Standing Among the Vanquished

[Jim Underwood]

The surviving angel stands among the fallen.....

[Steve Schlumpf]

Wow Jim ... that's deep!

Nice looking angel!

[John Keeton]

Jim, that is a really neat turning, great lead in, and excellent pic!! How did you cut the recesses in the wings?

[Dave Halter]

I think you would have to name that one Saint Michael.

[Jim Underwood]

Darn that Nick Cook. He made it look so easy too. I've seen his demo for this angel ornament twice, and even have an autographed copy of the article...

It still didn't keep me from breaking three sets of wings before I could complete this angel....
The first mistake was to make a 1/2 tenon and try to scoop out the wings as the tenon was held in the chuck... that accounts for the first two. The third one I actually went back and read the article and realized that Nick shaped the front side of the wings first, then used a glue block on the front side of the wings, hollowed the wings, then parted down to make the tenon last.

Knowing that still didn't prevent me from hollowing the wings too deep on the third try and then breaking it while sanding..

On the fourth try I established the depth first with my screw chuck hole, and only hollowed down to that point...

I like the feathery effect of the white oak on the wings too...

Maple, White Oak, and some kind of Yellow Mahogany looking wood
5-3/4" tall x 2" base x 4" wings
One coat of lacquer on it now. Needs scuffed and re-coated.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Really nice angel Jim.

[Jim Underwood]

The wings are a flat disk bandsawed out, then drilled three times. Once in the center for the screw chuck (don't make it too deep!), and the other two times for the wing cutouts. If I had a larger forstner bit, one of the holes would have been larger for the wing cutouts.

I believe the article for the angel is on Nick Cooks website (http://www.nickcookwoodturner.com/articles-holidayangel.pdf).

[Baxter Smith]

Don't quite understand the process but I really like that first picture and caption!:)

[Jim Underwood]

Now what should I do with all those broken wings?

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Darn that Nick Cook. He made it look so easy too. I've seen his demo for this angel ornament twice, and even have an autographed copy of the article...

It still didn't keep me from breaking three sets of wings before I could complete this angel....
The first mistake was to make a 1/2 tenon and try to scoop out the wings as the tenon was held in the chuck... that accounts for the first two. The third one I actually went back and read the article and realized that Nick shaped the front side of the wings first, then used a glue block on the front side of the wings, hollowed the wings, then parted down to make the tenon last.

Knowing that still didn't prevent me from hollowing the wings too deep on the third try and then breaking it while sanding..

On the fourth try I established the depth first with my screw chuck hole, and only hollowed down to that point...

I like the feathery effect of the white oak on the wings too...

Maple, White Oak, and some kind of Yellow Mahogany looking wood
5-3/4" tall x 2" base x 4" wings
One coat of lacquer on it now. Needs scuffed and re-coated.

Nice job Jim, they look a lot like the ones I did 6 years ago, they are shown on WoodCentral, I'd seen a picture and made a couple of them, turned the brass halos as I didn't like the wooden ones, the wings are tricky, but I drilled them after turning to shape and sanding, here's a picture :D

[Jim Underwood]

Hmmm.. Interesting. You did your wings so the grain was horizontal. I figured that would be stronger, but wasn't sure it would look right... I'm sure it stayed together easier...

[John Keeton]

Got a followup question - I assume the wings are glued (CA?) to the body, but do you make a flat spot to glue to?

OK, one more - Jim, did you turn the halo ring? If so, did you turn it on a spindle and remove it? I haven't done rings yet, so that may be nearly as big a challenge!

[mike holden]

Now what should I do with all those broken wings?

Jim,
How does the song go? "Take these broken wings and learn to fly" (grin)

Very nice job, and a great sense of humor.

Mike

[Jim Underwood]

I'll gladly answer questions, but the best thing to do is follow the link to Nick Cooks article on the project.

The wings are bandsawed into a circle, then a hole is drilled in the center for a screw chuck, and two more larger holes (Nick uses a 3/4" and 1-1/8" forstner bits) drilled for the cutouts. At this point you mount the disk on the screw chuck, and shape the front side of the wings, leaving a large flat "tenon" (say 1-1/2" diameter x 1/4" long) that you then glue a block to, and turn a tenon on the glue block. Reverse chuck it, and scoop out the wings just like you'd scoop out a bowl. (Sand to a good finish as you go along.) At this point you turn a the 1-1/2" tenon down to a 1/2" or so tenon. The body has a matching hole. Then just glue it up.

I turned the halo from a 4x4 sticker that came through the cabinet shop. It appears to be some sort of Yellow Mahogany. I didn't want waste it, so I cut only about 1/2 off the end, and glued it to a block of scrap Poplar mounted in the chuck, and turned the ring spindle-wise. It's not as hard as it looks. Just shape it as must as possible using mostly a 3/8 spindle gouge. You do need some sort of hook tool or small tool to get in underneath, but mostly you just part it off once you've hollowed the middle past where you part it off.

I'm thinking of ways to make the thing float rather than being stuck on the head. Looks kinda funny perched up there... sorta like the band around the shepherds head covering than a halo...

[John Keeton]

Thanks, Jim, for taking the time to respond. Good narrative, and I will check out the link, too.