Keith Larrett | Syzygy Woodworks

August 21, 2013June 17, 2017

Modification to an Étagère

I received a commission recently from a designer. Her clients had an Étagère which they were not happy with. The piece was too tall for the room in which they had it displayed and so they wanted to know if it was possible to cut it down. I met with them and the designer and we decided that the modification was possible. The goal was to re-size the piece, while making the joints near invisible and also maintain the structural integrity of the piece.

From Wikipedia:

An étagère is a piece of light furniture which was extensively made in France during the latter part of the 18th century. It consists of a series of stages or shelves for the reception of ornaments or other small articles. Like the what-not it was very often corner wise in shape, and the best Louis XVI examples in exotic woods are exceedingly graceful and elegant.

As you can see from the image below the piece was very tall, 88″.

My initial thought was to make a cut below the second lowest shelf and then move the feet to the underside of that shelf. From the standpoint of hiding the joint that would have been the simplest way. However there were a couple of details on the upright just above the bottom shelf which needed to be preserved, so it was decided that each upright needed to be cut in two places, once just below the third lowest shelf and once just below the second lowest shelf. Then the second lowest shelf would be discarded and the lowest shelf moved up one section.

In theory it was a very simple plan. Eight cuts and then glue it back together. In practice it required a lot of thought, problem solving and attention to detail in order to accomplish the cuts and then rejoining the pieces, all while achieving the goal of invisible joints and maintaining the structural integrity of the piece.

Once I got the piece to my workshop, I set it aside for a couple of days while I thought carefully about each step. The photo essay below shows how I went about making the modification.

I opted to make the cuts using a flush cut saw. I could see no way to make the cuts cleanly and safely using a power saw of any sort. While a power saw can make a quick cut, in this situation I just saw to much potential for things to go horribly wrong really quickly. The first step was to tape around each upright piece to support the wood fibers as much as possible during the cut and ensure a clean cut with little to no tear out. I also taped some pieces of Formica to the underside of the shelf so that the saw did not scratch that surface. I needed to make the cut as close as possible to the underside of the shelf in order to maintain the length of the upright piece. The thin kerf of the flush cut saw would also help achieve that goal.

The Étagère is an expensive and beautiful piece of furniture, so needless to say the first cut was make with some trepidation. However, once I had started the cut I was committed!

Once each cut was made on the upright I clamped a scrap piece of plywood over the cut to act as a sort of “splint” and hold that section together while I made the subsequent cuts.

The bottom shelf and uprights cut loose and waiting to be reattached. The piece of blue tape was put on the shelf before I started the cuts and marked the front of the piece so that I could maintain the correct orientation when reattaching it to the main section.

The next thing I needed to do was to make a jig. This always makes my wife smile, as she maintains that my day is complete if I get to design and fashion a jig! My plan was to route holes in the upright in order to accept a dowel. The dowel would ensure the structural integrity of the piece once glued together. The holes in the two pieces needed to line up perfectly and my goal in achieving this was to register the jig from the same two surfaces of each upright. The one thing complicating it was the overhang of the shelf, and so I needed to cut a groove in the jig so that it wrapped over the overhanging shelf. I then needed to ensure that the hole in the jig that would guide the router bit was as close to the center of the upright as possible. My hope was that if it was off a tiny bit, then the fact that the jig was referenced off the same two surfaces on each piece would compensate for this and the two uprights would still line up perfectly. This part of the theory, which sounded great in theory, could only be tested in practice, which added a bit of tension to the whole procedure.

The guide hole lined up with the center of the upright piece.

The plunge router ready for action.

The first hole successfully routed in the underside of the upper section.

The router and jig set up on the first of the upright pieces on the lower section.

The first hole successfully routed in the upright of the lower section.

Once all eight holes were drilled I needed to turn my attention to cleaning up the underside of the shelf on the upper section. There was a small section of the upright still remaining. This was due to the thickness of the formica that I had used to protect the underside of the shelf. In order to get rid of this I removed the top plate of my jig and clamped the jig to the upright once again.

I then registered the router bit to the surface of the shelf and used it to clean up the 1/16″ or so of upright remaining.

The resulting surface. Clean and flush with the underside of the shelf.

Lastly I needed to ensure that the cuts on the uprights of the lower section were clean and at a perfect ninety degree angle. If the cuts I had made using the flush cut saw were at a slight angle then it would be impossible to achieve an invisible joint. I also needed to make sure that each upright was exactly the same length so that the piece stood upright. Once again I used my jig without the cover plate. I also used a piece of wood registering from the lowest shelf to the underside of the jig in order to cut each upright to the same length. I set everything up in order to remove the bare minimum of wood and so maintain as much of the length of the upright as possible.

The upright after being routed. Clean edges and a perfect ninety degree cut.

Then it was off to the lathe in order to turn a dowel to the correct diameter out of a piece of straight grained hard maple.

After cutting each dowle to length I cut a couple of thin slots in each one. This was to allow the excess glue in the mortise a place to escape when everything was clamped together.

The dowels in place …

… and the test fit. It looked perfect. I was equal portions of relieved, ecstatic and mildly surprised at this point. The blue tape is in place to protect the surfaces from any residual glue squeeze out during the clamping.

No pictures of the clamping procedure. Anyone who has done a glue up knows that there is no time to grab the camera for a quick snap shot during a glue up. It went smoothly, primarily because I have learnt from bitter experience to always do a test glue up and have all the clamps ready and conveniently positioned long before I open the bottle of glue. I decided to use Titebond Liquid Hide Glue for this. As well as a longer clamp time it also seemed an appropriate glue to use for a fine piece of furniture such as the one I was working on.

The Bessey clamps are such a pleasure to use!

With the glue up complete, I closed the workshop for the night and came back the next morning with great anticipation to see how it had all come together. After removing the clamps and tape I tested each joint and it seemed that the structural integrity of the piece had been maintained. I was also delighted to find that the joints were near invisible. Someone would have to look long and hard in order to see that the piece had been cut down. The image below shows one of the joints.

A couple of shots of the modified Étagère. This was a pretty challenging project, involving many of the things that are so enjoyable about woodworking. Creative thinking, problem solving, care and attention to detail.

July 26, 2013June 17, 2017

Turning Hollow Forms Pith to Pith

I turn a lot of end grain hollow forms, primarily because I am adding a pewter collar to them and so need the wood to be in as stable an orientation as possible. About 6 months ago I started turning end grain hollow forms from a whole log mounted pith to pith. I was a bit apprehensive about it at first, worried that the base of the hollow form would be inclined to crack as it had the pith included, but after rough turning and finishing a number of them I have been encouraged with the results. I thought I would share the process and some of my thoughts and observations on turning a hollow form pith to pith.

Before I go any further, I do need to acknowledge and thank Ed Malesky from the Turning Arts Group for his advice and the discussions we have had on the topic. Ed also publishes a blog which you might consider following.

Typically an end grain blank is cut from a log as shown in the diagram below. As well as a lot of chainsaw and bandsaw work, getting a reasonable size (5 to 6″ diameter) blank for a hollow form means that you need a fairly big log to start with. Once the blank is cut there is also the danger of it cracking if it is not turned right away due to it being such a thick piece of wood. For that reason it is also very difficult to purchase an end grain blank from any of the online stores. The vendors are concerned about larger blanks cracking and most will only offer end grain blanks, or spindle blanks, up to 4″ diameter.

So the first advantage of turning hollow forms pith to pith is that you do not need a particularly big log. Depending on the position of the pith, a log in the 10 to 12″ diameter will easily yield a 5 to 7″ diameter hollow form. The second advantage is there is not much chainsaw work needed in order to prepare the blank. One simple crosscut to cut off a section of the log and you have your blank ready to mount on the lathe. Because of the ease of preparing the blank it is also possible to leave the wood in log form until it is needed, further reducing the likelihood of cracks.

From an aesthetic view, I feel there is a lot more symmetry and balance to a finished vessel turned pith to pith compared to one turned from a blank cut out of a log to exclude the pith. This symmetry and balance is visible in both the grain pattern and the distribution of the heartwood. You can see this in the two images below of some rough turned end grain hollow forms. The one on the left was turned pith to pith and you can see how the annual growth rings flow completely around the form. By contrast, the vessel on the right was turned from a blank that did not include the pith, and the growth rings tend to run vertically up and down the piece.

The images below show the difference in the balance of the heartwood. In the vessel on the left, turned pith to pith, you can see the heartwood distributed evenly all round the hollow form at both the top and the base of the form. The vessel on the right, turned from a blank that excluded the pith, only shows the heartwood along one side of the form.

The following images should provide a photo essay of the process of rough turning a pith to pith hollow form. The first step is to cut an appropriate length off a leg. Allow a couple inches extra either side for turning away any cracks on the end of the log and also for holding the log while hollowing. In a perfect world the pith would be located in the center of the log, however this is pretty rare. I take the end of the log that has the pith closest to the center, which should yield the largest diameter on that section of the log, and drive a 4 prong spur drive directly into the center of the pith. This will be the end that is the top of the hollow form.

I mount the log between centers, placing the live center directly into the pith on the tail stock side. Depending on how offset the pith the log will not be very well balanced and you need to pay attention to the following:

The banjo may not clear, so you might need to start turning at the tail stock side and move towards the head stock side as the log is turned cylindrical and clearance is made for the banjo.
Check the clearance on the tool rest by rotating the log by hand before turning the lathe on.
The log will be out of balance, so start the lathe at the slowest speed possible and only increase the speed as the blank is turned cylindrical and becomes more balanced.
Wear a face shield and take care when turning the bark off. Depending on the bark you can get some pretty big chunks flying off. If the bark is loose it can be removed before turning.

I like to use a spindle roughing gouge to true up the blank, but you could also use a bowl gouge. I will turn the blank to a cylinder and then true up the end at the tailstock. I try and get it slightly concave as this is the end I will be mounting my face plate to.

I then remove the blank from the lathe and attach the face plate with wood screws. In order to center the face plate I have a piece of scrap wood that has been turned so that it just fits into the opening of the face plate. It also has a hole drilled in the center to accept a transfer punch. I place the transfer punch in the dimple in the center of the blank, drop the piece of wood over the transfer punch and then drop the face plate over the piece of wood. Then I will screw the face plate to the blank. The face plates I use are made from 1 1/4″ nuts and are not very deep so I need to take care that the dimple on the blank does not restrict the face plate from being threaded all the way back onto my spindle when I mount it on the lathe.

Once remounted on the lathe it may be necessary to turn away some of the wood at the tailstock side first to get past the cracks that were visible on the end of the log. Once that is done and I am clear to solid wood I will shape the outside of the form, leaving some bulk at the base to give stability during the hollowing process. I like to leave the tailstock live center in place for additional security while shaping the outside of the form.

Then I will drill the form to finished depth with a forstner bit and mark the depth of the hole on the outside of the form. When drilling I allow for the length of the screws holding the faceplate on plus at least an inch to allow for the parting cut and the base of the hollow form.

I will then hollow the vessel out. I try and maintain a fairly even wall thickness and don’t leave the walls too thick. This is especially important at the base of the hollow form where the pith is. I have a tendency to walk a fine line here unfortunately. Because I am adding a pewter collar to the form my natural inclination is to leave a bit of extra thickness on the walls towards the base in order for the piece to feel balanced and not top heavy due to the pewter collar. I have had a couple of rough turned pith to pith forms crack at the bottom and believe it is mainly due to me leaving to thick a wall at the bottom.

Once done with the hollowing I will shape the bottom of the vessel.Then after double checking the depth of the vessel, I will make a parting cut about 1/2″ wide leaving a tenon about 3/4″ in diameter. Finally I will create a dovetail tenon on the very end of the blank. The diameter of this tenon is restricted by the face plate and is quite a stretch for the jaws of my chuck, but it will be sufficient for remounting the piece at a later date and doing some light turning and sanding.

In the image below you can see the tenon between the base and the hollow form. I’ve found that this tenon will invariably bend as the piece dries as it is essentially the pith of the log, however it forms a natural breaking point and any cracks that are likely to develop in the base will generally not transfer to the hollow form. The dovetail tenon formed by the face plate is also visible in the image.

The form is then unscrewed from the faceplate, I write the wood species on the underside of the base and then it goes up on the shelf with the rest of my rough turned hollow forms to dry.

I will cover the final turning of the hollow form in another post, but before I close I want to add a couple observations and things to watch out for.

The image below shows some small cracks at the base of the hollow form. I’ve found that these cracks can normally be turned away once the hollow form is remounted on the lathe after drying. To confirm if this is possible I will first take a light and look inside the hollow form to confirm that the crack has not gone all the way through the wall or base. If I don’t see any evidence of the crack on the inside of the form I will mount it on the lathe and carefully reshape the base to turn away the crack.

I’ve learnt the hard way not to be greedy. Turning pith to pith means just that. The turning must start with the drive center and live center placed directly in the center of the pith. The two hollow forms in the image below were turned from the same log. The pith was far from the center of the log and so in order to maximize the diameter of the hollow form, I placed the live center in the center of the log, not in the center of the pith. Not only is the heartwood distributed unevenly, but the rim of the hollow forms have warped so badly that I’m not sure I’ll be able to salvage these two. Surprisingly enough, neither have cracked.

The image below is a great example of the thick base cracking but the crack not extending through to the hollow form.

The closing shot below shows a group of rough turned hollow forms. You can clearly see the small tenon separating the heavy base prone to cracking from the hollow form.

July 12, 2013June 17, 2017

Textured, cast pewter collar

During my demonstration at the Symposium in Tampa I showed a couple variations of my cast and threaded pewter collars for a hollow form. One that seemed to generate a lot of interest is shown in the image below. I thought I would share the details on how I make this collar. It is a very simple technique and allows you to cast the texture directly so that the topside of the collar does not need to be turned. The technique gives you a very organic texture and the collar, because it is not perfectly round, has a natural edge look to it.

The first step is to create the wooden mold. I made this one on the lathe using dry maple and simply drilled a 3/8″ deep hole with a 2 1/4″ Forstner bit. Then you will need to raid the kitchen for some aluminum foil.

Tear off a piece of the aluminum foil and fold it double. Then crunch it up so it is all wrinkled. Carefully open it up and line the mold with it, trying not to smooth out all the wrinkles. You don’t need to get it to form fit the mold, all you are trying to achieve is a general dished shape.

Pour the molten pewter directly onto the aluminum foil, wait for it to cool and then …

… pop the textured collar out from the aluminum foil. At this point you can mount it on the lathe in a chuck and drill and tap the threads. Then sand the top surface of the collar with some steel wool before applying a patina and then sanding again with steel wool.

The image below shows a detail shot of a similar collar in a suspended hollow form.

July 5, 2013June 17, 2017

Images from the 2013 AAW Symposium ~ Tampa, FL

The 2013 AAW Symposium in Tampa, FL was a great event! It was held in the Tampa Convention Center which is in a beautiful setting near the water. The Symposium ran very smoothly and it looked like everyone was enjoying themselves.

I personally had a great time. My demonstrations went well, I spent some time in the Instant Gallery which is so inspiring, I brought some new tools home with me from the vendor area, I made some new friends and I spent some quality time with old friends. What more could I have asked for! Kudus to all those involved in the organizing and running of the event. You did a great job and should be proud of yourselves!

What follows are some of the images that I took at the Symposium.

The sun dawns on the 27th AAW Symposium in Tampa, FL.

The Tampa Convention Center.

The view from our hotel window.

Welcome sign at the entrance to the Tampa Convention Center.

Art Liestman demonstrating therming.

Art’s therming rig.

Pete Richardson gave a very informative and entertaining talk on the background of his business, Viable Lumber, based in Tampa, FL.

Club members at the banquet on Saturday evening.

Explaining some of the properties of pewter during my demonstration.

Pewter chips flying!

My demonstration on “Threaded Pewter Collar and Finial”

Talking with John Wessels after my demonstration.

Without doubt this piece by Gordon Pembridge was my favorite! It brought back so many memories from growing up in Africa.

Another amazing piece by Gordon Pembrdige.

Pascal Oudet

Alan Mailland

Marilyn Campbell

Curt Theobald

Joey Richardson

Butch Smuts

Jacques Vessery

Neil Scobie

Binh Pho

Alan Carter

Keith Holt

Andy DiPietro

J. Paul Fennell

John Mascoll

John Wessels

John Wessels. I was very pleased that John attended my demonstration. His work was very influential in me exploring the mixed media of pewter and wood. We had a very nice chat after my demonstration and he was very generous sharing his knowledge.

Cindy Drozda

Derek Weidman

Avelino Samuel

Leo Frilot

Keith Burns

Hal Metlitzky

Molly Winton

Michael and Cynthia Gibson

Cynthia Gibson/Chris Ramsey

Charlie Shrum

Art Liestman

Johannes Michelsen

Mike Jackofsky

John Jordan

Gorst Duplessis

The Instant Gallery

Thomas Riley Gallery

Empty Bowls fundraiser

Vendor Area

Now that’s a lathe!

Vendor Area

June 28, 2013June 17, 2017

Cast and Threaded Pewter Collar and Finial

The following are my demonstration handouts for the “Cast and Threaded Pewter Collar and Finial” demonstration presented at the 2013 AAW Symposium in Tampa, FL.

Pewter is a non-ferrous metal alloy primarily made up of tin (85 to 99%), with the remainder consisting of copper, antimony, bismuth and lead. Modern pewter’s contain no lead and are actually Britannia metal. One noteworthy use of pewter is the Oscar statuettes. They are made of Britannia metal plated with gold. The melting point of pewter is approximately 375 degree Fahrenheit (190 degrees Celsius). The low melting point and non-ferrous nature make pewter a great candidate for incorporating it into turned pieces. A regular propane torch can melt it and it can be cut, drilled and turned with regular woodworking and woodturning tools.

Pewter can be purchased from online metal stores where you can expect to pay around $20 per pound. The frugal among us can also find it sold in ingot form on eBay, where you can typically win with a bid of about $12 per pound. The eBay sellers are normally selling melted down pewter mugs, plates etc. As such you take your chances regarding the lead content, although many claim the pewter is lead free and include pictures of test results.

Molten pewter being poured into wooden mold, using a “bottom pour” electric melting pot.

While pewter can be melted in a metal ladle, I use a small electric furnace or melting pot made by Lee Precision. This is the same pot used for reloading or casting fishing weights. They cost around $60 and are available from most hunting or sporting goods websites. One of the advantages of using this melting pot, aside from not having open flames in the workshop, is the pot is a “bottom pour”. Molten pewter contains a fair amount of “dross”. These impurities float to the top of the mix. With a “bottom pour” pot, when you lift a handle the molten metal flows from the bottom of the pot into your mold, leaving the “dross” in the pot. I have found the spout clogs occasionally, so I keep a propane torch on hand to melt the solid pewter clogging the spout. A casting thermometer is also very useful.

Molds can be made from a variety of materials. I use both wood and silicone to make molds. The silicone I use is sold by Smooth-On. It is called Heat Resistant Mold Max® 60 Silicone. I use this when I have spent time and effort creating a master and want to be able to cast a number of collars from the same mold. For one off collars I will typically just make a wooden mold. They are cheap, quick and easy to make and the collars poured in them can easily be embellished at the lathe. The wooden molds have a limited life span as the heat from the molten pewter causes them to warp. I use kiln dried maple for my wooden molds. The moisture content of the wood needs to be low in order to minimize the possibility of it turning into steam and expanding.

When casting and pouring the pewter make sure you take all safety precautions.

Never leave the melting pot unattended while plugged in.
Place the melting pot on a ceramic tile.
Wear thick gloves and safety glasses.
Allow the pewter to cool fully before trying to de-mold it. Sometimes it can appear solid on the surface but still be liquid inside.

I typically make my collars between 2 and 2 1/2” in diameter. This size works well for a hollow form from six to 12 inches tall. More important it allows me to easily mount the poured collar in my chuck for further work on the lathe. The first step is to drill a ¾” hole through the collar using a Jacobs chuck in the tailstock. Technically, for the size tap I use the hole should be 47/64”, but a ¾” drill bit is more readily available and being off by 1/64” doesn’t seem to make much difference.

Once the hole is drilled I use a NPS 1/2-14 tap to tap the threads in the collar.

Side note: NPS refers to Nominal Pipe Size. This is different to NPT which will produce a tapered thread. The ½” description can be a bit confusing as well, especially as we have just drilled a ¾” hole! It refers to the internal diameter of the schedule 40 pipe that this size thread is used on. The 14 refers to the threads per inch.

The tap is held on the lathe by means of a Lathe Tap Holder. These are available for purchase, but they are relatively easy to make. I made mine from a section of 1 1/8” aluminum rod which I drilled on the lathe. The idea behind threading on the lathe is to keep everything centered on the centerline axis of the lathe. The first collar I threaded, I did by hand holding the collar in the vise on my workbench. When I put the collar on the hollow form the finial was not plumb and stood at an angle!

The pewter collar being threaded on the lathe.

It is important to use some form of lubrication when threading or tapping metal. Although the pewter is a soft metal and threads/taps very easily, you will get a far better finished surface using lubricating oil. In lieu of actual threading oil I just use some regular 3 in One oil.

Now that the collar is tapped, wipe it down and soak it in some acetone or denatured alcohol to get rid of the excess oil. We now need to mount it to the lathe in order to turn a tenon on the underside and shape the top. I use a “27 cent chuck” I get from the hardware store to do this. A ½” PVC male adapter is held in my chuck and then the collar is threaded onto this.

The underside of the tenon being turned. It is threaded on a ½” PVC male adapter which is held in a chuck.

I turn the underside of the tenon first. I turn a tenon which is slightly larger than the hole in the hollow form. (I find it is easier to size the hole in the hollow form to the tenon than the other way around.) I then reduce the bulk of the collar by shaping the underside. Because the collar is held to the lathe by means of a PVC adaptor, I can cut right to the threads and into the PVC collar without worrying about damaging the gouge.

I then remove the collar from the PVC adapter and rotate it so I can turn the top. Wear gloves when removing the collar from the PVC adapter! The collar will have become pretty tight on the adaptor and the metal edges can cut you. Once the top of the collar is shaped it needs to be sanded/polished before embellish. Any embellishing tool you would use on a box top or spinning top can be used on the pewter. Chatter tools, Wagner texture tool, Sorby spiral tool and the Decorating Elf can be used, and the embellishments outlined with the tip of a skew chisel. These embellishments can also be further enhanced by applying India Ink, allowing it to dry before wiping it off.

The top of the collar being decorated using the Decorating Elf.

India Ink being applied to enhance the embellishments.

When I turn the hollow form I use a faceplate and I do not part the hollow form off initially. I typically hollow end grain and so do not experience a lot of movement as the piece dries. Now that the collar is complete I mount the hollow form back on the lathe and size the opening to fit the lathe. Once I have achieved a snug fit, I attach the collar to the hollow form while it is still on the lathe. I use 5 minute epoxy and put it around the opening of the hollow form. I then insert the collar and lightly clamp it using a 60 degree live center in the tailstock.

The next step is turn finish turning the bottom of the hollow form. Ideally I will allow the epoxy to cure overnight, but if you are careful the epoxy is strong enough to allow the next step within about half an hour. After removing the faceplate from the hollow form, mount the ½” PVC adapter in the chuck and then screw the hollow form onto it. Place a live center in the tailstock and bring it up to support the hollow form. Part the hollow form almost through, just leaving a little nub. Shape the underside of the hollow form and sand. Slow the lathe down and cut through the last of the nub. If you have allowed the epoxy time to cure the hollow form will be secure enough on the PVC adapter that you can finish sanding the underside. Keep the lathe speed slow though!

We now need to turn the finial and attach a threaded ring to it. A simple mold for the pewter ring can be made by drilling a 7/8” hole in a block off wood a couple of inches deep. The pewter is then poured into that. Allow the pewter time to cool. This might take a while as it is a pretty large volume of pewter. To remove the pewter from the mold, drill a hole in the block of wood from the underside and use the knock out bar from your lathe to knock the pewter free. It is then mounted in pin jaws in the chuck; drilled with a ½” drill, turned to 53/64” diameter and then threaded using a Round NPS ½-14 Die held in a Lathe Die Holder. Don’t forget to use some form of lubrication.

You will not be able to thread the entire column as the die will stop at the pin jaws, but thread at least ¾”. What is not used can always be melted and used again. Turn the exposed end of the column true and then part off ½” of the threaded column.

The base of the finial needs to be at least 7/8” diameter or it will just screw right into the hollow form! I leave a tenon on the finial which is about ¾” long and exactly 1/2” diameter before parting it off. The threaded pewter ring is then attached to the tenon on the finial using 5 minute epoxy. Apply the tenon to the inside of the pewter ring and not to the finial tenon. By doing so any excess will get pushed out the ring where it will be turned away later.

The final step is to clean up the underside of the tenon on finial. I do this by mounting a length of 2” PVC pipe using my chuck jaws in expansion mode. In the open end of the PVC pipe I place a piece of scrap wood with an appropriately sized tenon. The wooden insert has been drilled and threaded in the center so that the finial can be screwed into it. It helps if you cut a slit with a bandsaw from the edge of the wood to the center, making a “collet” chuck. The wood is then friction fit into the PVC pipe with the finial inside the pipe and the underside of the tenon exposed allowing you to turn it true.

June 21, 2013June 22, 2013

2013 AAW Symposium ~ Tampa, FL

Things have been quiet on my blog the last two couple weeks as I have been getting ready for the 2013 AAW Symposium being held in Tampa, FL at the end of this month. I will be demonstrating at the Symposium and all of my spare time lately has been devoted to preparing for this.

I’m really looking forward to the Symposium. As well as a great line up of very talented demonstrators there is so much else to see and do. The instant gallery, billed as the largest display of turned wood objects under one roof, is a sight to behold and I plan on spending a couple hours there. There is also the juried exhibition, this years theme is “Currents”. Not to forget the Vendor area where you can pick up that last tool that stands between you and greatness! You can read more about the symposium at the AAW website or download the Symposium Planning Guide.

My demonstration will be on casting and threading a pewter collar and finial for use in a hollow form. I will be doing two rotations, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. If you’re a reader of my blog feel free to say hi and introduce yourself. It would be great to meet you and talk a bit about turning.

Hope to see you in Tampa!

May 31, 2013June 6, 2013

Tissue Box Cover – Part 2

Last week I covered the cutting of the four sides and the top for the tissue box cover. This week I will be showing how I embellished the sides and top with some wood turning.

The first step was to lay the parts out in the order in which they would be assembled.

I then laid out where the opening for the tissues would be and also drew some decorative circles to indicate where the embellishments would go. The center of the 6″ circle falls directly at the intersection of two sides and the top. The center of the 4″ circle falls at the intersection of two sides and the center of the 5″ circle is offset from the intersection of two sides.

The idea is to have the turned embellishments wrap around the sides and top of the assembled box. The layout for the embellishments that fall on two faces is not that critical, however if the embellishment falls on three faces then it is critical that the center of the circle is exactly at the intersection of the three faces, or the embellishments will not flow around all three faces.

I started with the 4″ circle and put double-sided tape on the back of the two faces that it fell on.

I then stuck the two pieces on a 12″ plywood circle which was attached to a face plate. I lined the two pieces up so that the center of the circle was at the intersection of the two pieces.

A couple of notes about the plywood backing. I used two pieces of 3/4″ plywood laminated together and rough cut to 12″ diameter. The double thickness helps to stiffen the piece and reduce vibration and flex at the circumference. The laminated plywood was then screwed to a face plate mounted to the lathe and turned true. It is important to use a face plate with set screws and tighten the set screws to the lathe spindle once the face plate is mounted on the lathe. If you don’t use set screws there is a danger of the plywood continuing to turn after the lathe is shut off, and it will then unscrew itself from the lathe!

Once the pieces are in position I like to apply pressure to the double sided tape for a couple of minutes. I place a scrap piece of wood over the parts and applied pressure with the tail stock. I also applied pressure to the corners of the scrap wood with some clamps. A couple of minutes under pressure makes the double sided tape stick much better.

After removing the clamps, scrap wood and tail stock, I turned the lathe on at a very slow speed and standing off to one side slowly turned up the speed. I let it run for a couple of minutes and then checked to see that the pieces were secure and had not moved. Once I was satisfied they were secure I turned a hemisphere in the center and some further embellishments with a texturing tool and skew.

While turning I kept the speed fairly low, around 1000 rpm.
Don’t skimp on the double sided tape.
Apply pressure to the tape for a couple of minutes to increase the adhesion strength.
Rotate the plywood before turning on the lathe to make sure nothing comes into contact with the tool rest etc.
Keep your hands and fingers behind the tool rest!
Take care removing the parts from the plywood. Slow, gentle and constant pressure will cause the tape to slowly give.

This was the 5″ circle which was offset from the intersection of the two sides. I added a scrap piece of maple to help counter balance the offset weight.

Last, I turned the embellishments that would flow over two sides and the top of the tissue box cover. It was critical that I align the center of this circle with the intersection of the three pieces. I also added a scrap piece of maple in the one corner to counter balance the weight and also to help provide support to the cuts I was making.

I then moved to my scroll saw and cut out the opening in the top for the tissues.

The five parts laid out again.

I laid some clear packing tape across the four sides, flipped them over, applied a thin bead of glue to the four sides, then rolled the parts up into a box …

… and taped it together. The tension created as the tape is stretched when rolling the sides up is more than sufficient clamping pressure for this assembly.

I then applied a thin bead of glue to the four bevels of the top …

… and taped it in place.

The finished tissue box cover.

May 24, 2013June 6, 2013

Tissue Box Cover – Part 1

This week I will be covering the cutting of the four sides and top for the tissue box cover I am making for my wife. The panels are laid out so that the grain will be continuous around the box and the cuts are made on the crosscut sled with the blade set at 45 degrees.

The top and sides are first cut slightly oversize. They need to be clearly marked. I have labelled the pieces with chalk, 3 will butt to 3, 4 will butt to 4 etc. As a lot of the work in this project is set up, I deceided to make two tissue box covers at the same time, hence the A label indicating it is the first of two boxes.

The first cut made on each of the side is the vertical or upright joint on the left. This establishes a 45 degree miter cut that runs at right angles to the base of the cover.

The same is done on one of the sides of the top piece.

A stop block is clamped to the fence of the cross cut sled and the vertical right hand joint is cut on each of the side pieces. While the stop block is in this position, cut the other three sides of the top piece. The top is square and it is important that the length of each side of the top be exactly the same as the width of each side.

The stop block is now moved and each side piece is rotated 90 degrees and the horizontal joint cut. This also establishes the height of the tissue box cover.

To test the accuracy of the joints it is a good idea to do a dry run prior to glue up. The four sides are laid out in order against the fence with the show side up. Some tape is stretched across the pieces …

… and the box is rolled up and taped closed.

The top piece is then taped in place. All the joints look good, so I can proceed to the next step which will be embellishing the sides and top with some wood turning. I’ll cover that in the next post.

May 17, 2013May 17, 2013

Quick and Easy Crosscut Sled

I built a crosscut sled many years ago and it has seen a lot of use. However, I have always wanted another crosscut sled set up with the table saw blade tilted to 45 degrees. Although the blade is titled, the principles behind the crosscut sled and its making are exactly the same if the blade were set at 90 degrees. It is a quick and easy project and will provide a jig which you will use in projects over and over again. A very useful addition to your workshop.

The image above shows the materials needed for construction of the crosscut sled.

A sheet of 1/2″ MDF cut to 2′ x 3′.
Two strips of hard maple sized to fit snugly in the miter gauge slots.
A piece of hard maple approximately 1″x 3″ x 12″ for the bridge. This will not really act as a fence, it is solely there to help keep the two halves of the sled together at the front.
A piece of hard maple approximately 1 1/2″ x 2 x 24″ for the fence. It is important that this piece is jointed so that it is perfectly straight.

Set a couple of washers in the miter gauge slots so that the runners are raised slightly above the surface of the table saw. Set the table saw fence at 18″ and lower the blade completely.

Run a thin bead of glue on each runner. Then butt the MDF against the table saw fence and slowly lower it down onto the runners. Using appropriately sized nails, tack the MDF sheet to the runners in a couple of spots.

The MDF sheet can know be lifted up with the runners in place and flipped upside down. Drill, countersink and screw the runners to the sheet from the underside.

Drill and countersink pilot holes for the bridge and the fence. Drill the holes for the fence slightly oversize. Be careful to position these holes so that they are well clear of the table saw blade!

Clamp the fence to the front edge of the sled and attach it with the screws. Also screw the bridge in place at the front of the sled.

Set the table saw blade to 45 degrees. If you are making a regular cross cut sled, then check the blade is at 90 degrees at this point.

Run the sled through the blade and establish a kerf. If you always use the same blade with the sled then this will be a zero clearance kerf supporting the work on the underside and preventing tear out.

The screws on the fence are now loosened slightly and the fence is set so that it is straight and at right angles to the saw kerf. As you can see, my wooden mallet has been well used since I made it.

This was just a test piece from some scrap plywood. It shows how I will be making the tissue box cover. I was pleased with the results. The vertical cuts were all square to the base of the box and all the miter joints fitted together perfectly.

I mentioned in the previous post how I planned on decorating the tissue box cover with some wood turning. The image is a teaser shot showing where I’m going with that.

May 11, 2013May 11, 2013

Continuous Grain on a Box

I’m going to be doing some woodworking on the next couple of posts. My wife asked me to make her a tissue box cover. Considering how understanding and supportive she is of the time I spend in my workshop it is always nice to have the opportunity to make something for her. I plan on making a tissue box cover with mitered joints. I also have an idea to embellish the sides and the tops of the cover with some wood turning.

The situation does remind me of a joke I saw a while back. Two ladies were talking and the one asked “How is your husbands new woodworking hobby coming along?” The second lady replied, “Great! Can I interest you in a $5000 paper towel holder?”

While not technically a box, as the cover has no bottom, I did want to try and ensure the grain flowed around the sides of the box. Getting the grain to flow across three of the four corners is pretty easy. However to get the grain to flow around all four corners does require an additional step. You need to start out with a piece of wood that is equal in length to the front or back and one of the sides. Further, the board needs to be twice as thick as you need the final sides to be.

Here I have a piece of walnut which I have jointed on one face and edge and then planed. It is about an inch thick.

The next step is to resaw the board in half.

Then each board is cut in half.

I have now reassembled the four boards in the configuration they were before the board was resawn. I’ve also labelled each corner. The next two images show how the box is “opened’ and it should be clear how the grain will flow continuously around the entire box.

Please Note: I am making a square box, which is why I cut each resawn board in half. If you are making a rectangular box you will need to adjust the cuts accordingly. Each resawn board should be crosscut in order to yield the front or back of the box and a side. The diagram below illustrates this.

In closing I want to remind readers that you can have these blog posts delivered to you automatically via email. Just go to https://syzygywoodworks.com/news/ and in the right hand column you will see a box to subscribe to the blog.

Author: Keith Larrett