Steel Guitar Builder

What type of bit (or tool) do you use to round the ends of the square cross shafts? What do I ask for and where do I shop for it?

Hi Thiel,
Mike (Farmer) has a really neat tool that he uses for this. It is shown and discussed here, viewtopic.php?f=4&t=453&p=3466#p3466.
As you see if you read this link it took me a while to figure it out, but after studying it I think it is ingenious. This forum is so full of great information and members willing to share this info.
Hope this helps. I'm sure others will join in soon.
LaVern

If you have a milling machine or a good drill press, you could buy an annular cutter. They are actually a hollow end mill.
Mike's cutter looks like it would do the job
I have a buddy with a lathe who does mine.

I located a tool, but it was $ 190.00 and then found a good machinist who would do the job for $2.00 per shaft. I din't buy the tool, I hired the machinist.

LaVern,

I'd love to read the thread you refer to - I've been wondering about what tool to use. I'm thinking of a hollow end-mill, but they don't seem to be available anywhere in a suitable size. The thread reference you gave doesn't exist - I think you have some errors in the hyperlink. Would you please post it again, in full?

Will

Here you go:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=453&p=3466#p3466

I had to get rid of the "here" that I had in front of the web address. You should be able to read it now. If not go back to the Jan. 27, 2011, in the Building, Pedal Steel in a post from Farmer titled 'pics of tool to round square cross rods'. Sorry about the error in my post. Hope this helps. I see in my preview the entire address isn't being shown. I'm not sure why though.

LaVern Skarzenski

Interesting tool, LaVern. Although I still can't see how you get a variable finished diameter by rotating the inserts - I mean, ok, they have that effect, but they then don't produce a square shoulder on the machined part. Maybe that's not seen as significant?

I'm hoping to pick up a hollow mill with a quarter inch ID, but these things are rarer than hen's teeth.

Bluesteel you are right, the cut shoulder is not square to the shaft, but the small depth of cut needed does make that insignificant. I believe that for the most part you would be turning down just to the point where the turning is " completely cleaned up". For instance when I added some cross-shafts to my older GFI I started with a 5/16" (.313) square shaft and turned the ends down to .295. So you only had .009 on a side that was under the shaft size. The angle we are talking about would more than likely not interfere with anything......I think. I also made my own bushings for the shaft to ride in so I first turned the shaft then made the bushings to fit the shaft dia. If you a person is buying pre-made bushings, the shaft would be made to fit the bushings instead. I have a lathe and four-jaw chuck that I used so I did have square corners so I can't say from my own experience that it won't be a problem, but I cant see how it wouldn't work. The angle would be going towards the center of the shaft thus not rubbing or interfering with anything. Take care.
LaVern

P.S. The angle actually may be beneficial because it would be providing "relief" between the shaft and bushings.
LJS

Fair point, LaVern. Well, if I don't succeed in getting this other cutter (it's a four-tooth annular thing, sort of a hollow endmill) I can make one of these instead. Thanks for the help.

Will

Hey Guys,
I have been reading about the comments about my tool to round rod ends. Here is a picture of a rod end after tooling...