Week 2, Day Three

The Lathe!
The initial lathe project was doming the plastic heads of two Delrin hammers.  The goal was to create a slight dome on the flat end of the hammer, because the tools will be used for dent removal on rounded objects (brass bells).  A rounded hammer will follow the arc of a brass bell as opposed to a flat surface.

The initial set up of the lathe is very precise.  The lathe speed for plastic is 400/diameter of the object.  This means the smaller the diameter, the faster the speed.  My first hammer was my trial object on the lathe.  After following the set up procedure, I used a large file to create a slight dome on the end of the hammer.  For a medium cut, I then used 400 grit sandpaper to smooth the hammer heads.  Finally, using Tripoli, I buffed the surface to a smooth, polished finish.