Sphere projects photos

[Paul Williams]

Dave Mount did a great job of detailing how he turns spheres. I can not be the only one who tried it. Let's all express our appreciation for Dave's efforts by posting photos of our sphere like round things.

Mine is a 3 inch American Elm sorta round ball.

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I used Dave's method to get to the 3D octagon, Rounded off the corners and remounted it to turn the extra wood where it had been mounted. Then I sort of fell into my old habit of just remounting it in many orientations until it looked and felt right. The grain in the original blank ran approximately 20 degrees from the axis, so I really paid little attention to how I was mounting it each time.

In the past I used a method that was posted on the creek several years ago. Turn a cylinder and rough out a sphere staying a little greater than the diameter of your cylinder. Then remount with the original axis vertical and use a parting tool to cut a groove through the middle of your sphere until it just touches the cylinder diameter which is now the horizontal centerline. You now have two circles at 90 degrees to each other that clearly mark out the wood that you need to turn away. I think Dave's method was more accurate and if you are trying for a sphere with a defined diameter much more likely to be successful. Once you get to the octagon for a 3 inch sphere there is really very little wood left to remove and very little chance of making a mistake with Dave's method.

Looking forward to seeing your spheres, balls, or sorta round things.

[Paul Williams]

I will admit to making mistakes when I measure things. Over the years I have developed habits that eliminate measurements. I was going to include this in my first post as part of how I differed from Dave Mount's process, but it gets a little long and might not be of interest to many. So here is how you don't do any measuring while using Dave's method of making a sphere. I have seen versions of this posted elsewhere. They always include a drawing that is really not necessary as you can easily make your own chart.

This is much easier to use if you do it on graph paper. Start by drawing a vertical and horizontal axis that intersect near the bottom left corner of your page. On the horizontal axis mark the diameter of the largest sphere you are likely to turn. Now draw a line from the top of the vertical line to the mark you made on the horizontal axis. Next mark 0.293 inches from the intersection of the two axis and draw a line from the top of the vertical line to this new mark. Take this chart to your shop.

Turn the cylinder and mark the ends following Dave's directions. Set your calipers to the diameter of the cylinder on the actual cylinder. Lay the calipers on the chart parallel to the horizontal axis with one tip on the vertical axis and the other on the line representing your diameter. (This is where you wish you had used graph paper.) Draw a horizontal line between those two points. Now reset your calipers so the points are on the vertical axis and the line that you drew 0.293 times your largest sphere diameter while on the horizontal line you just drew. Take them to the lathe and mark the distance from each corner as Dave explained in his procedure.

When I made my chart I did it on an extra long piece of paper. After laying out the lines I cut the top off so that a 1 1/2 inch diameter was near the top of a standard sheet of paper and a 6 inch diameter was on the horizontal axis. After using it a few times I realized the need for graph paper to help keep the calipers horizontal when setting the 0.293 times the diameter measurement.

If you think you might want to try the 16 sided rough out you can draw another line on the same chart. I used distance from each corner along the facet with is 0.108 times the diameter. Note in Dave's procedure he used the length of each facet and then eyeballed the middle. That distance is 0.199 times the diameter. Lay out another line for the method you choose the same way you made the first line. I tried the 16 sides using the distance from each corner along the facet and it was worthless on a small sphere. If I ever make a really large sphere I will use Dave's length of the facets measurement of 0.199D.

[Dave Mount]

Nice sphere! You can say all you want about it not being truly round, but the picture sure doesn't betray it if it's even true -- I suspect its "spherocity" is proportional to your modesty (both substantial).

I like the elm, especially the "swoop" in the grain in the upper half of the photo. I've found that often the spherical shape displays the grain of the wood in ways that you wouldn't intuitively expect looking at the square blank.

Your "no measurement" hack for layout is very clever. If I understood it right, it's something as in the photos below (correct me if I misunderstood). Since it's just a proportion and not a measure, the attached jpg can be rescaled to any size for printing as long as the photo proportions aren't changed. The same thing could be done for the 0.199*diameter step to the hexadecagon. That would allow accurate layout using nothing more than old fashioned outside calipers. Do it on a treadle lathe and you have a Roy Underhill approved sphere. . .

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Best,

Dave

[Paul Williams]

Your triangles work just as good, and might be easier to understand. Mine are a little different. Here is a photo of the one I used for the last 5 or 6 spheres. That makes it several years old. I find my place on the chart by matching the diameter of the cylinder horizontally from the vertical axis line to the line marked diameter. I draw a horizontal line at that point on the chart. Then I reset the calipers to the distance from the vertical axis to where the horizontal line crossed the line marked 0.293D.

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It is interesting, or perhaps embarrassing, that despite a 53 year old engineering degree and more math education than I knew what to do with, I still printed the article I first read about this method and didn't think that it is just proportions and I could draw it anyway I wanted. Then when I drew my own I didn't tumble to the fact that it would be a lot easier to line up the horizontal line if you made your chart on graph paper. You can see on the chart why trying to do the corner to corner measurement for a 16 sided figure with a 3 inch diameter is a waste of time.

[Lawrence Duckworth]

Dave Mount did a great job of detailing how he turns spheres. I can not be the only one who tried it. Let's all express our appreciation for Dave's efforts by posting photos of our sphere like round things.
.

Spheres with feet.....

[John K Jordan]

Spheres with feet.....

How clever!

[Robert Hayward]

Spheres with feet.....

Very nice work, and as John says, very clever. Tell us about the inserts please. Glass? Resin you cast yourself?

[Lawrence Duckworth]

Very nice work, and as John says, very clever. Tell us about the inserts please. Glass? Resin you cast yourself?

These inserts are boro glass marbles, Robert. I made a bunch of them awhile back after some surgery and couldn't be on my feet for any length of time. What's interesting to me is they're somehow magnified in the wood sphere; my granddaughters love 'em. :)


Here's an expert link to how they're made.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj1Oy0W3CbE

[Robert Hayward]

Very interesting video. What diameter are the marbles?

[Lawrence Duckworth]

these Boro marbles are 1.75 to 1.85

here are some furnace glass marbles, about 2.8" completely different glass and process, but still a sphere obsession:D

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[John K Jordan]

these Boro marbles are 1.75 to 1.85

here are some furnace glass marbles, about 2.8" completely different glass and process, but still a sphere obsession:D

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Very nice, and again, clever. Seems like a wonderful obsession!

So I take it you're a glassblower/worker. Do you have a glass studio with a kiln or use one in a studio nearby?
A daughter-in-law works in glass but hasn't had access to a kiln for years. A potter friend with 4 kilns has considered about making one for glassblowing - he has a 2" natural gas line to his house which should help.

I've never experienced glasswork but I was mesmerized watching the glassworkers in Murano Italy. Some of the work displayed in glass shops and galleries was astounding.

BTW, I once stumbled on a woodturning shop in Venice where the turner apparently liked to turn spheres and variations, eggs and such. Unfortunately the shop was closed at the time. :(

[Lawrence Duckworth]

I agree that the glass process is mesmerizing...and I've enjoyed it as a hobby for quite awhile....but woodturning is super addictive :)461580 461584 :)

[Lawrence Duckworth]

More spheres... :)

461587 461588 staring to see a patern....

[John K Jordan]

More spheres... :)

461587 461588 staring to see a patern....

Are these made at least partially from steel?

JKJ

[Lawrence Duckworth]

Yes they’re steel. I pretty much quit messing with steel. Did it most of my life.

[Robert Hayward]

Yes they’re steel. I pretty much quit messing with steel. Did it most of my life.

You are a very skilled craftsman. Your different projects are very appealing to my eyes. What type of steel work did you do? Art, craft, red iron or what?

[Lawrence Duckworth]

:) Robert, glad my stuff's ez on the eyes. I've got a pretty simple approach to art, "enjoy the process and try to be creative."

In this photo is what's called a "drop". It's simply a term used to describe what's left after cutting a beam to length. This is as big a piece I ever worked with, the drop weighed about 360lbz. Btw I posted most of this stuff on the AAW forum, I've been having a hard time logging onto that forum so...here I am. :)

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[John K Jordan]

I have a big piece of thin stainless steel sheet I'll bet you could use!
I keep thinking about cutting it up into something but inspiration hasn't yet hit me. I do have a plasma cutter. I might just start cutting and see what happens.

As for simple, I'll bet you would enjoy some things my artist/potter friend has done. The latest is getting big "Y" shaped pieces from trees, cut and turn them upside down so the "Y" suggests legs, then stand them up and let them weather. He is working on a row of these "giants" marching down the end of his field!

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I had to take down a big cherry behind my shop and cut a few more Ys for him. I lifted this one with the excavator to see what it would look like and to see where it needed trimmed.

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We have another one with a three-way split, grew bent so it looks like a huge chicken foot and leg. Good clean fun!

JKJ

[Robert Hayward]

How about this taken out of the side of an old downed sycamore log. Not too far from you John, Cookeville, Tennessee. I have been going to do something with this for years. To stay on thread topic, maybe make spheres for the eyeball sockets.

[Lawrence Duckworth]

Wow! That's so cool. I like the idea of a sphere too Robert, maybe one setting on top of each one of the "Marching Giants"....Looks like fun......donno why but this kinda reminds me of those cars stuck in the ground out west near Amarillo :)

[Maria Alvarado]

I really enjoyed reading the sphere series. I have used the octagon method before, (I think from a write-up by David Reed Smith). I need to try between cup centers. I'm adding a couple pix of partial spheres I turned last year as bottle stoppers using the octagon to begin with. They didn't get the 3rd axis, so they aren't perfect, but they were fun. Feeling inspired to try some real spheres!
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[Robert Hayward]

I really enjoyed reading the sphere series. I have used the octagon method before, (I think from a write-up by David Reed Smith). I need to try between cup centers. I'm adding a couple pix of partial spheres I turned last year as bottle stoppers using the octagon to begin with. They didn't get the 3rd axis, so they aren't perfect, but they were fun. Feeling inspired to try some real spheres!

Those are nice Maria. Did you cast the resin? Or buy them ready to turn?

Grab a chunk of junk wood and have a go at turning a full Sphere. Even a construction grade 4X4 from the home center makes a good practice wood. Who knows, it might have some interesting "character" in the grain and end up a nice piece.

[Maria Alvarado]

Thanks Robert. Yes I did the casting. Turning resin is more scraping than cutting, otherwise you get chip out. I have a ton of nice scrap yearning to be round. Think I have my weekend sorted! ;)

[Dave Mount]

Lots of cool stuff showing up in this thread, making me feel pretty boring for staying inside the confines of straight up spheres.

Maria, did you cast those and if so, did you use a pressure pot? I've done lots of epoxy fills of smaller voids, but not bigger fills like those, and generally not transparent fills. I've been a little put off by the cost of pressure pots, but unclear on how important having one is to getting resin casts that don't look like snow globes of air pockets.

Best,

Dave

[John K Jordan]

... Not too far from you John, Cookeville, Tennessee. I have been going to do something with this for years. ...

Interesting chunk of wood!

Cookeville? You must know our good friend John Lucas.

[Maria Alvarado]

Hi Dave, yes I cast the blanks using a pressure pot. I did the Harbor Freight paint pressure pot conversion so it cost around 100 if you already have the air compressor. Definitely worth it.

[Lawrence Duckworth]

Lots of cool stuff showing up in this thread, making me feel pretty boring for staying inside the confines of straight up spheres.


Dave


I'm still trying to fig'r if'n a sphere is 3 dimensional or 2.... :)

[Robert Hayward]

Interesting chunk of wood!

Cookeville? You must know our good friend John Lucas.

No I do not. I worked in Cookeville on a job for about six months.

[Robert Hayward]

I've been a little put off by the cost of pressure pots, but unclear on how important having one is to getting resin casts that don't look like snow globes of air pockets.

Bone dry wood and a pressure pot are almost imperative to avoid air bubbles. I have this one. https://www.woodcraft.com/products/pressure-pot-for-resin-casting-california-air-tools?gclid=CjwKCAjwruSHBhAtEiwA_qCpppuptc8fy5BfVC Xh6DLU94_c0tZr4V0J5d5t1bHIUB-su9Ij7yhy4RoCwDwQAvD_BwE

I was on the fence about buying one also because of the cost. Then my local Woodcraft had a special on a limited number of them for I think it was $169.00.

[Robert Hayward]

I'm still trying to fig'r if'n a sphere is 3 dimensional or 2.... :)

Do not recall ever thinking about it. For that matter caring either.:) Your statement made me do a search and I came up with this:

A sphere (from Greek σφαῖρα—sphaira, "globe, ball") is a geometrical object in three-dimensional space that is the surface of a ball (viz., analogous to the circular objects in two dimensions, where a "circle" circumscribes its "disk").

[Lawrence Duckworth]

Okay Robert, here ya go....461713 461714 made this tower crane for my son to put in his office. What job did you work for six mo. in Tennessee?

[Lawrence Duckworth]

Those are sharp looking wine stopper Maria...next time you pour epoxy try turning it as soon as it sets up, if it's still warm...okay, just so it's set. Try it :)

[Maria Alvarado]

Thanks Lawrence. Hmm, I'm assuming 'just set' epoxy will react even worse than the not fully cured epoxy I've tried turning that basically melted under the heat of turning/sanding into a bit of a blob :rolleyes:

[Lawrence Duckworth]

Thanks Lawrence. Hmm, I'm assuming 'just set' epoxy will react even worse than the not fully cured epoxy I've tried turning that basically melted under the heat of turning/sanding into a bit of a blob :rolleyes:


Okay then :)
I poured two inlays on the base of the Christmas Ornament Trees and it took forever to setup and I thought why wait till its hard?
Maybe a carving density would work. :) I do remember after turning it being like someone tee-peed me and the lathe with plumbers Teflon Tape.

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[Lawrence Duckworth]

I really enjoyed reading the sphere series. I have used the octagon method before, (I think from a write-up by David Reed Smith). I need to try between cup centers. I'm adding a couple pix of partial spheres I turned last year as bottle stoppers using the octagon to begin with. They didn't get the 3rd axis, so they aren't perfect, but they were fun. Feeling inspired to try some real spheres!
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I made a few bottle stoppers too. I gave a couple to my daughter-in-law and at diner with them I opened a silverware drawer and one of the stoppers was rolling around (like a sphere) in the drawer. so...I thought they needed a place.

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[Maria Alvarado]

Wow, those are beautiful stoppers, I like your ornaments too!