Ash crotch with ribbon finial

[jwjerry w kowalski]

This is an Ash crotch box I made with wood harvested from my woods. I've been watching the finials Vincent Luciani has been making and thought I would try one, it took a couple of times to get it right, but turned out easier than I thought. This has 4 coats of DO and then buffed out with tripoli, wd, and then wax. I used dewaxed shellac as a sanding sealer between grits of sandpaper and it worked out great, the wood feels like glass. The turning is 8in. wide and 12 in tall. The pedestal and top are made from walnut and the finial is cherry with black acrylic paint on the outside.

[Glen Blanchard]

Very nice!!! Love that ribbon finial!! Would you mind sharing how you made the finial?

[jwjerry w kowalski]

Glen, you mark out your spiral as you normally would, make 4 horizonal marks on your cylinder 90 deg. apart , then make your vertical marks approx. 3/8 in apart, then connect the alternate intersection points, this gives you lines you have to saw through, I use a japaneese saw and saw around the cylinder, but leave the last 1/4 in, so that when you drill out the center the finial won't break. I saw by eye approx. 1/8 deep, then drill out, then take a small dremel tool with a round cuttter and cut out the half of the finial that will be the scrap after you finish sawing the 1/4 in of the finial that you left and you're done.

If you look at a tutorial on how to make a spiral finial, the pics will make everthing much easier to understand. This one is much easier because your are drilling out the center instead of doing all that carving.

[Eric Gourieux]

Great job on the finial. I like that you left the inside natural. Thanks for the tutorial.

[bob svoboda]

Very cool..I may have to try one of those ribbon finials.