[Mike Krall]

I was just rereading Lin Rhea's domed pins tutorial. At the end of the first page... post #20... Ed Clarke had a curiosity about head-spinners. I've got one, too. What things do you use them for? How? Why? When?

Mike

[Lin Rhea]

Head spinning

This is a good illustration of how to use them.

[Mike Krall]

Lin Rhea, on 31 July 2012 - 10:39 AM, said:

Head spinning

This is a good illustration of how to use them.

Thank you, Lin.

Do you spin pins?

Mike

[Lin Rhea]

Not specifically. I would if I made more folders. It would be nice to have that option though. I need to get my hands on a good spinner.

[Ed Caffrey]

This is one of those areas where I need practice.....or better yet, be able to look over the shoulder of someone who does it well. I built a set of "head spinners" a few years back....turned down some 52100 and THOUGHT I had it right....but even doing it as shown in that video, I just can't seem to make it work.....at least not to my satisfaction. Has anyone ever seen a set of commercially available carbide head spinners? I suspect that my biggest problem was not getting the correct contours on the ends of the tools.

[ABS Webmaster]

This is the YouTube video discussed in this thread:

[Steve Culver]

Like Ed, I've never been satisfied with my results from trying to spin a pin head. I have a high-speed-steel spinner that I bought years ago. I tried some modification to it to see if I could get better results, but I'm still not satisfied with it. The pins that I have tried to spin always wind up with circular rings and gouges on the spun heads. These marks are almost impossible to clean up.

What exactly is the head spinner is supposed to do to the pin material? Is it to just cut the end of the pin into a rounded end, or is it to mushroom the material over to make a head that is larger than the diameter of the pin?

I've never tried a carbide spinner. Maybe the carbide is superior.

[Mike Krall]

Lin Rhea, on 01 August 2012 - 06:05 AM, said:

Not specifically. I would if I made more folders. It would be nice to have that option though. I need to get my hands on a good spinner.

After reading down through the rest of today's posts, it sounds like coming on a good spinner isn't easy. Sometime/somewhere in the past I got the idea spinning pins actually flared them a little, not just rounded them off.

Mike

[Ed Clarke]

Thanks, Mike, for bringing this subject back up. I had almost forgotten I'd asked!

Lin, that video was very helpful...now I understand. I'll have to give it a go sometime

Thanks

[Mike Krall]

Ed Clarke, on 10 August 2012 - 07:22 PM, said:

Thanks, Mike, for bringing this subject back up. I had almost forgotten I'd asked!

Lin, that video was very helpful...now I understand. I'll have to give it a go sometime

Thanks

Ed, I had forgotten I had an interest in it until I read the domed pin thread again.

One thing that is maybe related... where Steve Culver got rings and gouges even after modifying the tool. I watched a custom rifle builder put a finish on some metal with a wire wheel (0.005" wires) and 3-in-One oil over 400-grit (U.S. grit numbers, not European). He never let it go dry and he said letting it go dry would cause galling. The finish was a very light gray, high luster. Causes me to wonder if oil, or maybe wax, on the pin and spinner would change the outcome?

Mike