i've spun a lot of copper and a bit of aluminum. when i came to the point of making multi-segmented mandrels, nah didn't fiddle with that. there's another craft where one could make most, if not all the tools needed to do this work. my delta lathe was a gem for doing this type work as the speed is electronically controlled--1/2 an rpm to 4k.it's either penn state or grizzly that offers free dvd's on this work. they also sell all the goodies needed to get started. it really is fun to do.