Star Trek NG Alien Probe Appeared In My Mind

Alien ProbeMay also be viewed on YouTube, Vimeo, and FaceBook – But Best Right Here!

While watching a rerun of Star Trek Next Generation, I saw an alien probe with an interesting shape. After the episode, I just had to go back and look at that probe again. My thought – can I make a woodturning that looks like that?

My probe is about 13 inches long and 4 inches in diameter. Each cone is about 6 inches tall and 2 inches in diameter. Each cone is a perfect cone. The probe is finished with lacquer.

The cones mount to a center piece about 4 plus inches in diameter and 1 inch thick. I made a drilling and mounting template in Powerpoint to guide drilling each mortise. To avoid a more difficult layout, each mortise was drilled from the same side and entirely through the section.

To cover the opposite side of the mortise from the cone, I turned little medallions from padauk on my Infinite Axis Chuck. Each medallion has two or three mini features on different eccentric axes.

Links to noted videos.

Enjoy!


One Response to “Star Trek NG Alien Probe Appeared In My Mind”

  1. Ed says:

    Alan. I like it. Using the concept, there could be a whole fleet of probes, all different shapes for the cone part, different woods, sizes etc. great way to use up some wood I’ve been saving for I don’t know what.

    Happy turning 🤗
    Ed