Do the bead scrapers work well and is it worth investing in a set or just learn to do them by hand.  I want to do do a lot of them 10 beads on over 100 pieces and repeatability is key on this project.  These will be cut in teak for a historical ship restoration. I suggested taking the pieces to a cnc shop but the historical society wants them made closer to the way they were really made originally.

I have an Ashley Isles beading tool, it works well, but I don't use it often. These come in 3mm and 6mm

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More often, when I when I need to make beads, I use thin parting tool to get my spacing then use a skew or a fluteless gouge. But then I never needed to make a 1000 beads.

What size bead Harold?  If you are talking large beads like over 1/2" then by hand MAYBE the fastest.  If you are talking smaller beads and have an old gouge then you can grind the flute in a back angle and use the flute for your bead.  I bought a set of small gouges and never used them so I made beading tools out of them by grinding a angle from the top of the gouge wings to the back edge of the gouge (I guess they are about a 20 to 30 degree angle).  I have worn out some larger gouges and have reground them the same way.  Now have a set from about 3/32" through 3/8".  Spindle gouge will leave the bead without deep grooves between beads and bowl gouges will leave you a deeper groove between beads.  This is because the flute is making the bead and the spindle gouge does not have as deep a flute as a bowl gouge therfore the wings don't cut in as deep.  If you try this make sure you sharpen/thin the outside edge of the wings a bit so they don't burn in but cut in.  When cutting the bead this way bring the tool rest close but enough room to angle the tool down and run at a higher rpm (not dangerously fast) to get a nice clean cut on most all woods.  You need to cut slow on woods with pronounced early and late wood rings so the tool won't grab and tear the soft fibers.  Sorry for the long post and I hope it makes sense.

Dale

Ken,

I am in Breckenridge at our time share.  I will post a picture when I get back to town.

Dale

If I understand your question Chuck yes I used my eight inch grinder to grind the profile.  Simply set your wolverine flat plate to the angle you want.  Set the tool on the plate with the flute straight up.  Push the gouge straight into the grinding wheel.  Now sharpen the wings from the outer edge to thin them and sharpen them so they will cut.  As you use the tool it will be pointing down from the tool rest so the wings will be cutting into the piece first.  Keep cutting until you reach the bottom of the flute and you have a bead.  If you keep the bottom of the flute edge sharp you will have a perfect bead and smooth to boot.  I often don't even need to sand them (we all know how much of a bear it is to sand beads).  I hope that helps in visualizing it and how to form it.  When I get back into town I will post a picture of the bead gouge and how I use it.  I finished a locust bowl before christmas with three beads that are about 1/8" each and connected side by side.  I'll see if I have a good picture of it and post it as well.

Dale

Dale

This is a great idea Dale.

Thanks

I got home a couple of hours ago so here are the pics I promised.  They are not very good but I think you will get the idea.

The first photo shows the three all with flute up and the second shows approximate angle used on the tool rest. The second also shows how to grind the front edge angle of the tool.  Note the rest is farther back than it would be to use the tool but I needed set it there to get a pic.  When you see the angle off the tool rest you can imagine why you need to sharpen the top of the flute wings so they cut and not burn there way in.

Dale