Advice on turning projects with different woods

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I'm planning on turning some Christmas tree ornaments from 2 different kinds of wood....maple and purpleheart........Should I turn the individual parts and use mortise and tenons to join them or should I glue them all up and turn as one piece?

[Andy Hoyt]

Ken - are they stacked like these? or segged like this bunch?

[John Timberlake]

I turn mine by turning the outside of the central bulb with the outside shape. I then drill a 5/8" hole most of the way through and then hollow it out. Then I finish turning the outside with only a 1/2" tenon and drill the 5/8" hole the rest of the way through. Then I turn the bottom and top with a 5/8" tenon. These are glued up. See the pictures above. These also have a collar in addition to the spindles.

[Jim Becker]

Bob Rosand demonstrates ornaments by turning the central bulb separately and first so it can easily be hollowed (no need for a fine finish inside!). Calipers can then be used to determine the size of the hole(s) so finials top and bottom can be turned and fitted to the globe. This makes for a lightweight end result. And you don't want to be turning those fine finial spindles while there are attached to something else...

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Andy.....Stacked like those.........that's why I wondered about turning the pieces individually and then gluing them together.

[Andy Hoyt]

Bob Rosand is indeed a master at that kind of ornament Ken.

Here's a link to an article about how he makes them.

And here's a link to a demo did for us this fall. Has a number of pretty good shots of him making one.

[John Hart]

I've only done one ornament. I did the pieces separate and glued them together. So there's a wealth of experience eh Ken?

[Curt Fuller]

Ken, the ones I've turned are from seperate pieces using a tenon to fit the finial and icicle into the ball. If you don't hollow the ball the ornaments are pretty heavy and bend the tree branch down.