Well it was a little nerve wracking there at the end but I think it worked...

[Joshua Dinerstein]

Hi Peoples,

I spent an hour out in the shop tonight working on my finial/icicle turning. This is my 4th attempt and only my second night trying.

I tried to get it both thinner and more consistent top to bottom. I really like this one. It is more finial than Icicle but still. It was great practice and was once again done 100% with the skew! Yeehaaa!!!

I had a really nerve wracking moment at the end as I was parting off the part still connected to the tail stock as it was done at the point. Perhaps I should have removed it earlier or removed it off of the lathe but in the end it came off clean.

But I think that in the future I will try something else. Maybe a hack saw... :eek:

Anyway here it is... My photos of my latest en devour. I put a dime in there with a couple of them to show the size. It is hard to see in the second photo but I put a tiny little cap on the end. I was thinking tree and then realized it was to be upside down so... Anyway, what do you guys think?

Joshua

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Joshua....I'd say you are taming your skew! Indeed!..........YeeeHawww!!!!!

[Jim Koepke]

Nice, what kind of wood?

jim

[Cyril Griesbach]

Joshua, If you did all that with a skew let me say that I'm impressed. Parting off at the tailstock should be no problem if you relieve wood at the tailstock side to give you access to the end of the finial. Most of the finials/icicles you will see taper to the end and are generally "V" shaped unlike this one which appears to start in the middle and go to each end. Turning a good finial/icicle is a most difficult challange and I congratulate you on your efforts.

[Steve Schlumpf]

With a skew? Most impressive! Nice design - very different!

[Joshua Dinerstein]

Nice, what kind of wood?

jim
Jim,

This little icicle started it's life as a 10 cent Black Walnut pen blank I bought a year or so ago. They were cheap and the shipping was all combined up so I bought 200 or so of them. I have now used 4 learning to make finials. :)

I think I am going to need more of them. This is pretty fun stuff! :D

The finish on it is just some of Mahoney's Walnut Oil and some beeswax. Since they will hopefully wind up actually on a Christmas tree I wanted to try a softer finish that would have some luster but not be to shiny or "hard" a finish.

I had one I was working on. The one in between the two I have posted pictures of that I had made just a little too thin at one joint. I grabed it with a cloth to start the finishing and it sheered off in my hand. Pretty crazy how quickly the fibers tore and the end came off.

So I was much more careful with this one!

Joshua

[Paul Engle]

Oh yea baby !!!! , you got it Joshua, very well done indeed.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Well Ken I think we have another in the fold of skew masters. Joshua very well done. It is amazing what can be done with a skew and if done right doesn't need much sanding. I think you have the skew tamed as Ken said.

[Joshua Dinerstein]

Joshua, If you did all that with a skew let me say that I'm impressed.

I did indeed do it all with the skew. I cheated a bit. I switched from my HF 1" skew chisel to my 1/2" skew part way through. So I guess I made it all with 2 skews. :rolleyes: Doing so made the peeling cuts to make the 3/8" shoulder to go in the ornament much easier to do. I have been practicing a lot with the skew lately and I have been amazed how quickly peeling cuts get rid of waste and how supremely nice a finish I can get before doing any sanding.


Parting off at the tailstock should be no problem if you relieve wood at the tailstock side to give you access to the end of the finial. Most of the finials/icicles you will see taper to the end and are generally "V" shaped unlike this one which appears to start in the middle and go to each end.I actually started at the very end and then came back after finishing it all to remove the small block that was still at the very end to provide tail stock support. I did the sanding and finishing about an inch at a time as I worked toward the head stock. It worked great but parting off that small helper had the spindle rising nicely as it tried to climb to the tools cutting edge. I had to to wrap my fingers around it keep it down. I was taking the lightest cuts I think I have ever made to get it off.


Turning a good finial/icicle is a most difficult challange and I congratulate you on your efforts.Thank you. It has been great fun. I spent more time on this than I did on the last 2 bowls I have made. I am still going very slowly and carefully trying not to break the wood or myself.

I need something a little easier to work with right near the chuck though. I took a bite out of my skew chisel with the end of the jaws on my chuck. I switched it over from Cole Jaws to the 1" spigot jaws that came with my Barracuda 2 chuck. I was trying to part of and heard and felt a little ping as I was clearing the tool after a small peel to get down to the 3/8s. It was not a happy moment but I managed to hone back to a sufficient edge to get the final parting done. But I am going to need to regrind before i use it again.

Thanks,
Joshua

[Bill Bolen]

all Skew work! Superb job..Might I suggest not using cole jaws or any chuck with the skew especially on miniture works like this. A regular drive center or some sort of safety drive will give you easier access at the headstock end and no worries about running into a big 'ole cole jaw or chuck jaw...Bill..

[Joshua Dinerstein]

all Skew work! Superb job..Might I suggest not using cole jaws or any chuck with the skew especially on miniture works like this. A regular drive center or some sort of safety drive will give you easier access at the headstock end and no worries about running into a big 'ole cole jaw or chuck jaw...Bill..

The problem I had was that the blank starts at just over 1/2" square. My 1" drive centers, especially the safe driver, are to big and don't give me any drive at all. I have been eye'ing those collet chucks for their smoother and smaller profile. Seen a bunch on EBay that are MT2 based and then there is the Beal and the PSI that are threaded on the end much like a standard chuck.

Either would reduce that fear of getting a knuckle busted by the chuck as we as helping with other things.

Joshua

[Jim Underwood]

Joshua,

For small square stock you could always buy or make a square drive "center", and just jam the stock into it. If you made it out of wood, then you could make it any size you wanted, and also re-make it. It also wouldn't take a chunk out of your skew.
I believe that some folks call it a "bobbin" drive since that's what it's used for- small delicate spindle work.

http://www.shobha-india.com/wood-working-w18.html#3


Evidently, you just sand a taper on your square stock and jam it into the square hole. I know that's what Eugen Schlaak does over on World of Woodturners. He's got a little PDF file that shows how to make seam presses for quilters.

[Joshua Dinerstein]

Evidently, you just sand a taper on your square stock and jam it into the square hole. I know that's what Eugen Schlaak does over on World of Woodturners. He's got a little PDF file that shows how to make seam presses for quilters.
Would you happen to have a URL for that PDF handy? I did some google searches and came up empty for much with his name, Eugen Schlaak, other than a few Christmas Tree and ornament posts I couldn't find anything.

It sounds like a very interesting idea and I would like to see what he wrote about it.

Thanks!
Joshua