celtic knot stopper

[Aaron Wingert]

My first attempt at a celtic knot, and it actually worked! It is walnut with maple, and a tung oil finish. The knot came out flawless as far as I can tell. The only thing I think that went wrong was that there was a tiny dark knot in my maple pieces, and it showed up...Albeit subtle.

I'm enjoying watching people's fascination with this. It looks a lot harder than it really is.

Critiques welcome!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Great looking stopper and knot Aaron. Well done.

[Bruce McElhaney]

I like your orbits. What angles did u use?

[Dave Halter]

Very nice. I've got to try a Celtic Knot, I really like the looks of them

Dave

[Jim Kountz]

Nice, I like the photo too.
Well done!!

[Aaron Wingert]

Nice, I like the photo too.
Well done!!

Thank you, I took a very technical approach...
Black sweatshirt for a backdrop and my hand in front of the flash to block the majority of the glare. Low tech but it worked. :D

[Aaron Wingert]

I like your orbits. What angles did u use?

I just used the 32.5 degree detent on my miter saw.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Nice work Aaron! Pretty cool design!

[Richard Madison]

Very nice knot Aaron. Good photo. You might want to edit up the brightness just a bit and see how it looks.

[Jeff Mohr]

Looks good! I may have to try one of those someday....

[Joe Aliperti]

I'm enjoying watching people's fascination with this. It looks a lot harder than it really is.

Add me to that group. I really like it. Is there a good tutorial on doing this kind of inlay (or lamination, I can't tell)?

[Aaron Wingert]

Here's a couple pics I borrowed from a duck call making website that pretty much explain how it is done. It is a series of laminations...
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/9508/makingacelticknot018ov9.jpg
Note the cauls on either side. These are critical for keeping the pieces in line.
http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/7571/makingacelticknot024uk8.jpg
http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/6830/makingacelticknot047ej1.jpg
http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/1849/makingacelticknot064fj6.jpg
As you can see it is 4 different pieces of 1/8" thick wood glued in. It takes four separate gluing operations, with cutting after the first three. I use my miter saw set to the 32.5* detent for all cuts.

[Alan Zenreich]

Here's a cool video of a kid producing a celtic knot...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9uQv5sKibk

He has access to some pretty nice equipment. One thing to notice is that he doesn't cut all the way through the wood when preparing the slots for the inlays.

[Aaron Wingert]

He did his a little different than I did mine, but I sure do like the idea of not cutting all the way through the blank, which would make clamping a lot easier. I'm sure that's achievable on a miter saw!

[Joe Aliperti]

Thanks for the tips! I made one myself, using a table saw with the blade tilted at 35 degrees. I also didn't cut all the way through, and didn't even use clamps to glue it up. The glue lines came out a little sloppy, though.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d171/turbowagon25/turnings/IMG_6344.png

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d171/turbowagon25/turnings/IMG_6346.png

[Aaron Wingert]

Joe you copycat!!! :D Nice job on the stopper! I can stare at those celtic knots and never really do stop being interested by how they look.
Out of curioisity, what brand of stopper is that and where did you get it?

[George Lesniak]

Here's a cool video of a kid producing a celtic knot...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9uQv5sKibk

He has access to some pretty nice equipment. One thing to notice is that he doesn't cut all the way through the wood when preparing the slots for the inlays.

Thank you! :D

That's my shop. My 12 year old son Alex made the video.

George

[Jim McFarland]

<snip>
Out of curioisity, what brand of stopper is that and where did you get it?

I'm not Joe, but that looks like a Ruth Niles' stopper. I bought her introductory kit with 10 #301 SS stoppers, bit and mandrel. Very happy with it.

http://www.torne-lignum.com/

[Joe Aliperti]

Yes, it's a Ruth Niles stopper. I also got the introductory kit, and it's made making stoppers a breeze.

[Jim Burr]

George, you have an amazing young man there. He has skills to last a lifetime. Are the shirts for sale yet?