This ornament consists of three pieces: a hollowed ball, a short upper finial,
and a long lower icicle.
Turning the Ball
1. Select a 2 × 2 × 2½ (if using a waste block) or 2 × 2 × 3½ (if using a scroll chuck) blank. Use a dense straight grain
wood such as birch, maple, blood wood, rosewoods, black wood, etc.
2. Mark drill centers 1¼" from one end (tail stock end) and at the
center of the face width on all four faces.
3. Bore ¾" holes with a Forstner bit to center of block on all four sides
using the center marks as guides.
4. Mount the block in a scroll chuck or on a waste block
5. Use a spindle roughing gouge to turn to a cylinder.
6. Mark the hole centers with a pencil line as a visual equator reference.
7. Use a 3/8" spindle gouge to shape to a round ball, tail-stock end first
and then head stock end. Leave the head stock end 1" thick for support.
8. Drill a ½" diameter hole through the tail stock end and 2½"
deep using a Jacob's chuck in the tailstock.
9. Using a 5/16" spindle gouge or similar tool with the tool rest about
even with the bottom of the hole begin hollowing the inside of the ball through
the ½" entry hole. The tool is to be on its left side with the flute
nearly closed. Start at the edge of the entry hole and work in toward the
centers of the side holes. Complete hollowing the near half of the hole before
going on to the other end. Continue hollowing the other half working from the
center outward.
10. Finish shaping the headstock end exterior to ¾".
11. Sand exterior, using caution not to get fingers in the side holes and don’t
let the wood get too warm or it will crack. Using wax if necessary, sand with
80, 120, 150, 220 grit paper.
12. Seal with Mylands Sanding Sealer and polish with cotton cloth.
In the demonstration Bill sealed with Deft lacquer. He used a long Q-tip to
apply sealer to the interior of the ball being careful not to use an excess
that could be thrown out when the lathe turns.
13. Polish exterior with Mylands Friction Polish and polish with a cotton
cloth.
In the demonstration Bill used industrial grade wipes for
buffing but used only Deft finish rather than friction polish.
14. Wax exterior with a paste wax and polish with a cotton cloth.
15. Part off using a thin parting tool while supporting the ball with the left
hand.
Bill reverse mounted the ball on a mandrel to expose the parted
end for finishing. The mandrel was made from a ½" dowel mounted in a
waste block and turned to a very slight taper so the dowel entirely penetrated
the ball with a snug jam fit at the base of the dowel. The parted end was then
cleaned up, sanded and finished on the mandrel.
Turning the Finial
1. Mount a 1¼ × 1¼ × 6" to 8" blank of contrasting
wood in the scroll chuck.
This blank should suffice for both the finial and the icicle to
follow.
2. Rough to a cylinder with a roughing gouge.
3. Turn a small undercut tenon to fit the upper end hole of the ball.
Bill made this tenon longer than needed and then parted it to the proper length
after finishing the finial.
4. Shape the finial as desired or like a game piece.
Bill's finial was about 1" long. He also cut the icicle tenon and first couple
of features of the icicle (step 1 below) at this stage to avoid a re-chucking.
5. Sand, seal, polish, and wax.
Bill used wax and steel wool to finish
the detail features of the finial. He also used a #57 wire bit to drill a hole
the full length of the finial so he could mount a screw eye on both the top and
bottom of the finial. The top eye is for hanging the ornament and the bottom
eye is for hanging a ½" diameter bell inside the ball chamber on
monofilament fish line.
6. Carefully part off the finial.
After parting off, Bill mounted the
elongated finial tenon in pin jaws to finish dressing the top of the finial and
then parted off the finial with just enough tenon to fit into the hole at the
top of the ball. The excess tenon remained in the pin jaws.
Turning the Icicle
1. With the remainder of finial blank mounted in the scroll chuck and steadied
with a live center turn a small undercut tenon to fit the hole in the bottom of
the ball.
Bill again made this tenon a bit long to allow reversing in
the chuck. He also turned the first inch of the icicle profile above the tenon
to avoid interference from the headstock after reversing the chucking.
2. Reverse the piece in the chuck gripping the tenon again using a live center
to steady the piece. Turn the icicle to the desired shape and length. As the
icicle profile gets thinner support the piece with fingers of the left hand.
3. Sand, seal, polish and wax as with other pieces.
4. Carefully part off the icicle leaving only enough tenon to enter the bottom
hole of the ball.
Bill assembled the icicle and finial to the ball using C/A glue on the
respective tenons. He sprayed a little accelerator through the side hole of the
ball to set the glue. If a bell is to be used it must be tied to the lower eye
in the finial before the finial is inserted into the ball.
(Demonstration pictures continue down the long column on the right.)
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