Overview:

Tom Fortenbery resides and has his studio in Rosedale, Indiana. He worked for IBM and took an early retirement in 1987. After retirement he became serious about woodturning and began taking classes from well-known turners beginning with Rude Osolnik. He then began taking classes at Arrowmont in Gatlinburg, TN with many recognized turners. He progressed from student status to assisting and then on to teaching. He has taught at Arrowmont, John C. Campbell Folk School and Appalachian Center for Crafts in Smithville, TN. He also teaches in his own studio.

Tom has demonstrated for the Utah Woodturning Symposium in Provo, UT, the Georgia Woodturning Symposium at Unicoi State Park in Helen, GA and the Turn About Wood tool and supply store in Kansas City, MO. He has also demonstrated for many local woodturning chapters across the country.

Tom feels very fortunate that he is able to turn and not live off his turning. He does it for the pure enjoyment of turning and passing along any tips and expertise that he has acquired over the past 20 years. He feels he is not a professional woodturner. For him, “It is just a hobby that has gotten out of hand.”

Morning Session:

Tom began his demonstration with a cylindrical piece of spalted sugar maple 5”x8” that was mounted in a Vicmarc chuck with dovetail jaws. From this he planned to make a hollow form with a contrasting rim and base of walnut. He first roughed the cylinder into the approximate shape of the hollow form. In describing the shape of a piece he stated that “there is a subtle difference between a piece that sings and a piece that remains forever silent.” Tom left a substantial amount of wood in the base portion of the piece so that there was stability when hollowing. He alluded to the “golden rectangle” rule where the widest part of a piece is two-fifths down from the top or three-fifths up from the bottom. This usually gives the most pleasing shape to an object.

Once the shape was determined a dimple was turned in the tailstock end of the piece so that hollowing could begin. Before hollowing a one-inch wide diameter drill bit was placed in the keyless chuck and the piece was drilled down to the desired depth of the bottom. This enabled the piece to be more easily and quickly hollowed and prevented the creation of the troublesome nubbin in the bottom that can easily form when hollowing without the center drilled out. Hollowing was then begun with a handmade tool with interchangeable cutters (made of planer blades). Tom keeps the tool a little above center and angled so that he shear scrapes. He uses a Stewart type arm brace with his hollowing tool to give support during the hollowing process.

Tom replaced the partially hollowed piece with another that had been completely hollowed and partially sanded. He makes his own sanding discs using Velcro placed around a perpendicular sanding pad and cutting Velcro sanding discs to fit around the disc and on the sides. This permits him to sand both the sides of the interior and the bottom. Super glue was used as a sanding sealer. It was applied with an applicator made of 50:50 polyester/cotton batting which was kept on the applicator stick with masking tape. (Batting is available in most fabric stores.) The batting wad was soaked with thin super glue (CA glue) and applied to the inside of the piece starting at the bottom and progressing outward toward the opening of the hollow form. However, before doing this Tom trued up the outside because the piece had gotten out-of-round since it had been turned about four days ago. He also refined the opening of the vessel to accept the contrasting rim. Foam backed sandpaper was used to sand the outside of the piece. The glue was then applied. Drying can be sped up, especially inside with low volume compressed air. Accelerator can also be used. Once the glue is dry light sanding can be done before lacquering. Sometimes a second coat of super glue is needed, especially if the piece is punky. Once the inside was finished the outer surface was further refined.

A walnut rim was turned to fit the opening of the vessel. The wood disc for the rim was placed in the chuck. The opening of the vessel was measured using calipers and the rim piece turned to match this dimension. The outer diameter of the vessel opening was then measured and the rim piece turned to match. This produced a narrow flat area to rest on the flat edge of the vessel opening. The under surface of the lid or rim was hollowed before being removed from the chuck and glued to the top of the vessel. The vessel was then placed back on the chuck and the rim piece glued in place (medium or thick glue). The outside surface of the vessel was shear scraped and sanded to the final surface before finishing. This was done while the rim piece glue-up dried. This completed the morning demonstration.

Afternoon Session:

By the beginning of the afternoon session the top rim piece was firmly glued to the vessel. It was then shaped and blended into the vessel profile. A small lip was left at the junction of the rim and the body of the piece. This was done to give crispness to the form. The rim was hollowed through, opening it into the vessel. The opening of the rim was further defined and it was blended into the interior surface of the vessel. The outer shape of the rim was turned. This work was accomplished using the tool with the interchangeable cutters. Sanding was then done using the foam-backed paper.

The base (foot) of the vessel was then further turned after measuring the depth. The smooth outer wall curve was continued from the vessel’s widest point to the base. The parting tool was used to define the bottom edge of the vessel but it was not parted off at this time. Final sanding was done, especially where a tool mark was found. Sanding progressed through all the grits up to 400. All dust was blown away in preparation for putting on the finish.

A large Q-tip type swab was again made for applying the thin CA glue sealer. The glue was applied continuously so that no line formed when stopping and starting again. If this had happened it would have been very difficult to sand away. If it looks like the swab is beginning to dry add more glue while continuing the application. Accelerator was applied very sparingly. Once dry the surface was lightly hand sanded using 400 grit or higher. This helped to remove any irregularities produced by the CA glue application and produced a very smooth surface in preparation for another coat of CA glue or the first coat of lacquer. In this case, lacquer was used as a spray which dries in about 30 minutes but takes several weeks to cure. The compressor was used to hasten drying as was increased lathe speed. Tom usually uses three coats of lacquer. He uses the Beall buffing system to produce the final surface. Steel wool was used to smooth the lacquered surface once the lacquer was dry. It was then wiped and all dust blown away before the second coat of lacquer was applied.

While the vessel was drying a second chuck was used so that the base piece or foot for the vessel could be turned. This was made from walnut – same as the rim piece. A hole was bored in the base. This was done with the parting tool. A second cut was made on the base piece to fit or match the outside surface of the vessel. By doing this a flat area was formed to coincide with the flat rim on the base of the vessel. The base piece was then parted off.

A jam chuck was then turned to fit into the opening on the base piece that Tom had previously made. This piece was further refined. The vessel was put back on the lathe and parted off. The base piece was carved with Tom’s name using a vibrating engraver. It was then glued on the tenon on the vessel base. Do not put the CA glue all the way around – leave a small area of no glue so that air can escape when the two parts are pressed together. Once in place twist or turn the base piece to spread out the glue.

This completed an interesting and informative demonstration. A DVD will be available in the CMW library at the October meeting.

--Bob Gunther

Tom's Introduction Page