How is this turned

[David Grant Wilson]

Hi I am new to wood turning. (I have just started a carvers mallet turned on my hobby metal lathe). I have had this piece for a few years and it has intregued me But thought you might shed a light on how this vase was turned from one piece of fence post.( photos attached)
At first I thought it must have been split into two, turned separetley then glued together. Close examination says no. None of the splits & cracks running with the grain go all the way through the wood. I am thinking there must be a special tool .

[Joash Boyton]

this is done through a procedure, where you turn, with the piece lined up to the tailstock, and then hollow one side out, and then switch it over to the other branch, and hollow that side.

One thing....the whole time, there will be one side spinning off centre, so you need a solid lathe;)

Joash

Edit: I am pretty sure this is jam-wood......it may be ironwood.

[George Tokarev]

Depending on your desired, you can do it single center driven end and multiple on the the hollowing end, or double centers both ends.

Turn between centers for one tube, making the tenon a bit smaller in diameter than necessary for the sake of the shoulder support. Then shift and turn the secondary centers' tenon ahead of the primary. Return to primary, chuck and hollow, then trim off at the old shoulder, rechuck as required.

[Jim Becker]

Whittling all that down...it's a multi-axis turning. :)

[Mark Pruitt]

What specific turning tool would you use?

[John Shuk]

Very nicely!

[George Tokarev]

The tool for reaching between the two tubes? Probably best to just scrape it, since you'll have some real reach over the rest. Might have just a bit of hook to the tool for ease of undercut. I did two, way back, both on double centers rather than single/double, and I used my Sorby parting tool and Stewart scraper with the brace handle.

[Curt Fuller]

Very carefully!

[Chris Barton]

OK, so I've looked at this piece about a dozen times and have come to the conclusion that the only way it could be turned is by splitting it along one of the natural cracks and turning the neck pieces individually and then gluing them back together. There are a lot of "hints" that this was indeed the process if you look closely enough. At first I thought like others here that it might be a multiaxis turning but, that's impossible since each neck would interfere with the other at some point in a MA turning.

[Gordon Seto]

I agree, the lip of the tall end interferes with tools sneaking up on the short side. After examing the 2nd picture mutiple times, I noticed the curve on the inside of the short neck was not symetrical to the outside. I believe the inside of the short side was shaped instead of turned on a lathe.

Gordon

[David Grant Wilson]

With my limited knowledge of turning proceedures and with this piece in my hand I look at it then look again!!:confused: It is either a very good gluing exercise with areas looking that they have never been split, or a very tricky turned piece using a very thin tool with a dog leg in it to avoid the next turned neck.

I think i'll settle for the 3rd shaping option.
The only way to know is contact the maker somewhere in Queensland i believe.
Thanks all for your input, and a Happy and prosperous new year!!

[Chris Barton]

Hi David,

I think the key here is the length of the necks of the two openings. With the longest neck in a lathe you could turn the neck down to the beginning of the shorter of the two but, no further. The shorter of the two couldn't be turned as a multiaxis turning project because the longer neck would rotate in a maner that would protrude past the tailstock center and make using a gouge of any kind, dog-legged or otherwise, impossible. The neck of the longer piece would hit the gouge. The only way you could do it would be for the piece to be in a chuck where there was no need for a tailstock and then it would be like doing a hollow form (end grain turning) but, on the outside rather than the inside and would indeed need very specialized tools created for such a project. The other give away on this not being a MA project is the flares of the base of the areas that meet the nonfinished rough post area (it looks like an old fence post to me). On one side the flare goes lower than the other side and this would be completely impossible in an MA piece. But, that's one of the intrigues of woodworking; developing the skill to do what looks impossible. However, there is a large natural crack that runs between the two neck and I could easily split the piece apart and turn the two pieces individually and then glue them back together and do so without a noticeable glue line like in bandsaw boxes, especially in rough wood.