Making the bell ornaments

[Curt Fuller]

These ornaments are easy enough that even I can do them with my 4th grade math skills. First you take two pieces of wood approx 12" x 3" x 3/4". The length is a little extra but I don't like getting my fingers too close to the saw blade to it gives you a little to hold on to. The other dimensions can vary so long as both are the same. Then you need a 12" x 3" piece of 1/8" thick birch plywood. Just glue the plywood between them like a sandwich and let it dry.208567
Then you set your miter saw (or table saw with sled) to 30 degrees, cut the very end off the glue up, flip it over 180 degrees and cut the first segment. Just repeat that until you have 6 segments.208569208568208570
to be continued.....

[Curt Fuller]

Next you glue 3 of the segments together to make half the ornament and the other 3 to make the other half208571 If your cuts are accurate and your gluing is too, you can now glue the two halves together. Mine never are and the surface needs to be flat so sand the two flats so the fit flat together and then glue them together208572
Let that dry, then mount it between centers to round it off and make a tenon on one end.208574208573

continued

[Curt Fuller]

Now chuck it up.....208575and begin shaping the outside of the bell. Once you get the general shape you want, hollow the bell...208576
Now, wrap the edge of the bell with a couple wraps of masking tape to protect the edge...208577 and reverse it in the chuck like this...208578 Use very light pressure with the chuck jaws so you don't damage the bell. Mostly you just want it centered in the jaws. Apply a little pressure with the tail center so it won't slip when you finish shaping the bell. Take light cuts and be careful. 208579 Finally, backoff the tail center and drill the hole for the handle using a 1/4" forstner bit in a jacobs chuck in the tailstock..208580 That's it for the bell part. Now the handle....
continued.....

[Curt Fuller]

There are probably hundreds of ways to do the handle. But this is how I do it....First I place a piece of wood about 1/2" square and about 5" long either between centers or as in the pic, held in the spigot jaws of a barracuda chuck with the tail center in place. I then round if of somewhat and make a tenon that's about 1" long.208581 Then I reverse it and hold it in the jaws with the tenon. I use the tailstock until I have it round and most of the waste wood removed.208582 Then I make the end of the handle with the curve I want and drill it for the eyescrew using a small #58 bit. 208583 From there I finish turning the handle. I prefer to do it without the tailstock, taking light cuts, but you can use the tail center and hold it lightly in the hole for the eyescrew or with a cup center.208584 Now this is why I like to use a long (1" tenon). I now slide about half of the tenon out of the chuck, re-align it with the tail center, and turn finish the handle and turn the 1/4" handle that will fit into the bell using a 1/4" wrench for sizing it.208585 Then just part if off, and glue it into the bell, screw in the eyescrew and it's ready for a shot of lacquer and finished.208586

[Scott Hackler]

Curt, that is awesome! If I get time before Christmas, I might try to make of of those. (the other ornaments come first)

Thanks for sharing your technique.

[Tom Winship]

That is great, Curt. Thanks for the tutorial.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Thank you for sharing Curt.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Curt...excellent tutorial!

Where do you get your 1/8" birch plywood?

[Doug W Swanson]

Great tutorial, Curt!

When you look at the ornaments, you'd think it would be really hard.:confused: This info really makes it look simple!:)

If you don't mind, I may have to borrow your ideas!:D

[John Keeton]

Great tutorial, Curt!! When I viewed the previous thread on the bell, I thought through much of this in relation to other possible ideas with this basic segmentation. But, the progress pics really help! Lots of possibilities here!

[Russell Eaton]

Thanks for showing Curt. Pictures always help.

[Roger Chandler]

Super tutorial Curt! Thanks a bunch!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Excellent tutorial Curt! You should think about having this published on the Creek front page! Lots more exposure!!

[Dan Cannon]

You read my mind Curt! I signed on to reply to your original thread from last night, I just couldn't quite visualize how this was done. Before I got to the other thready, I saw this one! Thank you very much for sharing.

Dan

[Tony De Masi]

Excellent tutorial Curt and thanks for taking the time to do it. Now it goes into my Favorites.

[Mark Patoka]

Excellent tutorial. Gotta give some of these a try.

[Tim Thiebaut]

Curt that is just awesome, I love those!! In the time I have been on this great site I think I have copied your work more then any other I have seen....alot of it has just "clicked" with me, if I had not had to pack my lathe away for the winter and for my move I would be making some of these for the upcoming holidays, love it. Next summer I will be making some for sure!!

[James Combs]

Curt that was a great tutorial. Making one is going toward the top of my todo list.

[David E Keller]

Lovely work, Curt! Thanks for taking the time to share the process!

[Will Winder]

Thanks for the tutorial this looks great.

[Baxter Smith]

Thanks Curt. Great goblet and great explanation!

[Larry Rupert]

This is an excellent bell, and idea. I'm going to give it a try for sure.

Also wanted to mention that #10 picture, doesn't show up when you click on it to see it larger. Don't know if it's the site, or something in the html, but.... Don't know if it's "fixable" for not. Great work!!

[Larry Rupert]

Well go figure, now it (#10 picture) works....

[Donny Lawson]

I will agree with the others here.,your tutorial is very well done. Without the pictures I probally would not try it but now it looks much easier. Looks like I may work on one for christmas. It's going in my favorites right now. Thanks.

[Curt Fuller]

Where do you get your 1/8" birch plywood?

Ken, I got the plywood at Michaels but I think most any craft store would have it.

[Larry Rupert]

Curt, this was really an excellent tutorial, for an excellent project. I don't usually take the time to do it, but I thought this was well worth keeping - and turned it into a .pdf that I can store and save.

It is just slightly too large to upload here in the forum (won't allow it), but if you'd like it - let me know and I can email it to you

If it's ok with you, I'd be willing to email it to anyone else too. Going to check if there is a library here that it might fit in if that's ok with you. Larry

[Curt Fuller]

Curt, this was really an excellent tutorial, for an excellent project. I don't usually take the time to do it, but I thought this was well worth keeping - and turned it into a .pdf that I can store and save.

It is just slightly too large to upload here in the forum (won't allow it), but if you'd like it - let me know and I can email it to you

If it's ok with you, I'd be willing to email it to anyone else too. Going to check if there is a library here that it might fit in if that's ok with you. Larry
Share it with anyone interested. I'm glad you were able to understand my directions.

[Steve Campbell]

Curt this is such a timely thread. I have a SIL that collects bells. every year for Christmas I try to turn her a new bell and I was starting to run out of ideas. If you don't mind too much I think I will make one very much like it. I love it and I know she will too.
Thanks again Sir..................

Steve

[Ron Bontz]

Thanks for posting, Curt.

[Larry Marley]

Nice Curt!
I like the bell detail. Classy

[John W Dixon]

Curt, I have been away for most of the summer. Project after project! Anyway my contributor status had lapsed here at Sawmill so I logged on tonight and renewed. Then started looking through the forum. Let me say this single thread is worth my annual contribution plus some! Thanks so much for sharing. It's what I love about this forum and have truly missed.

John

[Earl McLain]

I know this is an old thread, but after i saw it linked in another thread it seemed worth bringing back to the surface. Great tutorial on the bell ornament, and i may get a little mileage out of this one for small bowls as well. Thanks!!
earl

[roger wiegand]

Thanks for dredging this up from history-- I'm going to go try it!

[Earl McLain]

The thanks should go to John Keeton, who dredged up the link for someone else. I may be able to get a start on one this weekend--but have a gifts to finish so they can be shipped first.
earl

[John Keeton]

It was rather easy with an advanced Google search. Just enter (without the quotes) "Curt Fuller bell ornaments site:sawmillcreek.org"

I use advanced searches all the time. You can search craigslist the same way - Handplane site:craigslist.org That will give you hits for the entire US.

[Jay Rasmussen]

Thank you Curt! Great inspiration. I will be trying this on my Christmas time off.

[roger wiegand]

Decided to give it a shot. I've never done segmented turning. It's wicked hard to get the segments properly aligned while gluing, they keep wandering whenever you tighten the clamps. Perhaps I should have thrown a little sand in the joints first! Doing it again I'd use a thicker board on the inside and a thinner one on the outside to move the pattern further down the bell. I made the bell a lot smaller than the blank to get it down this far. A conical rubber chuckie on the headstock was perfect for driving the ornament to finish the top between centers.

447412

[Robert Hayward]

Reviving an old thread for those wanting to make a few ornaments.

[Terry Wawro]

Adding a comment so I can find this thread again.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Adding a comment so I can find this thread again.

Terry, you can always go to the top of a thread and under the "Thread Tools" subscribe to the thread. Then it will be in your personal "Settings" under "My Subscriptions". That makes it very easy to find in the future.