Please help me turn a table lamp

[John Huber]

I'm turning a table lamp out of black palm and holly. My problem is making the mortise on the top (shaft) to mate with the bottom (bulbous base). No matter how firmly I tighten the chuck on the headstock, when working the free end, the fibrous black palm tears out of the chuck.

Unfortunately, I can't use a screw plate mounting because I've already cut the wire chase down the top (shaft). It would seem that I need to attach a hardwood mounting to the shaft, but I can't figure out how to release it. That end will become the top of the lamp where the socket is.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give.

[Grant Wilkinson]

John

I'm sure the more experienced turners will have better ideas than mine, but could you not use a face plate and screw into the top end grain? At the bottom end, you could drive a dowel to fill the centre hole for a bit deeper than your mortise depth, support the whole thing with the tail stock, then turn your mortise down to the dowel. Then, just pull or drill the dowel out.

[Jim Becker]

Clamp the "top" blank to your drill press table and use a Forstner bit to cut the mortise. Use a slightly smaller cutter if you haven't sized the tenon on the other piece to an exact bit measurement and then remount the base to adjust the size of the tenon downward for a snug fit in the mortise.

[Benjamin Dahl]

I would also try using some thin CA glue or minwax wood hardner on the end of the palm to make it stronger and reduce some of the tearout.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Jim's idea seems plausible.

Stabilize the palm using wood hardener or even the infamous "epoxy cocktail" ....epoxy thinned with DNA. Then turn.

John...I reread your thread....Are you having difficulty holding the top piece? If so, you might turn some hard wood pieces to a disk shape slightly small than the diameter you need on the cylinder of the lamp and hot glue them to the cylinder and turn the cylinder. Keep in mind that getting them positioned absolutely centered over the cylinder is critical. Then you can release the disk using a heat gun. Try it on some scraps first. I've never tried it but it does seem possible.

[John Huber]

Many thanks to all that replied. I combined several ideas. From Ken Fitzgerald, I glued hardwood pieces that fit the chuck to the black palm; that spread the load across more of the black palm fibers. From Jim Becker, I mounted a Forstner bit in a drill chuck in the tailstock; the edge guiding effect and the evenly balanced cutting eliminated fluctuating loads. The combination worked super. Not a quiver of trouble. A little chisel work removed the hardwood pieces. The mortise and tenon mated like a charm. Now to turn the lamp so it looks good!

[Robert McGowen]

You seem to have your problems worked out, but just to add my 2 cents worth. :) I have made a couple of lamps and make all of my rolling pins the following way. There is no way to screw this up! (REALLY)

The hole down the middle where the threaded lamp rod requires a 3/8" hole for it to fit in. Drill the hole. Get a 3/8" diameter all thread rod, preferably stainless steel. I get it in 3' lengths. Put it through your lamp and use a washer, lockwasher, and nut on each end to tighten against each other. You should basically end up with what is almost exactly like a GIANT pen. The hole in my tailstock is 3/8" also. Slide one end through the hole in the tail stock after removing the point. Hold the other end with your chuck. Turn at will from there. As you are centering everything from the hole in the middle, your piece should end up perfectly centered also. I can make a rolling pin in about 90 minutes from start to finish doing it this way.