A Different Christmas Ornament

[Steve Schlumpf]

Inspired by Curt’s ornament tutorial, I wanted to turn one but with some slight changes. Please let me know what you think!

Curly maple, hollowed, dyed with RIT Crimson, sanded to 320, 3 coats of Minwax Wipe-On Gloss Poly and buffed. Acrylic, top finial and bottom icicle, were sanded to 320 and left that way to give a frosted look. The 2 globes on the bottom icicle were buffed until they became clear. I wanted the contrast between frosted and clear and it came out really nice. Unfortunately, the photographs of the clear portion of the icicle don’t do it justice.

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As always, your comments, critiques and opinions are welcome!

Thanks for looking and Merry Christmas to everyone!

[Jeremy Parkins]

Very cool... What did you use for the acrylic parts?

[Mark Patoka]

I like it. Nice mix of mediums.

[Pete Jordan]

Awesome Steve!

I'll be stealin that!

[Joshua Dinerstein]

Awesome work. I love the contrasts in colors and materials!

Joshua

[Mike Golka]

COOOOOL! nicely done

[Paul Engle]

Oh yea, You got it !!!! yep you got it, nice work Steve and ... Merry Christmas.

[Jim Becker]

Those are kinda neat, Steve!

Have you tried any with a large "ball" proportionally?

[steven carter]

Steve,

"CLEARLY" Very nice ornament!!!

Steve

[Bernie Weishapl]

Steve I like the contrasting colors you used. Great looking ornament. IMHO I would have made the ball bigger maybe at least twice it's size or larger to be more in proportion with the finials on top and bottom.

Merry Christmas to you and yours Steve.

[Don Orr]

Outstanding Steve, great variation on a theme. I'm sure that will be copied many times:D.

[David Drickhamer]

Very cool Steve.

[Steve Schlumpf]

OK - here's the story......

I turned the maple ball first, dyed it and then applied poly to it. The acrylic was cut from a old trophy that I had saved for just such an occasion. I figured approximately what I wanted for length of top and bottom finials, cut the acrylic and started turning. After awhile I realized that I would not be able to get the finials as thin as I wanted because all my tools were to big!!! Most everything I have is set up for bowls & hollow forms - not delicate finial work! So, did the best I could with what I had and made a mental note to check into some smaller gouges and skews!

This ornament was really just a test to see if the concept (frosted/clear acrylic) would work. It does .... but enough of that tiny stuff for now!

Thanks for all the comments! I do appreciate it!

[Bill Bolen]

Cool piece Steve. And what a great idea with the icecicle going from opaque to clear. I've not seen that before. The color really makes it stand out. Thanks for posting..Bill..

[Jack Mincey]

Very nice Steve, I turned some acrylic once an thought it flexed a lot. Do you find that it wants to move away from the tool.
Jack

[Steve Schlumpf]

Jack - I didn't have any problems with the acrylic - but I was taking some very light cuts. I was more concerned with heating the stuff up from rpm than anything else. Keep the speed down to around 1000 - just to be safe.

[robert hainstock]

very nice. We like every thing about it, but both agree with Bernie about the ball size. What did you use to polish the acrylic? :D
Bob & Sylvia

[michael gallagher]

Steve, that looks really neat...I like the frosted look.

[Don Carter]

Steve:
I love the idea of using the two different materials. Using large tools, I'd say it is great! Merry Christmas to you and your family.

All the best.

Don

[Billy Tallant]

Ornament looks great...Being new in turning, I see amazing things that can be made when enough experience comes my way. Never would have thought of mixing two different mediums like this together.

[Curt Fuller]

Very Cool! I've never turned acrylic but it looks like a lot of possibilities. Where did you find the acrylic rod for the blank?

[Steve Schlumpf]

Curt - it was just a chunk I cut off an old trophy. I always hang on to stuff - knowing that someday I would be able to use it. Been thinking about finials - more for hollow forms but after your ornament tutorial I just had to try one. Gots to get some smaller tools though - tough to do spindle work with a 1" skew and spindle roughing gouge!

[Paul Douglass]

that is really really nice!

[Jim Kountz]

I really like this Steve, the icicle looks like.......well.....ICE!! Great job!!

[Terry Achey]

Quite a creative piece, Steve. How cool would that look if you could place a small button battery and an LED bulb in the ball to illuminate the icicle :D.

Terry

[John Terefenko]

Steve

Hope you don't mind but I want to copy it as well. Love the idea. Question when making the top and bottom did you put a tenon on them to insert into a hole in the orb??? Thanks and great job.

[Steve Schlumpf]

John - the 'orb' is hollow (to reduce weight) and has a 5/16" hole on each end. Each finial has a short 5/16" tenon and used a little CA to secure everything in place. Have fun with it! Looking forward to seeing other versions!

[Brad Hammond]

wow....great mixture of materials!

[lynn smith]

Steve,
Man that is spectacular!
What is the clear material made of?
I would really love to do something similar.
Woudl you be willing to share the process of creation?
Awesome

[Jeff Nicol]

Steve, That gives me some more ideas to try today! I got two calls yesterday and the shop here in town sold all the ornaments I gave him three days ago! I must nit be charging enough!

Great job!

Jeff

[Keith Christopher]

Very nice Steve, I turned some acrylic once an thought it flexed a lot. Do you find that it wants to move away from the tool.
Jack


Jack,

It will flex some if it is a larger piece of acrylic. However smaller ones shouldn't flex until they get thin, and then you'll need scary sharp tools so you don't have to push the tool into the work.


Keith