Anyone ever do Engine turning?

I'm looking to learn how to engine turn a gage panel we are making for our project truck. Anyone out there ever do it? Thanks.

 

If I told ya, I'd have ta kill ya. Better yet B Boy, do an intro so the Fly Girls don't get heir panty in a wad. And try "SEARCH" button. Many a talented guys here on the HMAB have done this.

ken

 

Engine turning is easy to do. You can buy a thing called a "cray stick" from Eastwood, which is a peice of rubber mounted on a steel mandrel to fit in your drill press. The rubber compound has a fine abrasive powder in it. run the drillpress at medium speed, and bring the cray-stick down to lightly touch the surface of the material you are "engine turning". Try to use the same pressure each time. start with a peice of material that is already polished to whatever lustre you want because you can not polish it afterwards without polishing out the "swirl" marks. for more info, do a search on "Damascening" ---that is the correct name for engine turning. In ancient history, the armourers of Damascus would use this surface treatment to give a special finish to the suits of armour that they created---thus the name Damascening.

 

Thanks for the info, Eastwood here I come.
As far as an intro, not much to tell. Into cars and such, that's how I found this site. I'm liking it so far, lots of knowledge here.

 

Eddie---It seems that Eastwood doesn't call them "cray sticks" any longer, or else I've got the word wrong. They still sell them, but look at "engine turning kits"----its been about 30 years since I bought mine.

 

Where ya from Eddie?

 

I'm right outside the wonderful town of Branchville NJ.

 

Hey Brian, good lead. They sell kits! Thanks!

 

Brian, do you use some kind of lubricant while you do this?

 

You can do it dry, or with some light lubricant. If you use some light lubricant, the abrasive impregnated sticks will last longer, but its messy as heck, and it does give a different look to the swirl pattern than doing it dry. Only a very light pressure is required. I found that the most important steps were to prepare some guide strips, attached to the drillpress table, marked out in half swirl diameter increments so that when you make the sheet of swirled material your pattern is consistent.---It really shows up badly if you mess up the consistency of the pattern, both in the X and the Y plane. The swirls should overlap one and other by 50%.---and be sure to start with polished material---you can not polish it afterwards.

 

Do a search on HAMB for "CUSTOM DASH TECH". It's a great 'how to' post that should help you out a lot.

 

Man, you guys are great!

 

I used some scotch brite pads glued to a wood rod in the drill press. All kinds of ways to do it.

 

I think the industrial company is called CRAYTEX.
anyone know where I can get sticks other than eastwood?
As for the X n Y....The bridgeport is PERFECT for this!
good info.

Mike

 

Class A Yep, thats it "Craytex" damn, I knew it was cray-something. I did a search earlier today for "damascening" and found some other suppliers for tooling, ---seems it is also called "jewelling" and is used by gunsmiths and watchmakers as well.

 

I use a flat valve (intake/exhaust) and glue scotchbrite to it. A LOT cheaper. If doing it on aluminum, ATF works great as a lube.

 

I used silver engine turned vinyl to make mine...was a square foot for a buck....good enough for the girls I go out with : )

http://s178.photobucket.com/albums/w244/mbmopar/?action=view&current=IMG_2232.gif


Sorry, can't seem to shrink them down enough.
Derek

 

I have done some using 600 grit wet or dry sand paper glued to the head end of an allen cap screw . Super glue a few up , trim the paper to the contour of the cap screw , water for lube if you want .This method allows using the drill press stop to control pressure because the material does not wear down like a craytex, when the paper starts to wear out, put in a new bolt.

 

got my cratex from mcmaster carr.look under cotton laminate abrasive deburring and finishing sticks.they last forever it seems.

 

Once you get the hang of it you'll start turning all sorts of stuff. I get my cratex from mcmaster too, but I mostly use little bitty ones.

 

If you want a larger pattern you can use scotchbrite pads as suggested in another reply. The easiest way is to use the Roloc style which come in 1", 2" and 3" versions. If you are doing straight lines it helps to clamp something to the drill press to use as a guide (2 x 4 etc.) Mark the guide with the spacing that you want to get an even pattern across the item and adjust the clamp position for each row. We have done a number of front engine dragster windshields this way and they turn out great.

Roo

 

Man, I knew I came to the right place for good information. When I get something done I'll post pics. Thanks guys!

 

I got some from Enco, but any industrial supply or machine/tool suply should have them. You can get different grits and diameters. I put mine (1/2") right in the collet for my mill and used it that way. Worked great.

 

Did you guys using Craytex use lube? Motor oil, or WD-40? Cutting oil?

How polished does the material need to be? Could you just sand it uniform with 400 grit?

What grit Craytex would be a good starting point on aluminum? How about for stainless steel?

 

i've done it with roloc disc, available in many sizes the works pretty good.

 

I use medium grit on everything. No lube. Clean up the edge of the stick with a knife when it starts to get ragged to keep your circles sharply defined. If you let the edge of the stick get ragged the pattern gets poor. In the pictures above I used the same size/grit on the .45 barrel hood as well as the titanium knife liner (I make pocketknives) you see on the milling table. Cratex works on everything I've tried it on.

There are lots of ways to try this. I've even seen someone use a wood dowel and valve lapping paste.

-Ben

 

Don't get the eastwood sticks! There are better and cheaper ways! I bought the eastwood kit and tried it. It's slick, but you get inconsistant turning and the kits are WAAAAYYY overpriced for the overall quality it produces. The sticks they sell are also available at alot of abrasive shops for a lot cheaper if you want to experiement with them.

I had the best luck with an elevator bolt with stotch bright. Still not consistant enough for my taste though. Going to try some of the other things mentioned here. I have a whole firewall to do, so I've been thinking about making a custom table and fixture to do large stuff accurately.

 

I wish I had a better picture. I hope it comes out. Anyway the inner fenders and firewall were done by my dad and a friend using scotch brite pads and a drill press.

 

I used a 3/8 rubber fuel line on a drill bit and some valve grinding compound works good and cheap.