A little preview

[Kenneth George]

Hello everyone, I thought it might be nice to share a little preview of my current project with you. When I got my first lathe in the early 80’s I had visions of incorporating turned pieces into the things that I made. Never got very good at it so in the early 90’s I bought a bigger lathe. Again I found the results of my efforts less than satisfactory. A bit over two years ago I went at turning head on and did nothing with wood that was not turned. I studied and learned. I read everything I could and tried about everything I read. In any case enough with the boring history stuff my point is that I feel confident enough at this time to bring turning into my furniture projects.

So with that I have designed a piece that I am now in the building stages of. It will be my most complex piece yet. About 80% of the individual pieces will be turned and with that this particular piece is without a doubt the largest I have turned yet at 24”. The first piece I am working on is a segmented ring made of Walnut. There are 20 segments and they are glued and then joined with Walnut splines. Here it is on the lathe and I am using a Baltic Birch to support it for the turning process.

http://theturnersshop.com/images/06-25-06/DSCF1812.jpg

I learned quickly that I needed to take very light controlled cuts to keep the plywood from flexing but even so the very dry Walnut is cutting very well. I am running the lathe in reverse and having to do a lot of the cuts left handed.

http://theturnersshop.com/images/06-25-06/DSCF1817.jpg

I have turned my rabbit and have shaped the outside profile of the piece. Here I had wiped it down with mineral sprites to see how it looked. This will be the underside of one of the pieces of what I am making.

http://theturnersshop.com/images/06-25-06/DSCF1819.jpg

I may end up inundating you guys with information about this particular project as it seems as though that is all that is on my mind lately. Anyhow if I get boring or what not just let me know and thanks for having a look at my most recent weirdness!

Ken

[Henry C. Gernhardt, III]

Wierdness or not, Kenneth, I look forward to seeing the process.

Lookin' good so far!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

INUNDATE US PLEASE! Turners are weird by nature! Bring it on! Beautiful!

[Jim Becker]

That's a really neat project! What is the ring going to be used for/as once it's completed??

I'm finding this very interesting as I've been thinking about an adaptation of the Shaker style candle stands I like to build that has a raised rim...for that I'd keep the material at 3/4" to start and then actually turn the top on the lathe to 1/2" thickness...basically a platter with legs. :) The size would be similar or slightly smaller than what you are working with.

[Kenneth George]

Jim, you absolutely hit spot on with that guess. Not too awful long ago the wife and I went to a higher end antique show pretty much just to browse. I like going to those as I always get inspired by the craftsmanship of a lot of the furniture. At this particular one I was just absolutely taken in by a late 1700’s Tilt Top Tea table. Ever since then I have been designing this one that I just started on finally this weekend.

My problem is that I wanted to veneer the top (I have an idea to try I have not yet done) but I am not a fan of edge banding. My next alternative would be to inlay the veneer but I have seen that done and did not like it. I could have also used a router and templates but I knew I wanted segmented as I did not want any end grain to show. Since I did it segmented I decided to turn it as I feel I can get the details in that I have in my mind.

The rabbit I turned is just a bit deeper than 1/2” which will allow for the plywood substrate and the veneer. I can scrape the Walnut flush afterwards. It is my intention to turn the substrate and inlay it into this frame as I would one of my finials. I am hoping for a perfect mate.

The bottom has a very gentle ogee taper that made the splines appear to be twice the thickness as I turned skewed to them. Believe it or not I took great pains to make sure none of the grain matched on the segments as that is part of my design vision. Here is a pretty good close-up of the splines.

http://theturnersshop.com/images/06-25-06/DSCF1820.jpg

Anyhow if anyone has interest when I am done I am taking pictures as I go.

Ken

[Jim Becker]

Oh, yea...the whole pictorial is "mandatory" now!! ;)

[Kenneth George]

Oh yeah, I did a table kind of like what you are talking about Jim. I did this one over a year ago I think. It is made for a contest and was made from 1 single 96” construction grade 2X6. The top is completely turned and is about an inch deep from the top of the rim.

http://www.theturnersshop.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/DSCF0214.jpg

It was a lot of fun.

Ken

[Corey Hallagan]

Looking forward to this Kenneth. That small table looks really great! What was the finish you applied to the lumber to get it to look like that?

Corey

[Ernie Nyvall]

I'm looking forward to seeing this whole process Kenneth if you will kindly show it.:D

Ernie

[Mike Ramsey]

That is really cool! Can't wait to see the project come to life!

[Kenneth George]

Corey, that was a Minwax Ployshades Bombay Mahogany if I remember correctly. Seems like it ended up taking 11 or 12 coats to get the color I wanted. I sprayed it on with a small touchup gun that I have. I finally ended up wet sanding at 1200 grit and then I rubbed it out with rotten stone.

Ken

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

Awesome Table, Kenneth. This new project looks intriguing! Can't wait for further updates.

Bruce;)

[Corey Hallagan]

Kenneth that is just awesome. Never seen anyone take construction lumber and make it look like that. Beautiful!

Corey

[Bernie Weishapl]

That table is awesome Kenneth. Oh yea keep the pictures coming. I like watching things as they come together. Thanks for sharing.