Overview:

Don, one of our own CMW members, is from Simpsonville, SC, where he has his home and shop. He has been interested in wood and some form of woodworking as long as he can remember. Both his father and grandfather were woodworkers. After college he became a shop teacher and later an engineer. He uses all these skills in his woodturning which is multifaceted. Don tries to simplify and improve on objects and procedures that he observes. He loves to teach and is extremely generous in helping others improve their turning skills. Don teaches woodturning and other aspects of woodworking at Woodcraft.

Morning Session:

Don began his demo with a short description of his shop set-up which is very detailed, well planned and organized. He then showed numerous examples of his work.

Birdhouse Ornament: Don showed the turning of his small birdhouse ornament. For turning both the top and bottom of the birdhouse, Don holds the wood on sanding mandrels held in the headstock in a Jacobs chuck. The already drilled piece for the top was placed on a one-inch diameter mandrel. The tailstock was brought up for support and the mandrel tightened to the point where the wood could not be turned by hand. The piece was rounded with a small roughing gouge and then shaped with a spindle gouge. Sanding was briefly done and the piece finished with Mylands Friction Polish. Once finished a small screw eye was placed in a drilled hole. [Don glues a little drill bit into a small piece of hardwood that he can hold while drilling with the lathe running.]  The body of the birdhouse was then turned. A three-quarter inch mandrel was used to hold the pre-drilled wood blank. Holes had also been pre-drilled for the bird entrance and the perch. The tailstock was brought up. The piece was rounded and a one-inch tenon turned to fit into the hole in the birdhouse top. [Don uses a shop made aluminum template to determine the tenon size as he is turning it.] The body was then shaped with the spindle gouge. The tailstock was removed and the shape of the bottom of the birdhouse finished. It would be sanded and finished. A small perch was put in the perch hole from a section of dowel rod. The top and bottom were put together and the birdhouse completed.

Natural Edge Burl Bowl: A faceplate with a glue block attached was placed on the headstock. The tailstock was brought up to mark the center of the glue block. Using a circular template a piece of natural edge burl had been pre-sawn with a bandsaw. A nail was positioned through the faceplate center and glue block and the burl blank centered. The glue block and blank were then attached using CA glue. The burl was not turned but Don showed how easy it is to separate a glue block from a blank by placing a narrow chisel on the glue line and striking it with a mallet. This produces an unmarked flat bottom that could be sanded and finished.

Fan Pull: Don placed a small three-eighths inch dowel rod chuck in the headstock. A small wood block had been drilled and a dowel rod glued into the hole. This was placed in the chuck. The tailstock was brought up and the piece was rounded and shaped. Small grooves were cut with a V-tool. An odd number was used for a more pleasing appearance than an even number. The grooves were then burnished using a cheese cutter wire, for how long? - until smoke appears! A length of decorative chain would be glued in place to complete the fan pull. Don makes his pulls in pairs: one for the light cord and the other for the fan cord. He uses two pieces of chain attached to each other by a third very short piece to keep the two pulls together.

Toy Top: A three-inch disc with a three-eighths inch dowel through it was placed into the dowel chuck. [Don uses yellow glue and not CA glue.] The tailstock was brought up and a special shop made tool rest placed on the banjo. This had a notch cut out for the top center piece to fit into which enables Don to rapidly and easily turn all the areas of the center piece. For an easily spun top the center of gravity needs to be quite low so the stem is shorter below the center disc and taller above for easier gripping to spin it. This completed the morning session.

Afternoon Session:

Don started the afternoon session with a discussion of sharpening. He uses a template made to conform to his favorite grind. Only two dimensions need to be determined: the angle on the Vari-Grind jig and the distance from the jig holder to the grinding wheel. These need to be set in order to have consistency each time going to the wheel. Don also showed a jig used for grinding roughing gouges, especially when the tool becomes short from prolonged usage. This jig permits grinding the entire cutting edge, particularly the ends or sides.

Teardrop Ornament: Don showed the turning of a teardrop ornament having gotten the idea from having seen similarly shaped ornaments made of glass. He began with a rectangular block between centers. The actual piece used had been rounded and a tenon turned on each end. A line was scribed dividing the top and bottom of the ornament. It was partially parted on this line. Both portions were then moderately shaped. In the shaping process it is important to leave a shoulder on each end so that they will sit securely when placed in the chuck after parting off. Before parting off, small lines were burnished, one on each side of the parting cut. The piece was then parted into the top and bottom. [When parting do not go all the way through – leave a small center core that can either be broken off or sawed through.]  The Talon chuck was then put on the headstock. The bottom part of the ornament was placed in the chuck. The parted surface was flattened. A two-inch diameter circle was scribed on this flat surface. A shoulder was formed for the expansion jaws after cutting in on the circle line about one-quarter inch. Don then hollowed the piece using a round-nosed scraper and a gouge. The piece was reversed into the expansion jaws and the bottom shaped into its final shape (half a globe). The top of the ornament was then placed in the chuck. The parted off surface was flattened. Again, a two-inch diameter circle was scribed, the shoulder for expansion chucking was formed, and the piece hollowed. It was reverse chucked, the tailstock was brought up, and the shape of the top was formed. The piece would be sanded and finished. A small hole would be drilled into the top of the ornament to accept an eyelet. The piece was parted off. The two parts of the ornament would then be glued together with several small drops of thick CA glue. Having lined up the grain patterns the ornament parts would be pressed together completing the teardrop ornament.

Globe Ornament with Icicle: A two-inch piece of stock glued to a glue block was used to create the globe portion of the ornament. A tenon had been turned on the glue block and this was placed in the Talon chuck jaws. The piece was trued up and the face flattened. A Jacobs chuck was placed in the tailstock with a three-quarter inch Forstner bit. A hole was drilled to the proper depth. [The depth was marked on the bit shank with masking tape.] A one-half inch bit was used to drill deeper into the glue block. A one-inch diameter flat area was marked on the tailstock end of the globe piece. On the other end of the globe section a parting tool was used and the piece parted along the glue line down to a one-inch diameter. The shape of the globe portion was refined producing a donut shape with one-inch flats on both ends. It could then be sanded. Hollowing was then done. Don used a Sorby angled tool for initial hollowing just inside the opening. He then switched to a hollowing tool with an outrigger to keep it from rotating. Don makes his own hollowing tools. He makes the outrigger bar with a flat surface that rides on the tool rest. This helps orientation to the tool tip while turning. The point of the cutter is lined up with the shaft of the tool so one knows exactly where the tip is directed. Once hollowed the globe would be sanded, finished and parted off along the glue line. The completed globe has a one-half inch hole in the top and a three-quarter inch hole in the bottom.  Next the finial or icicle was made. Don used a partially shaped icicle to save time. He had turned a cylinder and then tapered it into an elongated cone. He added details to form three teardrop shapes. Once the distal teardrop was formed it would be sanded and finished. Then the middle teardrop was formed. Do not go back to the distal one because the portion between the teardrops is fragile. The middle one would be sanded and finished and the same done with the proximal teardrop. Details of the top portion of the icicle were formed and the three-quarter inch pre-turned tenon was parted through. This completed the icicle which was fitted into the bottom of the globe.  Don made the cap of the ornament from the remaining wood still in the chuck. First he turned a one-half inch tenon on the tailstock end of the piece. Details of the cap were then turned and a small hole was drilled through the piece from the tailstock end to the headstock tenon portion. It would be sanded, finished, and parted off. An eyelet would be placed into the hole on the top of the cap. Don parted off the cap and fitted it into the one-half inch hole on the top of the globe. This completed the ornament.

During this demonstration Don showed many of his ideas on how to perform certain tasks more easily and quickly. I was not always able to portray them fully in words. It would be very helpful to combine the reading of this write-up with viewing the DVD, which will be available in the CMW library in April 2007. Don encouraged all in attendance to make ornaments for the Hospice Tree and tops for Tops for Tots, projects in which our club participates.

--Review by Bob Gunther

Don's Handouts

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