A random look at the shop and what’s going on today. Start with the volume low. The taper shaper is running in the background.

We start off with 7 sticks that are ready for their joint pins and for the butts to be bored to match the size of the stick’s rubber bumper.

Once the holes are bored and the pins are in, I’ll move on to finishing.

Next in the video is the radial arm saw that I’ve turned into a table top for staging stick builds.

Then we rotate and see the finishing lathe, currently occupied by Psycho Red, a maple stick with tons of spalting lines and curvy waves in the grain. It’s going to be a stunner, I think. (I hope.).

After that, my workhorse lathe, a wm210v, a master at grunt work, which currently has a joint protector for stick 6 in the chuck.

Then we see what’s been making all the noise, the Taper Shaper, by Unique Products, (same company as built the first lathe in the video, where I do joint pin work.)

The taper shaper cuts a perfect taper into the stick, and because a router blade does the cutting, the stick doesn’t bend/wobble on the lathe. WAY superior to trying to cut a taper with a handheld chisel, or even a carbide bit. It’s a whole ‘nother level of cool.