Engine Turned Finish

[Hank.W.E]

I was inspired by this site:

http://www.cs.ucr.edu/~eamonn/et/et.htm

Here's my first serious attempt at this. This project is a back splash plate for my taig lathe.

[dly31]

Looks real nice! I always liked engine turned finishes.

Don Young

[SteveM]

This project is a back splash plate for my taig lathe.

Hey, now I know what I want for a backsplash behind the stove!

Nice job.

Stvee

[Jose Rivera]

Awesome !!

[Flybynight]

Looks good,
I have liked that finish, but I don't understand how you do it.
Good Work
Jim

[Hank.W.E]

thanks for all the comments!
H

[SteveM]

but I don't understand how you do it.

You put a tool in the mill or drill that can be a felt buff or a dowel.

You charge the tool with abrasive.

The tool is spun and pushed into the work, then you move the work and do it again.

You keep repeating until you have done one row, then you do the next row and so on.

How that fellow in the link does that on compound curves, I have NO idea.

Steve

[Hank.W.E]

Perhaps the guy on the website uses some sort of 4th axis set up to go around curves.

Stevem is right about how this is done. I experimented with abrasives, and found a method that works for me. It's easy to spoil the finish if you wipe off rubbing compound after you are done. Other factors like avoiding overheating of the work will come into play as well. It isn't hard to do this...it just takes patience, and in my case some experimentation first.

I created a jig to hold the work at two slight angles....making the top left part of each circle dominant. It wasn't anything fancy, just a 2 stage platform that allowed me to set an angle one way(X) on the first stage, and another (Y) on the second. Once I was satisfied with this set up, I squared up and clamped down the work. I made the my circles top down, and left right. I did it all in one session. My jig helped eliminate unwanted overlapping, and ensured the "strong part" of each circle stood out the way I wanted.

Another important thing is to start with a clean, buffed, scratch free surface.
cheers,
H

[Jose Rivera]

My guess is that he has the pad slightly tilted.
Where a full print will show more than half a circle, then the next one on top and so on.

The only way to achieve such exact geometry is moving the pad at equal spaces. Possible done on a mill or with a X-Y table on a drill press.

I have done (sort of playing) similar patterns in smaller scale using a wooden dowel and lapping compound. But just to just play and nothing final and serious.