How to taper wood?

[dabull22]

I want to taper a small piece of wood on one end...something similar to a bullet. Anyone have a technique I can use to do this symetrically or do I need a lathe?
Thanks

[redbird46]

If you mean small enough to fit a drill chuck, just put the wood in the drill then use a fine file and/or sandpaper to get the shape you desire.
Norb

[dabull22]

Originally Posted by redbird46

If you mean small enough to fit a drill chuck, just put the wood in the drill then use a fine file and/or sandpaper to get the shape you desire.
Norb

Thanks for answering, but im not sure what you mean. The piece will be about an inch wide at the the widest part.

[mark yundt]

Not sure how long the piece is and what you have to work with. But you could just carve it to shape using whatever knives/chisels you have handy to get it to the general shape you want. Then if you have a belt sander you could position the sander upside down and rotate the piece against the belt. Sand it by hand,,use an orbital sander.
If you don't have any knives or chisels you could file it to shape. In some cases ( not the best) I have done quick general shaping using nothing other than a bench grinder if you do it slowly.
Again,,I don't know how much you consider a taper going from one inch to a point over what length. It could be a blunt bullet type shape,,a long tapering point ,,or even more like a cone. It can depend what your looking for that will determine the best,fastest,handiest way to go about it as well as what you have as far as tools go.
A lathe,,don't have to,,but that too works well.

[Irish]

Hey DaBull!

You have a few excellent suggestions so far on the actual physical tapering process. I would add here that I would first make a chip board template of the profile that I wanted.

On a sheet of regular printer paper I would work out the shape of the taper. An easy way to get a smooth line is to cut a piece of soft wire several inches long. For a 1" long taper I would cut a 5" piece.

Make your drawing of the dowel, just a pencil sketch that might be 1 inch wide by 4 inches long. Mark your center point at the top. NOw make a pencil mark where you want the tapering to begin ... your post suggested one inch down from the top.

Lay your wire with about 1" of tail above the center point ... put your finger on the wire to hold it in place. Grab the tail of the wire and gently pull it into a curve until it touches the point on the side of your drawing where you want the tapering to start. Another finger clamp.

The excess wire - the other four inches - gives you enough wire to hold on to as well as helps the wire bend gracefully.

Now all you have to do is grab a pencil and run it along the wire to create the curve.

Now I would grab some craft paste glue and glue that drawing to the inside of a cereal box. When the glue is dry you can cut out the curve and use the chip board cereal box template to check your progress in carving the taper.

Susan

[Thomp]

take it to a cabinet shop, have them use a tapering jig with a table saw, watch the process.. best way to learn is pay for it to be done sometimes....

[mark yundt]

All the ideas are great,,,but as I said,,how long is the taper? We can guess all day and throw out suggestions. Is it one inch,,,or does it taper over the length of 3 ft with flats on it as Thomps method will produce or is it to end up with a smooth round taper as you thought a lathe would produce originally?
Everything ,,including my suggestions which ran the gamut, were only based on assumptions of what WE thought the taper is supposed to be.

A SPECIFIC answer is difficult when the question is somewhat vague and undefined. I'm sure you have a shape in mind,,I was reading the question as to how you go about making that shape on the piece of wood and what tools would produce it. If you do know what shape you want,a plane,knife,chisels,sanders,grinder,files will put a bullet shape on the end of a dowel shaped piece of wood. It depends on what tools you have on hand that will determine how best to use them to get the required shape.

[dabull22]

Thanks everyone for the replies...I want to make a fire piston about 4 inches long as seen here...

[mark yundt]

Ahh,,,now I know. And ironically enough I was just reading about them this morning! Really interesting how they work,,I especially liked the demo.
Well,,I first have to ask what types of tools/experience do you have? I only ask because I could tell you all sorts of things that you either aren't equipped,or skilled to handle. I'd say a lathe,,but you seem to indicate you don't have one. The most critical area of these things is the bore ( as I'm sure you already know). Getting this as smooth as possible is key to getting it to work.Once you have the bore in place,,and you don't have a lathe,,you could possibly spin it by using a dowel inserted into the bore,,and using a fixed drill or even a drill press. But,,all things considered,,the block of wood could remain square,,it won't affect the function of the piece. Getting it to look like a bullet is cool,,but not necessary. If you do want to make it look like this,,and you're starting with a square block then any of the above options, Knives,chisels,grinders,sanders etc. will work,,just not as quickly or efficiently as a lathe.
A shotgun shell design would look neat too. What reminded me of this is one of the knives in my collection looks just like a shotgun shell. Something to consider. And ,,considering the force necessary to make one of these things work a wide base ( to bury in your palm or set against a tree ) might serve you better as you'll get a better grip.
To get a good bore,,at least a hand held drill is needed if not a drill press. To smooth out the bore a smaller dowel wrapped with sandpaper should do the trick.
The owner just contacted me about doing some carvings for his pieces,,,that could be fun as well.
So let us know what tools/experience you have and we'll go from there.

I thought from your question you had an idea in mind for something specific and not looking for a pattern,,I just wasn't sure what exactly. This is really neat.

[dabull22]

Thanks for the ideas mark. I have little experience/tools as of now. What tools should I get to get started on this? I do have a drill already for the bore, but I definitely want to make it into a bullet style piece. I always wanted to get into wood carving but never had the time. What do you recommend I get as far as tools?
Thanks!