Tim Malyszko
11-22-2007, 11:30 AM
A few weeks ago, my wife was looking through a Christmas Catalog and found some turned candlestick holders she liked and asked if I could make something similar. I finally finished my version of the candlestick holders. They are made from a single piece of 4x4 walnut and finished using Watco Danish Oil and buffed using the Beal Buffing System.
The candlestick holders are all 3.5" in diameter and are 10", 8.5" and 4" tall.
It's hard to tell from the picture, but my favorite thing about them is that the grain patterns match on all 3 candlesticks since they were cut from the same 4x4. This is one feature that I imagine it would be near impossible to find at a retail store.
Finally, the ones my wife saw in the catalog sold for nearly $80/set, as oppossed to my set, which cost me less than $15 in materials.
Overall, I was very pleased with the way they turned out. This was my first attempt at turning walnut and my first attempt at any spindle turning for stand-alone objects. While I enjoy working with walnut when building furniture, it wasn't one of my favorite woods to turn. Getting a smooth finish was somewhat challenging and the dust was a real irritant. Other than that, I ruined 2 other candlestick holders when they flew out of the chuck (of course it happens when I was about 95% done with them) - there was a small check that I did not see and it eventually failed, causing the holder to crack and the base of the chuck and then slip from the chuck. I aso had 2 pieces break away from the 2 smaller holders, but was able to find the pieces, glue it back into place and finish the turning. After turning and finishing, you could not even see where the repair was made.
Anyway, have a Happy Thanksgiving Holiday.
The candlestick holders are all 3.5" in diameter and are 10", 8.5" and 4" tall.
It's hard to tell from the picture, but my favorite thing about them is that the grain patterns match on all 3 candlesticks since they were cut from the same 4x4. This is one feature that I imagine it would be near impossible to find at a retail store.
Finally, the ones my wife saw in the catalog sold for nearly $80/set, as oppossed to my set, which cost me less than $15 in materials.
Overall, I was very pleased with the way they turned out. This was my first attempt at turning walnut and my first attempt at any spindle turning for stand-alone objects. While I enjoy working with walnut when building furniture, it wasn't one of my favorite woods to turn. Getting a smooth finish was somewhat challenging and the dust was a real irritant. Other than that, I ruined 2 other candlestick holders when they flew out of the chuck (of course it happens when I was about 95% done with them) - there was a small check that I did not see and it eventually failed, causing the holder to crack and the base of the chuck and then slip from the chuck. I aso had 2 pieces break away from the 2 smaller holders, but was able to find the pieces, glue it back into place and finish the turning. After turning and finishing, you could not even see where the repair was made.
Anyway, have a Happy Thanksgiving Holiday.