Robert McGowen
11-02-2010, 1:14 AM
I was asked if I could show how I constructed the vase that I submitted in the segmented turning contest. I personally would call this more of a laminated construction than a segmented construction, but I guess that you could argue either way and it would basically be pointless! Also, this is a great way to turn out a nice piece because it does not involve any angles or miters and the entire thing can be constructed in a day. The down side is that it wastes a lot of expensive kiln-dried wood, i.e. you turn it into shavings.
166104
Now for the super secret technique, which will probably be dissappointing in it's simplicity, but which you have a have fairly decent woodworking skills to get it to turn out just right. The easiest way to describe it is that you construct a really tall cutting board. I made a block 8" tall that was 6" x 6" square. I cut 1.125" wide strips from a 1" thick board.
166105
Alternating maple and walnut, each piece was glued together so that the finished section was 6" wide and 1.125" tall. I made 6 identical sections. The sections were then sanded down (you could use a planer or a jointer also) so that they ended up being 6" wide x 1" tall. This made all of the individual pieces end up being 1" square. The 6 sections were then glued together, being careful to flip every other piece so a checkerboard pattern was created and making sure that everything lined up correctly.
Then it is just a matter of turning it. I designed and turned this one with an end-grain orientation, but you could just as easily design something and turn it like a regular bowl or hollow form so that the end-grain was on the side. I turned this one several years ago, way before I had a photo tent or had some idea of what good form was!
166107
One thing to consider is that the sharper the curve and the smaller the individual pieces that you begin with, the more complex the final colors and design will be.
Malcolm Tibbetts explained this technique to me several years ago, though I do not know where it first originated. I hope that this helped someone!
166104
Now for the super secret technique, which will probably be dissappointing in it's simplicity, but which you have a have fairly decent woodworking skills to get it to turn out just right. The easiest way to describe it is that you construct a really tall cutting board. I made a block 8" tall that was 6" x 6" square. I cut 1.125" wide strips from a 1" thick board.
166105
Alternating maple and walnut, each piece was glued together so that the finished section was 6" wide and 1.125" tall. I made 6 identical sections. The sections were then sanded down (you could use a planer or a jointer also) so that they ended up being 6" wide x 1" tall. This made all of the individual pieces end up being 1" square. The 6 sections were then glued together, being careful to flip every other piece so a checkerboard pattern was created and making sure that everything lined up correctly.
Then it is just a matter of turning it. I designed and turned this one with an end-grain orientation, but you could just as easily design something and turn it like a regular bowl or hollow form so that the end-grain was on the side. I turned this one several years ago, way before I had a photo tent or had some idea of what good form was!
166107
One thing to consider is that the sharper the curve and the smaller the individual pieces that you begin with, the more complex the final colors and design will be.
Malcolm Tibbetts explained this technique to me several years ago, though I do not know where it first originated. I hope that this helped someone!