Conductor's batons

[John K Jordan]

Some conductor's batons I made this year. I got started when a girl asked me if I could make a graduation present for her boyfriend, graduating as a band director. How much? No charge if you come to the shop, pick out the wood and try your hand at turning. This way you have a personal connection and can tell him you helped make it. She liked that.

I didn't get a photo of the first one, holly shaft with a cocobolo handle with orange, red, and black. I made some more after that:


http://www.woodcentral.com/webbbs/media/turning/490/490580_1.jpg


From left to right they are

- Kingwood handle, holly shaft
- Dogwood, one piece
- Cocobolo handle, green holly shaft
- Argentine Lignum vitae handle, dogwood shaft

The one on the right is a sturdy "tapping baton" made to withstand tapping out time on the music stand, with a drumstick end. Good for working with kids!

I did some research first on length, handle size and diameter, weight, and balance and looked at a lot of pictures. Most had cylindrical rods glued into the handle. I didn't see any with the shaft tapered to meet the curve of the handle so I decided to make mine like that.

The long, thin shafts can be a challenge.

JKJ

[Roger Chandler]

I really like those, John! As a former symphony member and assistant conductor, your batons take me back to my younger days when most of my extra curricular activities revolved in some way around music. No doubt they will be cherished!

[Jon Nuckles]

Those are very handsome. I particularly like the all dogwood one. Is that just a burned line separating the handle from the shaft? I did not know that dogwood was so bright; it looks as white as the holly.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Very nice all! I like the practical aspect of the Dog lignum vitae/dogwood wand.

[Thom Sturgill]

Very nice! I tried my hand at a few 'majik wands' a few years ago. Enough to really appreciate how difficult turning that long a spindle can be. Good Job! I'm sure any conductor would be pleased with one.

[John K Jordan]

Those are very handsome. I particularly like the all dogwood one. Is that just a burned line separating the handle from the shaft? I did not know that dogwood was so bright; it looks as white as the holly.

Thanks all! I should have mentioned that I made these for fun and show and experience with long thin, flexible shafts. Quality batons made for professional use would require meeting a specific conductor's preferences on size, weight, balance, etc.

The dogwood baton is in one piece and does have a wire-burned line. That piece is really white.

I dry and use a lot of dogwood and some is brilliant white, some a cream color, and some is various shades of brown. Occasionally I'll get some with beautiful figure. The heartwood is dark brown and it's a challenge to dry a block with some - it warps like crazy and wants to crack big time. Here's a pic of a piece of dogwood with some heartwood:

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Dogwood is one of my favorite woods, so hard and heavy and fine grain - right up there with many exotics. The wood is so good the little top required zero sanding. Most of the dogwood I'm using now has been air drying for almost 10 years, with more cut later drying on the shelf.

i give some away occasionally to people who haven't tried turning it - often they ask if I have any more!

JKJ

[John K Jordan]

I tried my hand at a few 'majik wands' a few years ago. Enough to really appreciate how difficult turning that long a spindle can be.

Thom, you've got that right - they can be tricky. I've made 100s of wands, most timed to the Harry Potter book releases. I sold most for $25 - $45 each, accidentally made a few thousand dollars from them. Wands are the only thing I've sold (well, besides one other item that fetches far more).

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I've taught wand-turning in a club demo but it seems most people concentrate on bowl-making, fewer on spindle turning skills - only one guy came back with a finished attempt. Several said they tried and broke them.

I developed techniques that work every time (for me) that I would be glad to share sometime.

The batons are more challenging than the wands. One in particular gave me so much grief that even my sharpest "tame" skew caused vibration, even using my best left-hand-steady-rest technique. I finally used one of my small cabinet scrapers to smooth it.

JKJ

[Bob Bergstrom]

Can't play a note , but love the batons. Beautifully done!

[Jeff Belany]

May I ask how long the Harry Potter type wands are? Just curious, thought I might give them a try.

Jeff in northern Wisconsin

[terry mccammon]

John,

I have a future Daughter in Law who is a conductor, would love to make her one just for a gift. Any chance you would like to share your "Special Technique" for handling the long thin shaft?

Thanks in advance,

Terry

[Doug Ladendorf]

Any chance you would like to share your "Special Technique" for handling the long thin shaft?

+1 I would be interested too. I've got a couple similar projects in mind.

Doug

[Peter Blair]

This sooo cool. Yesterday I finished this one.
It's about 14" long has a Desert Ironwood knob and an Apple shaft.
Made for my grandson Matt's music teacher.

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[Peter Blair]

Add me to the list of interested turners who would like to hear your secrets!!!

[John K Jordan]

Ok, Terry, Doug, and Peter (and whoever else is interested!)

I walked down to the shop and photographed what I do and made some notes. I posted a thread here, "How I turn long thin spindles."

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?238939-HOW-I-TURN-LONG-THIN-SPINDLES-part-1-of-3&p=2507219#post2507219

I put it in three parts since I'm evidently not allowed to upload more than 8 photos in one post!

It is fairly quick and dirty but perhaps gets the idea across. This is what works for me! If you take a look please tell me if something isn't clear and maybe I can fix it.

JKJ