Video Review: Master Techniques of Marquetry
Posted on August 18, 2008
I like to explore other dimensions of woodworking with an eye on their application to woodturning.
The last turnedoutright project “Holy Water Font” used a simple “window method” of marquetry.
This project prompted me to learn more about Marquetry so I clicked over to SmartFlix and found a video on the subject.”Master Techniques of Marquetry” is a complete treatment of the subject.
Video Review
In this video, Master Marqueteer (is that a word?) Silas Kloft takes the audience through centuries of the art.
Techniques for inlay, Marquetry, Parquetry, Boulle, double bevel and sand shading are included. Tools such as shop made fret-saw blades and the Chevalet were covered as was Piquage (copying) techniques.
I learned some techniques that I am sure I can apply to the surface of my wood turning’s, especially in application for cutting and assembling veneer objects.
Silas’s work is breathtakingly art-full and astonishingly precise. The the video is well organized and easy to understand. You can expect to see me try and apply some of these techniques in my upcoming projects.
Rent: Master Techniques of Marquetry
» Filed Under All SmartFlix Reviews | Leave a Comment
Holy Water Font
Posted on August 10, 2008
I wanted to make something special for my niece, she was getting married this summer.
Her and I discussed what kind of project would be appropriate and settled on a Holy Water Font. Turns out it had some very interesting turning challenges.
Modeling
Since the project was a new and complex multi-piece design I decided to model it first with SketchUp. Having a model was also useful because I wanted to get approvals on the design before I set out on such and involved project. The model was invaluable in making templates. I just printed the story stick in full size and then made templates.
See “Woodturning with SketchUp” and my 3D modelling blog on the subject for details on modeling.
The Design
The design required:
- A back with a cross inlay
- Holy water dish and holding ring
- Interwoven silver rings that overlapped a cross inlay.
First I modeled the entire piece to scale. I was glad I did because after the first iteration I realized the piece was to big an overbearing. I reduced its size by 1/3.
I chose to make the water dish from hand spun aluminum which necessitated building a mandrel to precise dimensions, allowing good fit and proportion with the rest of the piece.
I selected Walnut as the main material. The cross was made from figured maple veneer.
The project took nearly 5 calendar months to complete, quite a bit longer than I expected, partly because I needed to finish the mothers day music box first.
The holy water dish
I chose a spun aluminum dish to create a unique and custom touch. I used 6″ AL Circles .040″ thick and spun the disk on my converted lathe. Click here for more on metal spinning. I am not highly skilled at spinning yet so it took two tries.
The mandrel was made from laminated MDF for the face and Oak for the threads. It was drilled and tapped to 1″-8 TPI.
The mandrel profile was turned using a pattern made from the 3D model. The the surface of the mandrel was sanded to 600 grit after a few coats of CA. This surface preparation still imprinted into the surface of the disk and it had to be heavily polished to remove the marks.
I’m still working on perfecting wood finishes for spinning wood mandrels, as bare wood will transfer a pattern to the inner surfaces.
Threading Mandrels
Threading wooden mandrels can be made from laminated blanks using conventional taps. I have taps to match both sizes of lathe spindles as well as my OneWay live center adapter they are 1 1/4″-8 TPI, 1″-8 TPI, 3/4″-10 TPI.
Drill the hole in the blank while on the lathe. Then put the tap in the hole and bring the tailstock forward until the tip of the live center mates with the machined hole in the end of the tap.
This will align the tap. Using a wrench patiently rotate the tap while driving the quill forward pushing the tap into the wood. Wax can be used as a lubricant.
The Ring
The ring holding the dish was made from a square piece of walnut. Unfortunately I don’t have many pictures.
Work-holding the ring was accomplished as follows:
- Hot glue the blank to a faceplate. Make sure there is glue in the areas where the ring will remain.
- Turn and finish the perimeter including all features
- With a parting tool cut out and finish the inner diameter. Careful, only the remaining part of ring is held to the faceplate. With a light touch don’t cut into the faceplate.
Finish the inner perimeter and then remove the ring from the faceplate with a chisel. - Remount the ring on a chuck grabbing the inner perimeter and finish the inner and outer surfaces on the opposite side from before.
The back & cross
A square blank the size of the back was hot glued to a face plate and it was turned and finished, then sanded flat while on the lathe.
I decided to inlay the cross into a matching piece of walnut veneer. After orienting the inlaid veneer’s grain it was glued to the back. Be careful to get the veneer on the face with the correct rotation so that it doesn’t appear crooked. I did mine twice :(.
The figured maple cross was inlaid by hand using a xacto knife and the “window method”. This was tedious but worked to my satisfaction, I’ll be doing more on “marquetry for woodturning” in some upcoming posts.
Cutting the flat on the ring
So how do you cut a perfect flat on a circle so that it will mate at a perfect right angle to the back?.
Answer: I cut a hole in a piece of squared MDF and glued the ring to it. The hole matched the outer lip on the ring (See design). Then is was a simple matter of putting the substrate on my chop saw and cutting the flat. Before removing the substrate I drilled the dowel holes on the drill press. Using a hand made dowel jig I drilled the matching holes in the back.
The wedding rings & guilding
The rings were made from black acrylic pen blank scraps. Each circle was turned and polished on the mini lathe. One ring was laid over the other and they were merged together by alternately cutting away the interposing area of the other. This gave the appearance of them being intertwined.
I used aluminum guilding so the rings would match the dish. This was my first time doing any serious guilding. Not as easy as I imagined…. it never is, right! This craft takes a lot of patience, many coats and a perfectly smooth surface. Every imperfection is highlighted by the guilding.
Hints:Don’t touch the sticky surface before guilding and don’t touch the guilded surface until you have it sealed. Wear guilding gloves and the correct brush. I used the kit from woodcraft. I need more practice guilding, but I’m glad I tried it.
Assembly
The dish ring was doweled and glued to the back. The wedding rings were glued to the back with CA and the disk simply sits in the ring so that it can be removed for cleaning and filling. The wood was finished with Waterlox for durability and waterproofing.
Summary
The holy water font was fun project that called upon multiple disciplines to create a one-of-a-kind peice.
This was my second hybrid wood and metal project, the last was the coffee cup. If you have any questions on the details of the project post comments here or email me.
For more on the 3D modeling of this project go to “Woodturning with SketchUp”
To by the book click here
» Filed Under Hollowing Tools, Metal Spinning | 1 Comment
My Chuck is STUCK!
Posted on July 24, 2008
Its happened to us all!
You put the chuck on the spindle, load up a large blank, spray some shavings and then when you go to take it off its stuck! This is one of those turning subjects that hosts lots of opinions and not much fact (best I can tell). As you can imagine I have an opinion. In my view its not stuck….. its just real TIGHT!
Before I get going on this let me tell you a horrible turning story. I turned on a craftsman for many years and when I decide to get serious I went down to Woodcraft and bought a Jet 1440. I couldn’t believe that my wife would let me spend $1000 on a tool :). I got it home set it up, mounted my brand new chuck on it and spun up a piece of aspen to turn a bowl. Many catches and a few hours later I had butchered the piece enough that I was ready to present it to my wife to insure her that this investment was well worth the money.
Uggh! I couldn’t budge the chuck on the spindle. I tried hanging on to whatever I could find but there is no gripping surface on the 1442 that will allow you to lock the spindle…. or was there. Then I noticed the index button. Pushing on the button and cranking on the chuck with a large crescent wrench I couldn’t believe my ears as I heard something snap in the headstock. The clinking noise was the sound of an aluminum tab from the drive pulley hitting the bottom of the headstock housing as it broke off. From the jet manual:
“Headstock Spindle Lock: (G, Fig. 5) Push in pin to keep the spindle from turning.”
Now I was pissed, a new lathe and I had ruined it! With frustration and anger I eyed the three threaded index hole at the front of the housing. I could run a threaded rod into one of these and that surely would hold the shaft still while I broke the chuck loose. With the spindle locked and the large wrench on the chuck …………… I cracked the main tail stock housing …. and pieces fell to the floor in front of me. I was sick to my stomach, you know, that pit of your stomach feeling when you know you did something phenomenally stupid and that the recovery was going to be expensive. Within six months I had built a special wrench, removed the chuck, bought a new headstock casting and new pulleys. I know more now about the innards of a Jet 1440 that any turner should. Believe me you don’t want to go in there! By this time I had a package of plastic washers and everyone at Woodcraft got a piece of my mind about the stupidity of the manufacturer not putting a washer and proper wrench in the box.
For years I used the washers on and off but never was convinced that they fully prevented locked chucks and in numerous cases proved that they created problems with wobble. Then I got my Stubby and started turning larger pieces, the washers did not prevent the chuck from sticking, but the large wrench in the box would easily break them loose. Is it possible that they aren’t stuck but just REEL TIGHT?
I have concluded that all chucks get tight NOT stuck. With the right mechanical advantage chucks are easy to unscrew with or without the annoyance of a plastic washer. There are two parts needed to solve this problem, a way of holding the spindle and a way to grab the chuck for loosening. Below are photos of what I use.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
If you are using SketchUp for woodturning visit the Modeling site where you can get free plug-ins, like the “automatic cut list” generator.
The next DVD review will be Master Techniques of Marquetry so come back soon.
Enjoy…. Donnie
» Filed Under Tools | Leave a Comment
Mortar & Pestle
Posted on July 6, 2008
Mortar & Pestle From Solid Surface
Mortars are becoming increasingly popular tools for the kitchen. At $30-60 a piece, when my son suggested that it would make a worthwhile turning project I became interested. Of special interest is the materials that the Mortar & the head of the Pestle is made from… solid surface.
I have been wanting to try turning some solid surface material ever since I made a pen from it. In this project I found that a “skewy gouge” type of tool works best. Solid surface, like most hard plastics like to be scraped rather than cut. Tradition gouges can be hard to control. Scrapping and sheer cuts will remove allot of material as well as leave a smooth surface. The tool used is made from a 1/2″ round piece of water hardened steel, ground by laying it on the grinder face until it is hollow ground. Then grind the bevel like a gouge. Lastly harden and temper it using shop blacksmith techniques. The bevel is not important on this tool as it operates as a scraper. The linked videos show the tool technique better than I can explain it.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE —WEAR GOOD EYE AND FACE PROTECTION! Not just your glasses!
I can promise you that the shavings and chips from turning solid surface materials hurts, getting it in your eyes can result in serious eye injury.
Mortar Construction:
The mortar is made from laminating multiple pieces (6) of 4×4x 1/2 inch scrap counter top material.
Solid surface can be glued using corning glue or simple CA. First prepare the surface by sanding it flat. I use a piece of adhesive backed sandpaper stuck on a pieced of solid surface. Scribble with a pencil on the surface , then sand both sides of each piece by hand by rubbing it on this flat surface. Check to see that the sanding removes the pencil marks evenly across its face.
After glue-up in a clamp, I mount the square blank in a large chuck and turn it as shown below.
Pestle Construction:
The Pestle is made of two sections. The nose is made from 4 pieces of 2×2x1/2″ sections laminated together using the same gluing techniques as the Mortar. The nose is turned with a 1/2″ tenon.
The handle is made from a 1×1x5″ Cocobolo blank. One end has a 1/2″ mortise drilled in it to accept the nose.
Glue the nose to the handle with CA and then mount it between centers for turning.
Videos of the project can be viewed at the turnedoutright video channel:
Project Story Board
Mouse over the photo to read its caption!
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
![](http://www.turnedoutright.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/dsc00960-small.jpg "Finish dimension= 5\") |
 |
 |
If you are using SketchUp for woodturning visit the Modeling site where you can get free plug-ins, like the “automatic cut list” generator.
The next DVD review will be Master Techniques of Marquetry so come back soon.
Enjoy…. Donnie
» Filed Under Hollow Forms | 5 Comments
My Fathers Day
Posted on July 3, 2008
As you can see from above I also had a great fathers day 
Now I can cut some more fingers!
Thanks kids…..
As you can see Dads files are already in use.
Don’t forget to visit the store where you will find some interesting books on wood turning!
» Filed Under Tools | Leave a Comment
Mastering the CA finish
Posted on July 1, 2008
The CA finish is one of the most beautiful finishes that a pen turner can employ. CA finishes create a deep and durable finish that will delight the recipient of your writing instrument.
I spent months practicing, developing techniques and choosing materials to perfect this process. I noticed that there wasn’t a good book on the process so I decided to share my experience and wrote the book “Mastering the CA Finish”.
Ken, one of the books readers, made some excellent antler pens using the process.
Sweet work KEN!
Picture courtesy of Ken, more of his work is on his blog!
Get your copy of the “Mastering the CA Finish”
» Filed Under Pens | Leave a Comment
Economy Sander
Posted on June 30, 2008
While listening to the AAW forum I found out that some turners have been using HF’s close quarter drill so I bought one at the $30 sales price. I have been using a $9 HF variable speed drill for 2 years, now the bearings are shot.
This drill pulls air from the handle which may be a better design for sanding rather then pulling dust out of the bowl and into the drill bearings. Thanks to Tom L on the AAW forum!
BTW did you know that there is a RSS feed to the AAW forum, its at http://www.aawforum.org/vbforum/external.php
While I was at the store I couldn’t pass by the fractional caliper that was on sale. Wow! I was surprised it is metric, decimal AND fractional.
Pictures below
» Filed Under Tools | Leave a Comment
New! Turnedoutright Group
Posted on June 26, 2008
I created a group for turnedoutright registered users and those who have bought books. We are getting large enough that I needed a better way to share stuff, get updates to books and get suggestions from you as a community. The link will be kept on the Blogroll on the side bar.
Please do not be annoyed if you got an email invite, just ignore it or mail me to get removed. I don’t like spam either but I also like to be updated when something I watch or purchased changes?
 |
| Turnedoutright |
| Visit this group |
» Filed Under Site stuff | Leave a Comment
Free Depth Gauge Plans
Posted on June 24, 2008
I often have to bore using a Jacobs chuck in the tail stock.
One day while marking my drill bit to the right depth it dawned on me that there must be a way to use the quill as a depth gauge.
After inspecting my Jet I noticed that there are graduations on the quill. Ugh! can’t a guy invent anything these days.
But my stubby and small jet don’t have graduations so it was still worthwhile to embark on a design. I wanted something that would work on any lathe, not do any damage and stay out of the way.
Next I went where I always go when I want to design something conceptually ….SketchUp.
The design uses a collar that clamps on the quill (when it is all the way back) as a base to hold the pointer rod which is made from a brass rod. Threaded hex standoffs are used to clamp the pointer and make the pointer itself. Set screws are used to make the pointer and the pointer rod adjustable. A cheap metal ruler (woodcraft) with a magnet strip CA’d on the back, makes up the dial. Otherwise I think the plan above and the pictures below are somewhat self explanatory.
Below are some pictures of the different setups I used on different lathes. Grinding is necessary on the collar used in the plans for some lathes because the collars don’t come in exact sizes. The rod on the small jet was bent to create the pointer. You will see various pointer configurations in the photos below. Mouse over the picture to see the captions.
Before you ask… I painted my Jet 1442 to match my Stubby
» Filed Under Stubby, Tools | Leave a Comment
How-To Video Reviews
Posted on June 21, 2008
As a free service to our subscribers turnedoutright will provide a short review of videos on relevant woodturning subjects. I am doing this in affiliation with SmartFlix.
I will review a new video about every three months. SmartFlix rents HOW-TO videos at a fraction of the price of buying them. Leave me comments on these posts and let me know what you think.
To read the reviews you can click on the SmartFlix “category” to see all the reviews. A good way to see the reviews as they are posted is to just subscribe (RSS) to the turnedoutright website.
My reviews are not an assessment of the authors skills but rather it is my view of what skill is taught and learned and how unique the learned skills are.
Here’s the first one, enjoy!
Wood Turning Into Art by Jerry Crowe
Jerry who has been turning for 25 years does a complete job of going from the chain saw to the final hollow form. The beginner woodturner will greatly benefit from Jerrys vast experience as he demonstrates the entire process of turning a hollow form using conventional techniques and tools. Jerry’s process starts with rough turning and wax sealing before drying in a kiln. Then after drying and hollowing Jerry teaches how to put a signature mixture of stone into the burls voids using practical techniques. Finally a unique method and formula for coating and finishing hollow forms is learned.
Jerry’s fine work is displayed on his web site.
Rent this Jerry Crowe Video
» Filed Under All SmartFlix Reviews | 2 Comments
