Turning Multiples.....

[Ken Fitzgerald]

In my 3 years of turning, the biggest challenges I have faced were often when I turn multiples of something. The first set of knobs I turned for a guy in Seattle humbled me! I turned a set of spindles for the spokes on the ship's wheel on a sail boat. Tough but not as tough as those knobs.

Recently I volunteered to turn some knobs for a guy. I ran though about a dozen or more and probably had the 6 he needed when he decided to use something else.

I am in the process of building Norm's Martha Washington's candle stand. It has a lot of firsts in it for me:

1. First dovetailed legs

2. First turned table spindle (It wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be)

3. Largest turning (approximately 20" diameter table top)

4. 4 "bird cage" spindles.

I just completed the 4 spindles for the birdcage and they turned out better than I expected with no failures. Got all 4 on the 1st try.

The spindles are 3 3/4" long and 13/16" at the largest diameter.

I have come to the conclusion that the smaller the multiple to be turned is...the more difficult it is to make similar multiples.

I have a lot more respect for the professional turners who turn multiples without the aid of a copier!

I'll post photos when the project is done and it should not be too much longer.

[Aaron Wingert]

I hear you Ken. I've gone to great extents to try to perfectly replicate my turkey call strikers over and over and over and come up with the same thing every time, without consistent success. Then I finally decided that I'm fortunate in that they get used one at a time and aren't normally going to be compared side by side. I like the "this is a one of a kind item" approach, which is a great crutch. :D

I recently attempted to make a matched pair of candle holders. I pulled it off but practically killed myself in the process.

[David Walser]

I think turning multiples are the great test of a turner's skill. If we are turning one bowl, one box, or one of just about anything, we have the freedom to make "design changes" as we go. We are free, as the saying goes, to let the wood tell us what it wants to be. None of that is possible when we are turning to a pattern. In stead of "I think I'll turn a bead about right there" it becomes, "I have to turn a bead of 1/2" diameter exactly there". It's the extra precision we are not used to and it forces us to not only turn an acceptable shape, but to turn the exact shape and size we decided to turn BEFORE we even cut the blank to size. It's a completely different level of skill and therefore a great test of our ability.

Congratulations, Ken. It sounds like you passed.

[Jim Kountz]

Yep I feel your pain Ken. Im trying to do the two drop acorn finials for my QA lowboy and Ive done 4 so far and none of them look alike!! Thats actually the very thing I was going to work on today.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Ken - looking forward to seeing photos of your completed project!

The only time I have tried to turn multiples was with candle holders. Some of them were close enough to be considered a set but none of them were exact matches. I am sure like everything else in turning - you get better the more you work at it!

[Bernie Weishapl]

I hear ya Ken. I have made 3 salad bowl sets. Trying to get all the bowls the same diameter was a trick. But those weren't as hard as doing the 4 columns on a grandfather clock case that were missing.