Christmas Ornament – Deep Space Nine in Walnut and Maple
This woodturning resembles the space station on Star Trek – Deep Space Nine. It has a wide, round main section with corridors back to the central hub. The top and bottom finials house docking bays and equipment not subject to gravity. Each is about 7” tall and 3” in diameter.
It is about 7″ tall and about 3″ in diameter. The body is Walnut with Maple Finials. The body is inlaid with brass wire to resemble portholes. It is finished with a friction polish. The walnut body is drilled out to form spokes from the central core to the space station’s outer ring.
I picked up a tip from Eddie Castelin for this project. To size the tenon, I used an end wrench 5/16″ on one end and 1/4″ on the other. I aggressively cut the tenon until the 5/16″ wrench fit. Then carefully sized it down the rest of the way to 1/4″.
I made two of these space stations. On the last finial, I started with skew practice and ended up turning the entire finial with a skew instead of a gouge.
This ornament is part of the Christmas Ornament Woodturning Challenge 2012. Please view the playlist at http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4W9FE566kZhU-Mo7smbQgsUb-wpUJGom. Carl Jacobson and I are sponsoring this challenge. If you would like to enter an ornament in this challenge, video yourself making the ornament, upload it to YouTube, and let me know where the video is. I’ll then add it to the challenge playlist.
Christmas Ornament – Sea Urchin On Apricot
This woodturning has a sea urchin shell on an apricot top and bottom finial. It is about 8 1/2″ tall. The shell is about 2″ in diameter. The apricot from urban forestry is finished with a friction polish. The sea urchin shell is protected by three coats of white glue on its inside. I sanded the top and bottom shell holes to make them uniform.
Although I prefer finials with a fine point, I worried about grandchildren playing (inappropriately) with it. WIth this risk in mind, I made the finial points into moderate beads instead.
The most difficult part is to fit the shell to the finial. The finial rests on a small shoulder on the apricot finial just inside the top of the shell.
After that, the more technical part is turning the finials without breaking them. Here’s where turning up the lathe speed helps along with a sharp tool. Even then, any defect in the finial or a misstep with a tool and the finial is ruined.
This ornament is part of the Christmas Ornament Woodturning Challenge 2012. Please view the playlist at http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4W9FE566kZhU-Mo7smbQgsUb-wpUJGom. Carl Jacobson and I are sponsoring this challenge.
A Christmas Ornament With Bronze Wire Inlay
This woodturning is a bronze wire inlaid Christmas ornament made of aspen and walnut finished with shellac. The body is a near sphere. It is solid – not hollowed out except for a 1/2″ hole thru the center. It weighs in at about one ounce. The turning blank is salvaged from an off cut from a green turned bowl.
The finials are also salvaged walnut from another bowl. I was fortunate to find a piece with the grain running along its length for the finial. The bottom of each finial has a 1/2″ tenon and a 45 degree chamfer. These mate to corresponding parts of the body.
I inlaid a bronze wire around the body. I first cut a groove for the wire and cut the wire to be just a little long. After sanding the end of the wire flat and perpendicular, I glued in the very end of the wire to the groove. After the glue hardened, I glued in the remaining wire in sections, keeping tension on the wire until the glue hardened. I trimmed the very end to fit and also sanded it flat and perpendicular. Then it was glued in to complete the inlay.This bell is part of the Christmas Ornament Woodturning Challenge 2012. Please view the playlist at http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4W9FE566kZhU-Mo7smbQgsUb-wpUJGom. Carl Jacobson and I are sponsoring this challenge.
A Christmas Bell Ornament Inside Out
This woodturning is a Christmas bell turned inside out. It proved to be a challenge to both visualize and to execute. It’s made of apricot finished with shellac.
An inside out turning is assembled from strips of wood. These are temporarily glued together and turned to form the inner shape and finished. Then the strips are separated, rotated, and glued back together making an inner void. Then the outer shape is turned.
This bell is part of the Christmas Ornament Woodturning Challenge 2012. Please view the playlist at http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4W9FE566kZhU-Mo7smbQgsUb-wpUJGom.
Christmas Ornament Woodturning Challenge 2012
Carl Jacobson and I are challenging all woodturners to turn a Christmas ornament and shoot a video of them turning it. Upload it & we’ll put it in the Christmas Ornament Woodturning Challenge 2012 playlist on YouTube. Afterwards, use the ornament to enhance the true spirit of Christmas. Deadline = Santa’s departure for his rounds.
Here’s a link to the playlist. Come back often between now and Christmas for updates.
A Snowman Ornament Dressed For Christmas
This woodturning is a nice snow gentleman dressed for the winter season. He’s made of hard maple with a walnut hat and yarn scarf. His belt is a burn. Overall, he’s coated in mineral oil and beeswax.
He will be part of a Christmas Ornament Challenge.
A Field of Mushrooms (Part 4 & Final)
I’m woodturning a natural edge mushroom in apricot. In this video, I’m extending my series exploring what difference the turning axis could make on a mushroom turning. While turning the other three mushrooms, another axis experiment occurred to me. so here we go with another experiment.
With this final apricot branch, I’m simply shifting the turning axis an inch or so from center but still parallel with the center.
As usual, the challenge is in the mushroom’s cap. With the natural, irregular edge, it’s hard to find the edge or to ride a gouge’s bevel.
The finish is mineral oil and beeswax in a 75%/25% ratio. This is Eli Avisera’s recipe. I love the honey smell from the beeswax. I used the oil/wax also as a sanding compound to both lubricate the sand paper and capture the dust.
This mushroom completes this experiment. I’m done! It’s time for holidays woodturning!
Woodturning A Field of Mushrooms (Part 3)
Woodturning a natural edge mushroom in apricot. In this video, I complete a series exploring what difference the turning axis could make on a mushroom turning. A viewer questioned how I oriented the turning axis, so here we go with an experiment.
With this third apricot branch, I’m orienting the turning axis much more dramatically – running from bark edge on one side to the opposite side’s bark edge. The actual angle would vary with the diameter and the length of the wood.
As usual, the challenge is in the mushroom’s cap. With the natural, irregular edge, it’s hard to find the edge or to ride a gouge’s bevel.
The finish is mineral oil and beeswax in a 75%/25% ratio. This is Eli Avisera’s recipe. I love the honey smell from the beeswax. I used the oil/wax also as a sanding compound to both lubricate the sand paper and capture the dust.
This mushroom completes this experiment.
I think the wood made more difference than the off-axis turning. The off-axis is evident if you’re looking for it. It may even make a subtle difference to the casual observer.
A Field of Mushrooms (Part 2)
Woodturning a natural edge mushroom in apricot. In this video, I continue a series exploring what difference the turning axis could make on a mushroom turning. A viewer questioned how I oriented the turning axis, so here we go with an experiment.
With this second apricot branch, I’m orienting the turning axis a few degrees off center. Actually, I did not measure the angle. Rather, I just placed the drive and tail centers half way between the center and the edge of the bark. The actual angle would vary with the diameter and the length of the wood.
As usual, the challenge is in the mushroom’s cap. With the natural, irregular edge, it’s hard to find the edge or to ride a gouge’s bevel. This only also had an area of rot in the mushroom cap.
The finish is mineral oil and beeswax in a 75%/25% ratio. This is Eli Avisera’s recipe. I love the honey smell from the beeswax. I used the oil/wax also as a sanding compound to both lubricate the sand paper and capture the dust.
I’ll be making one more mushroom for this experiment.
In this mushroom, the wood made much more difference than the turning axis, probably due to the large diameter.
A Field of Mushrooms (Part 1)
This woodturning project is a natural edge mushroom in apricot. A viewer questioned how I oriented the turning axis on the last video. Since I didn’t have a defined answer, I decided to do an experiment.
With three apricot branches, I will orient the turning axis differently in each one: one straight thru the pith; one diagonally thru the bark line; and one half way between. We’ll see what differences there may be.
As usual, the challenge is in the mushroom’s cap. With the natural, irregular edge, it’s hard to find the edge or to ride a gouge’s bevel.
The finish is mineral oil and beeswax in a 75%/25% ratio. This is Eli Avisera’s recipe. Beeswax has a fringe benefit of smelling like honey when you use it. On this mushroom, I used the oil/wax also as a sanding compound. It both lubricates the sand paper and captures the dust that would otherwise go into the air.
I’ll be making more and larger mushrooms – two more for this experiment; size will always depend on the available wood.