for the kindergartners

[John K Jordan]

Every Christmas I make tops for the kids in my kindergartners SS class. This is the handful I made today to take tomorrow. Never know how many kids or visitors will show up.

Dogwood, bocote, osage, goncolo alves, spalted beech, cherry, purpleheart, jatoba.

tops_dec2015.jpg

I've probably made 1000 of these over the years. I always encourage the kids (and oldsters!) to learn to spin them upside down.

In case someone hasn't made these and is interested, the bottom is turned and finished first, then the part above, then the handle. Once you start thinning the handle you can't touch the rest again. The dark lines are friction burned with a wire, a bit of a trick on a sloped surface.

I hit it each section with a little 600 grit paper whether it needs it or not; finish is Mylands friction polish.

top_lathe_small.jpg

It's hard to get a sharp picture with a phone camera while the lathe is spinning! But I am always amazed at how good the phone cameras have gotten.

JKJ

[Doug W Swanson]

Nice variety! It's funny how the finished part looks stationary but the block of cherry is blurry

[Steve Arnold]

Every Christmas I make tops for the kids in my kindergartners SS class. This is the handful I made today to take tomorrow. Never know how many kids or visitors will show up.

Dogwood, bocote, osage, goncolo alves, spalted beech, cherry, purpleheart, jatoba.

tops_dec2015.jpg

I've probably made 1000 of these over the years. I always encourage the kids (and oldsters!) to learn to turn them upside down.

In case someone hasn't made these and is interested, the bottom is turned and finished first, then the part above, then the handle. Once you start thinning the handle you can't touch the rest again. The dark lines are friction burned with a wire, a bit of a trick on a sloped surface.

I hit it each section with a little 600 grit paper whether it needs it or not; finish is Mylands friction polish.

top_lathe_small.jpg

It's hard to get a sharp picture with a phone camera while the lathe is spinning! But I am always amazed at how good the phone cameras have gotten.

JKJ

Very nice tops!

I'm very new to turning and you've inspired me to try to make a couple of these for my grandkids.

[George Conklin]

Thanks for the inspiration, John. I think my grandkids will like these too.
Off to the lathe

[John K Jordan]

I'm very new to turning and you've inspired me to try to make a couple of these for my grandkids.

Good! I usually chuck up a square maybe 6" long and cut two or three in a row. Fine-grained woods are best. I turn with the speed all the way up (about 3200 rpm on my lathe.) I mostly use a 1/2" spindle gouge, sometimes a smaller gouge for the handle, skew chisel. I use a small parting tool to remove most of the wood first but leave the wood at the handle untouched as long as possible to minimize vibration. After it is shaped I cut it off with the gouge or skew and trim, sand, and finish the tip of the handle by hand. A good point on the handle will let you spin it nicely up-side-down.

Just ask if you need better descriptions. I do have a series of turnings showing the sequence I could photograph.

JKJ

[John K Jordan]

Very nice tops!
I'm very new to turning and you've inspired me to try to make a couple of these for my grandkids.

I took a picture of the turning sequence in case you or someone is interested:

top_sequence.jpg

I do shape more of the end of the handle than shown here before cutting it off.

JKJ

[Aaron Craven]

You're just the guy to ask! How do you manage to wire burn those lines? Every time I've tried to burn a line on a slope like that, the wire just walks all over the place. Even after cutting a little groove with a parting tool.

[John K Jordan]

You're just the guy to ask! How do you manage to wire burn those lines? Every time I've tried to burn a line on a slope like that, the wire just walks all over the place. Even after cutting a little groove with a parting tool.

Ha! I have a technique I came up with long time ago. Maybe others do the same thing but I've never seen it nor have the people I've shown over the years.

Basically, I interrupt my finishing cut partway down the slope to form a step, friction burn a line in the step, then continue the finishing cut. For example, suppose we want to burn two lines on a slope like in this photo:

tops00_small.jpg

I drew a quick sketch of the profile as you would see it on the lathe.
We want to create the burn marks on the left slope as represented by the black dots:

top_burn_slope.jpg

Step A: Leave the surface a little bit higher than the desired profile as shown by the green line. I never measured, certainly less than 1/16", doesn't need much.

Step B: Cut the final profile down to where you want the first burn line. Hold the wire in the little valley and burn the line.

Step C: Continue cutting the final profile down to where you want the second mark and repeat the burn.

Finish: Continue the finishing cut to the end of the profile.

NOTES:
- Since the top part of the burn mark will be cut away you may have to burn a little deeper than you would on a normal friction burn.

- When continuing the profile cut as in step C be careful not to cut into the burn mark or you may cut it away!

- I often make just a whisper of a cut over the line if I want the line to be thinner (less deep) but this requires a careful cut to keep from removing the line entirely and having to start over.

- Sanding too much will remove or soften the groove! Sharp tools and a careful hand on good wood should require little no sanding. (I usually hit it with a touch of 600 grit.)

- Most of the wires I see used to friction burn lines are too thick for my taste. I have a stash of thin galvanized wires made to attach tags to valves. I don't know the gauge. Without measuring I'll guess they are 0.2 or 0.3 mm.


I hope this helps. Enjoy!

JKJ

[John K Jordan]

I should mention this: I have used many other methods to put burned lines on sloped surfaces and my mileage varied depending on the slope, the wood, and the quality of the line I wanted. (i.e, some looked terrible, fat and sloppy.)

The stepped finish cut method described is especially useful for very "steep" surfaces. It is difficult to get thin, clean lines on a profile like this one, or steeper, using other methods, and especially in some woods:

top_turning_lines.jpg

I've even used it on surfaces that were almost vertical. It always works and works well (except in lignum vitae!)

Cutting a groove first with a point tool or the tip of a skew works if the profile is not too steep. However, even then, the resulting burned line is generally deeper and "fatter" than I want to see it. When step cut and burned, a skimming cut can leave the lines very thin and very clean.

With the right wood you can hold a thin object such as a piece of sharpened ebony or formica against the spinning surface. This works even if the surface is vertical on the lathe or even concave. However I found two problems with this.

One, some woods are more difficult. It is difficult to burn a line at all in some woods and at some diameters. In fact, with some woods even a "sharpened" wire held at full speed on a horizontal surface will not work well, especially if the diameter is small so the surface speed is slow. In that case, having a step to capture the wire is a big help.

Two, with some woods and circumstances, burning with an object like formica held against the wood gives a poor line. The line can end up fatter and have less crisply defined edges. Burning a clean, thin line on slick wood close to the axis is especially difficult.

Cutting a step and burning with a very thin wire works in all these cases to make a thin, clean line: problem woods, near vertical surfaces, and for circles with very small diameters.

JKJ

PS: For best results, I like to "sharpen" the wire, especially after it has been used for a while and is becomes burnished or slick with carbon deposits. Simply pinch the wire with a piece of coarse sandpaper and pull the wire through to scratch the surface.

PPS: Not much luck with lignum vitae! - too much lubrication in the wood. I thought about using electricity to make a red-hot wire but that might be a fire hazard...

[Aaron Craven]

Thanks for the tips! I'll give this a try.

I'm still learning and my cutting technique is a little sloppy (which means I use a fair amount of the good old 80-grit scraper in final shaping), so it may take me some time to be able to use this approach. But it's way better than my current methods -- none of which work for burning a line in on a slope surface. I have tried using a sharpened piece of wood to burn a line previously (a bit of hickory I sanded a rough point into). Instead of burning a line, it mostly just burned the scrap piece of wood. Being hickory, it smelled very nice, but the "line" was just a shallow groove in the surface with a little soot on the edges. For that piece I actually ended up "burning" the line using a pencil. The dark silvery appearance of graphite actually looked nice, but even with shellac over it, I worry about it not passing the test of time.

[John K Jordan]

my cutting technique is a little sloppy

It sure took me a while to get to where I can usually make a very clean final pass! The thing that helped the most (besides razor-sharp tools) is learning to move the gouge very slowly - the slower the movement and the faster the lathe spins the cleaner the surface. Relatively short cuts on something like dogwood or cocobolo or ebony often need no sanding. I also tend to practice a lot, even when just removing material. Of course, I'm probably the slowest woodturner in TN...

JKJ

[mike pockoski]

Super helpful advice here John, reminding me to go SLOW! Thanks for the effort for such clear descriptions and helpful pictures.

[Jim Sevey]

image.jpg
Two tops with blue and pink highlights and an acorn. Christmas gifts.

[John K Jordan]

I love the spalted wood, anything spalted is often picked first when people are offered a choice! Is that beech?

JKJ

[Jim Sevey]

I love the spalted wood, anything spalted is often picked first when people are offered a choice! Is that beech?

JKJ

It's pecan. I was lucky enough to happen by a city park when they were trimming some very large trees. I got a truck-bed full of very nice logs. Oddly enough- it was from Pecan Park. The logs were sealed and I've had them about 2 years. Decided to bust a few open for gifts for grandkids. The blue and pink rings are extra fine glitter mixed into 5 minute epoxy. I cut a groove or grooves, fill them with the epoxy mix, and finish turn and sand/finish. I love making tops and turned boxes and the kids like them too.