AFTER FINDING AN INTERESTING PIECE OF SCRAP BEARING BRONZE, I DECIDED TO MAKE A CANDLE SNUFF OUT OF IT AND A PIECE OF ALUMINUM ROD.
THIS PRESENTED AN INTERESTING CHALLENGE BECAUSE NOT ONLY HAD THE BRONZE PIECE ALREADY BEEN PARTED TOO SHORT TO BE HELD IN THE LATHE FOR ALL OPERATIONS, BUT THE ALUMINUM ROD WAS ALREADY THE SAME SIZE AS THE HOLE IN THE BRONZE, MEANING THREADING WAS IMPOSSIBLE.
I SOLVED BOTH THESE PROBLEMS BY CREATING A DIVOT IN THE ROD AND MACHINING A SMALL THREADED HOLE IN THE BRASS PIECE. THIS ALLOWED THE PARTS TO BE FASTENED TOGETHER WITH ENOUGH RIGIDITY TO ALLOW FOR TURNING OF THE BRASS PIECE WHILE ONLY THE ALUMINUM ROD WAS FIXTURED IN THE LATHE.
THE FINAL PRODUCT WAS TURNED BY EYE FOR AESTHETICS. A WAVY PATTERN CAN BE SEEN ON ALL TAPERED SURFACES. THIS IS DUE TO A DEFORMITY ON THE COMPOUND SLIDE SCREW OF THE LATHE I WAS USING, AND COULD NOT BE PREVENTED.