Getting Started in Woodturning: Practical Woodturning Projects

getting started in woodturning

Practical Woodturning Projects Selected Readings from American Woodturner, Journal of the American Association of Woodturners

American Association of Woodturners 222 Landmark Center 75 5th St. W St. Paul, MN 55102-7704 877-595-9094 www.woodturner.org

Contents 3

Introduction The Editors

4

Letter Opener Alan Lacer

6

Classy Clocks Bob Rosand

8

Crochet Hooks Katherine Kowalski

12

Ring Holders Nick Cook

14

Classy Coasters Jerry Hubschman

18

Two-Bit Project Nick Cook

22

Pepper Mill Nick Cook

25

Scoop for Ice Cream Matthew Hill

28

Salt & Pepper Shakers Bob Rosand

31

Napkin Rings Jerry Hubschman

34

Turning the Finger-Snap Top Roger Zimmermann

Published by American Association of Woodturners, 222 Landmark Center, 75 5th St. W., St. Paul, MN 55102-7704.

877-595-9094, www.woodturner.org.

Copyright Š2013 American Association of Woodturners. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without written permission. Readers may create any project for personal use or sale, and may copy patterns to assist them in making projects. The information in this book is presented in good faith; however, no warranty is given nor are results guaranteed. American Woodturner magazine and the American Association of Woodturners disclaim any and all liability.

American Woodturner (ISSN 0895-9005) is published bimonthly

by American Association of Woodturners.

ISBN 978-1-939662-06-4 Printed on Demand in United States of America American Association of Woodturners, www.woodturner.org

38

Pen with a Wooden Grip Richard Kleinhenz

44

Madcap Mushrooms Roger Zimmermann

46

Holiday Tree Topper Bob Rosand

50

Handles for Turning Tools Alan Lacer

54

Two-Part Goblet Bob Rosand

58

Virtual Woodturning with SketchUp David Heim

64

Safety Checklists The Editors

2

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Introduction

L

earning how to turn wood is like acquiring most skills: you need to understand the objectives, you need to be shown how to do it, and you need to practice. And the best and most fun way to practice is to make useful projects that have been designed to introduce new skills while honing those you’ve already acquired.

Woodturning begins with choosing the wood, with some projects requiring attention to strength and other physical properties, while others emphasize the wood’s decorative figure and color. This selection includes an unusual project that displays state commemorative quarters in small plaques turned from the wood of the state’s official tree, and another project featuring small decorative mushrooms turned from tree branches with bark.

All woodturners confront the fundamental problem of holding the workpiece on the lathe. While the four-jaw scroll chuck has become standard equipment, this selection of small projects also introduces faceplate glue blocks, plus shop-made friction chucks, jam chucks, and expansion chucks.

Many useful projects involve fitting purchased mechanisms with wood handles and housings. These projects build the fundamental skills of center drilling on the lathe and of turning to precise dimensions. These projects include the small decorative clocks, pepper mill, fountain pen, ice cream scoop, and turning tool handles.

Several of the projects in this book, notably the drink coasters, napkin rings, ring holders, quarter displays, and decorative wood clocks, involve turning multiples. This is a great way to build techniques while developing a design eye along with ever-better tool control. Production turning also leaves you with an inventory of gifts to give or small items to sell.

Every turning project helps you build skills at the lathe. The most fun way to become more proficient is to turn, then turn some more.

Selected Readings from AW Journal From its founding in 1986, the American Association of Woodturners has published a regular journal of advice, information, and good fellowship for everyone interested in the field. Led by a series of dedicated editors and board members, the AW Journal has evolved to become American Woodturner magazine, now published in full color six times each year.

The AW Journal is a genuine treasure-trove of practical, shop-tested information written by woodturners for their fellow woodturners. Practical Woodturning Projects is the fourth volume in an on-going series being extracted from this archive. Practical Woodturning Projects is available as a 64-page printed book, or as a PDF download that is readable on all your electronic devices.

Safe woodturning is fun woodturning. A little time spent with this book will help you build strong skills at the lathe while teaching you best woodturning practices.

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3

Letter Opener: A Skill-Builder That Makes A Fine Gift

A

letter opener is a favorite project in beginner classes I teach. And because it’s an ideal project to develop skew skills, I encourage turners to detail the entire beaded handle using only a skew chisel.

For turning stock, I look for a closed grain wood that takes a good edge. Hard maple (plain, birdseye, or curly), cherry, apple, pear, plum, Osage orange and dogwood make good choices from domestic stock. Among exotic woods, fine options include cocobolo, boxwood, goncalo alves, tulipwood, and kingwood.

The size is somewhat a design question of proportions as well as a preference for what would feel good in the hand of the user.

Turn several prototypes to work out the balance, look, and feel.

I have settled on a 9" overall length and ⅞" at its greatest diameter. The rough blank should be slightly larger in diameter and about 10" in length.

Turn the opener After making a cylinder (using either a roughing gouge or skew chisel), determine the handle length. I normally fit it to my

4 • LETTER OPENER: A SKILL-BUILDER THAT MAKES A FINE GIFT

hand, so the handle in this case was about 4" long. The handle detailing is what moves this project from simple to challenging.

Design the handle with an arching form—probably with a bead at the blade end and some finishing detail for the end of the handle. For added handle detail, try adding a series of beads or coves with either a ⅜" detailing gouge or ½" skew chisel. It is often more interesting to vary the size of these details rather than making them all exactly the same.

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AW 19:2, p34

Alan Lacer

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Classy Clocks Bob Rosand

A B C

Get started For turning tools, you will need a ¾" spindle roughing gouge, ⅜" spindle gouge, and a parting tool.

Optional tools include a ½" skew and Sorby spiral texturing tool. At the

6 • CLASSY CLOCKS

lathe, you will need a 4-jaw chuck.

Select a 3×3" scrap about 1½" thick.

The dimensions are not critical, but if the completed clock is too thin, it may not stand upright. It doesn’t matter if you use end grain, side grain, or burl, but choose an attractive turning block.

Detail tool: (A) spindle gouge; (B) spiral tool; (C) spindle gouge sharpened to razor point.

Turn the clock

Texturing adds interest

To make the best use of your blank, glue a round hardwood wasteblock to the back, centered. Grip the wasteblock with your 4-jaw chuck, and turn the blank to a 3" cylinder. Use a spindle roughing gouge on an endgrain blank or a spindle gouge on a side-grain blank.

With the blank turned to a cylinder, begin shaping the clock body.

Don’t remove too much material from the back of the blank (Photo 1) or it may fly off the lathe.

Install a Jacobs drill chuck into the tailstock quill, and chuck a 1⅜" Forstner bit. For the clock insert, bore a 9 ⁄16"-deep hole (Photo 2). When with-

You may choose to cut a series of coves in the piece, texture it with a needle scaler, turn a series of beads, or simply sand the clock body. The goal is to have fun with this project and to come up with as many variations as you can.

I textured one version with a Sorby texturing tool. This tool produces nice swirl marks on the surface and excels on end grain.

And if your cutting technique is good, you never have to pick up a piece of sandpaper.

To use the texturing tool, keep the speed of the lathe up (1,800 rpm or higher), angle the tool to about 45

drawing the bit, hang on to the chuck. If the bit binds in the hole, it could pop the drill-chuck taper out of the tailstock with ugly consequences.

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AW 23:4, p30

Y

ears ago, Tom Gall and I spent a lot of weekends together as crafts show exhibitors, each of us trying to eke out a living and make names for ourselves.

One of Tom’s bread-and-butter items was this mini clock design.

A few years ago, Tom was in a car accident and suffered multiple broken bones. Today, after extensive physical therapy, Tom is doing much better than anyone ever imagined, and he continues to recover. With his permission, I’ll show you how to turn one of his best-selling designs.

These clocks require minimal wood and just a few tools. The clock inserts are inexpensive. The 1½ "diameter clocks shown here require a 5⁄16" recess.

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Crochet Hooks Katherine Kowalski

Wood selection An excellent measuring device (and reference) is Susan Bates’ Knit-Chek, which can be purchased online or at any craft store that sells yarn. (The Knit-Chek tool features holes for sizing crochet hooks.)

Figure A.

8 • CROCHET HOOKS

In order to determine the size of the crochet hook you decide to make, the measurement of the hook is taken at the cylindrical section right where the hook is carved.

The shaft and hook should be one piece of wood, straight grained. Hard, dense, and fine-grained woods look and perform best. If you use burl or cross-grain wood for the shaft, the hook will break. Match the wood type to the size of the hook you will be creating: • Hooks size D–7 (3.25 mm to 4.5 mm) are extremely tiny, and should be made out of wood that is both strong and flexible, such as true rosewoods (Dalbergia genus), olivewood, and other oily species.

• Sizes H–K (5 mm to 6.5 mm) are in the middle size range, and may be made from any number of materials, including Dymondwood, domestic hardwoods (maple, cherry, walnut), or colorful exotics.

• With the largest sizes (8 mm and above), even softwoods such as pine may be used. I prefer to choose lightweight woods rather than heavier-weight exotics because they cause less stress on the hand for those crocheters with arthritis.

Segmentation Here is your chance to add artistic flair to your crochet hook! Thin bands of dyed hardwood, burl, figured woods, and unusual materials (antler, bone, acrylic) can be added to accent the primary wood and make your crochet hook one of a kind. The crochet hook I turned for this article is made up of three parts: a shaft of Aqua Dymondwood, an accent band of Fuchsia Dymondwood, topped off by a finial of spalted tamarind.

When you use two or more segments for a crochet hook, make sure that the glue line occurs at a place where there is little or no stress on the crochet hook.

All materials should be segmented with the grain going in the same direction, parallel to the primary wood you will use, which should be parallel to the bed of the lathe. Cut the pieces on a clean-cutting saw such as a tiny miter saw or a table saw. The finished blank should be ¾" (20 mm) square by about 8¾" (225 mm) long (Figure A).

Because this is an endgrain joint, the connection must be strengthened with the use of a tenon. I use 3⁄16" (1.6 mm) brass tubing (which can be purchased in

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AW 26:1, p44

A

s a crocheter, I was often disappointed when I bought wooden crochet hooks from independent woodturners—it quickly became clear to me that those woodturners had never crocheted! With few exceptions, their tools were completely unusable; the hook shapes were wrong or fragile, the decoration hurt my hand, and the ergonomics were unspeakable.

Interest in crocheting is booming, especially among young people. With the “green” and handmade movements that are taking place, fine, one-of-akind craftsman-produced tools are especially valued. There is much more to creating crochet hooks, however, than turning a simple spindle and carving a notch in the end. This article is about creating a comfortable, beautiful, usable crochet hook that will be treasured by its user for years to come.