square piece??
> 
> Just trying to learn something today. thanks, richg99


Rich I am no expert on this metal spinning by any means so no such thing as dumb questions when we are learning.
this test piece was done with a copper disc I cut out of a scrap sheet I had. The mold is the domed wooden thing mounted to the headstock. You place the disc on the mold form and press it to hold it to the form with the tail stock. Then you use the round point to turn or spin the copper to the form you dont get to much time to do this before the copper work hardens and begins to tear and deform. So one or two passes is about it but with thin copper you don't need more than that. I need to make a better and smoother form than the one I have but these will work for now. This form is 15" dia and about 3" deep I really need to either make a smaller one or cut it down. The discs I will be eventually using will be 8-3/4" o d this test was done at 10" and it spun out to almost 10-1/2". I just need to come up with a simple way to roll the edge or order in a beading roller.
Once I get this all down and practiced I will have a friend of mine cut out blank copper and brass discs from 3x10 flat sheets on a water jet. It's always fun to try something new and see it come together .....got to alway push the envelope a bit...no telling where this will take me, but that's the fun of it.


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## speckle-catcher (May 20, 2004)

here's a basic video Rich:


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## boltmaster (Aug 16, 2011)

That a good demo video speckle-catcher
Thanks for posting it


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## richg99 (Aug 21, 2004)

Very interesting. Guess I assumed that those kind of parts are just stamped out.

I learn something every day, I hope. Thanks for sharing richg99


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## Wado (May 15, 2011)

*Metal Spinning*

Man, I had no idea this was possible by hand but I think it has been done before power driven tools were invented. I asked my boss man one time in the machine shop I worked in how they make all those stainless steel bowls they sell so cheap. He described the process shown in the video attached. I give you credit for your first shot at it, turned out pretty good.


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