A humbling experience...........

[Ken Fitzgerald]

A fellow Creeker was looking for someone to turn 12 knobs for a project of he is making and I voluteered. The wood is bubinga. He asked where to get the wood and I told him CSUSA where I get a lot of my wood and I told him what size to get. I didn't take into account the smallest diameter the jaws of my chuck would grip before I advised him which wood size to get. Well..I didn't give my self much extra to work with..........

What a humbling experience. I practiced for 3 weeks and went through about 5 feet of 3"x 3" poplar. You'd think it wouldn't be that hard but it sure has been a chore for me. I sure found out what my turning skills are...or are not! I'm glad I'm not a production turner. I'd starve to death! I called John Hart and was whining to him about my progress and/or success and the lack there of and John said...."You remember what NAVY stood for?".......I didn't.........John's reply....."Never Again Voluteer Yourself!"........I'm getting so old I'd forgotten.....:o

For you new turners who've been asking about "shoulders" or "tenons" on you projects for use in your chuck......take a look at the last photo.....Some of the tenons are only 1/8" long.....The jaws grip the tenon but the forces applied while you are turning are supported on the shoulder of the tenon......

Here they are.....John ....there's 15 ....I hope you can find a dozen worth using...........

60509

60510

60511

Humbly submitted for scrutiny.......

[Ron Journeau]

perseverence wins again..nice job Ken, and anyone who has turned will know how hard it can be to do just two of anything, never mind fifteen...I already gave a friend one candlestick, told him to put it in the window, as he wouldn't be getting a matched pair for the table. :o

[Chris Barton]

Ken, it looks like you did a great job to me! Spindle turning is not as easy as many think, especially multiple identical pieces. Be proud!

[Neal Addy]

Looks great to me, Ken. I have a hard time with two matching pieces, let alone fifteen. That's why I could never do production work.

You should be proud of these.

[Karl Laustrup]

Hey Bud, those knobs look pretty good to me. Especially from back here in Wisconsin. ;) :D :D

Seriously, they do look good. While I can detect slight differences in shape, that's only because they are so closely displayed. Unless they're going to be installed that close together I would doubt anyone would notice those slight variations. And for those discerning few that do notice, give 'em a quick kick in the you know where. :D

Good job and now get back to some fun stuff.

Karl

P.S. How's the shop coming??;) :)

[Ken Fitzgerald]

P.S. How's the shop coming??;) :)

The shop ain't coming and the LOML is looking for more people to put on the list of malcontents who caused that......were you involved Karl?:rolleyes:

[Steve Schlumpf]

Ken - congrats on getting the job completed without going bonkers! Have to agree with Karl - it's time for you to get back to the fun stuff!

[Andy Hoyt]

Hmmmm. If I've done the arithmetic right - it works out to one knob produced every three weeks since you first accepted the challenge.






Dang, you've gotten fater than than me.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Hmmmm. If I've done the arithmetic right - it works out to one knob produced every three weeks since you first accepted the challenge.






Dang, you've gotten fater than than me.

Yeah.....Well.....I did have to work at a real job once in a while and of course, go to Yellowstone.......and well...it was Christmas in the midwest with our Moms and........I refuse to say how much time I spent per knob....Andy....it was a seriously humbling and learning experience!:o

[Ben Werner]

lookin good! I made a menorah once, and I sure struggled to try and get the spindles the same... never succeeded really succeeded. Those sure do look all the same! :D:D What did you do with the tenons? if you didnt get rid of them then great! I found that you can use those to make rings (finger rings) with minimal waste of wood. Just stick them back in your chuck, hollow out the center, jam it on something else, round over the top, and walla you have yourself a ring!!

Great Job!!
Ben

[Jim Becker]

Ken, you did a great job on those knobs! And honestly, slight imperfections ADD value to the furniture...it's all hand made, INCLUDING your knobs. Bravo!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Ken congrats on a job well done. You should be proud. Way to hold in there.

[Nancy Laird]

Ken, they look very good to me. I sure would not have wanted to take on that job. Ya dun good!!

Nancy

[John Miliunas]

Ahhhhh, Ken. Better you than me!:D And, I sincerely believe you done better than I would've, as well! :cool:

[Bill Bolen]

About a year ago I made 12 knobs for a carved front machinest tool chest. I know I turned 50 to get 12 that looked just OK. Very nice job and something to be proud of! I noticed from you pic that you managed to retain your hair!
Bill

[Corey Hallagan]

Hey Ken, you did great! I don't think I have ever turned 2 of anything that look the same. Good job!

Corey

[Ken Fitzgerald]

About a year ago I made 12 knobs for a carved front machinest tool chest. I know I turned 50 to get 12 that looked just OK. Very nice job and something to be proud of! I noticed from you pic that you managed to retain your hair!
Bill

Bill....it's an old photo.....:eek: :rolleyes: :D

[Jim Dunn]

About a year ago I made 12 knobs for a carved front machinest tool chest. I know I turned 50 to get 12 that looked just OK. Very nice job and something to be proud of! I noticed from you pic that you managed to retain your hair!
Bill

Bill it's not hair it's curlies from the lathe:eek: Ken nice looking bunch of knobs you got there. I take it there's al ittle flat work in your future?

[Jonathon Spafford]

You have got a lot of patience... I don't like production turning! Those look great. The experience probably made you a more accurate turner... don't think I would have the patience to learn that way ;)

[Curt Fuller]

Nice nobs Ken! I don't know who you made them for but I'm thinking that if they wanted them to look like they came from Home Depot or Lowes they would have just went down there and bought a bag of them. These nobs have personality and character, not to mention some nice wood and the Ken Fitzgerald touch.

If it makes you feel any better, my wife bought an antique knicknack sort of shelf thing a few weeks ago but it had a broken finial on one of the shelves. I have the one from the other side to use as a pattern but after 5 tries I said to h--- with it and haven't tried again. Making two things the same is the hardest thing I've ever tried to do on a lathe, let alone 15 of them.

[Gary Herrmann]

Better than I could have done.

[Johnathan Bussom]

Ken,

They look great, the most important part of any work is "Git er dun" and it looks like you accomplished that regardless of how long it took.

Some times I take some things I make into work and they ask me when I sleep, what they don't know is I started the project a month ago and I am not about to tell them that!

goood job, well done but after 8 1/2 years in the Army I must agree with Mr Hart!

John

[John Chandler]

I think you did a great job. Be proud.

[Randy Rhine]

The knobs look nice. It is a bit of a challenge turning a lot of the same thing. Every once in a while, I turn knobs for a local custom cabinet shop. All from cocobolo. It is boring but there are some tricks to make it more interesting and also make 'em go quick. First of all, use a screw chuck. The wood is suppled to me in squares. I cut to pretty much exact length, then drill a 3/16" hole in the center (using a drill press). The screw chuck is homemade and has a shoulder the diameter of the base of the knob. Then, just screw on the blank, turn it round and to the max diam. Then form the top and then cut in from the base, turning down to the shoulder of the chuck. By getting clean cuts, you can minimize sanding time. My best rate is 10/hour (at the lathe...not including cut/drill). The stereo blasting Tom Petty tunes helps keep things going. Here's a pic of some I did a while back.

randy

[Paul Engle]

Ken, sometimes it seems when i take on a commision it bites me on the behind. and i promised myself never again, but you know, with out that learning experience in life , we would never get to where you got with the knobs. Well done man, very well done.

[Reed Gray]

How big are they? The first thing I ever turned was a couple of mushroom shaped drawer pulls. Cut the head off a screw and chucked it up in the drill press, and used bench chisels to cut and a block of wood for a tool rest (before I fell into the abyss). I still turn some of them for my flat work. I made a mandril. Took a piece of end grain hard maple cylinder. chucked it up. Turned a taper on the end to about the size of the base of the knob I wanted to make. Drilled a hole big enough for the screw I would use for the knobs to fit in. Took it off the chuck and drilled a bigger hole from the other side, that the head of the screw would fit through. Left about 3/4 inch of screw sticking out the tapered end of the mandril, and epoxied it in place. Cut the appropriate size square blocks for blanks, take to the drill press, and drill the right sized hole, then wax the threads of the screw, and screw the block on, turn to size, sand and finish.

robo hippy

[Ed Scolforo]

Ken, you did a great job on those knobs. Now quit while you're ahead!
Ed

[Frank Kobilsek]

Ken, Done is Good

You've been at those for awhile. Take a break and turn some one of a kinds.

Frank

[John Hart]

Way to Go Mr Fitzgerald!!! I'm happy that you can breathe easy now and enjoy the rest of your life.;) :)

[Keith Burns]

Ken what can I say but "Ya done yourself proud". They look great !!