Creative Woodworks & crafts 2005-11, страница 68

* 24-Karat Sculptured Set

SUPPLIES

Carba-Tec Lathe, CT-Lathc-1

Thrce-piece turning tool set, PKlOiO

Lathe manctrel set, PK100I

Crown tenon tool (parting tool). PK1307

Drill center vise. PK1301

8mm drill bit. PK1174

Sculptured desk set kit, PK1034

Sculptured pen bushings, PK 5186

Stabilized™ blanks, one 4-3/4" x 5/8" and two

3-1/4" x 5/8" Shellawax cream, PK1009 Abrasive rolls, PK.1276 Abralon Finishing Kit PFK2 Two-part epoxy

*AII of the supplies above are available from Steebarat: www.steebar.com.

by Kafhy and Scott Griffith

Introduction

Scott and I would like to thank everyone for all the letters, c-mails, and phone calls we've received in response to our mini-lathe series. It's been wonderful hearing from you, and we are making every effort to answer each inquiry. Remember, we do live in a rural area of southern Lancaster County, PA, where, in order to access our e-mail, we need to take a trip into town to visit our beautiful library! Bccausc of this, and frequent power outages, some things from time to time may get lost. If we fail to answer a question, please contact us again.

Getting started

The sculptured desk set kit includes the supplies for the pen, letter opener, and 2" magnifier—a handy combination of office items. These three-piece sets feature finely detailed caps, bands, and pen lips. We will show you how to create an elegant and distinctive set, using the Staburlized brown box elder burl blanks we selected for this project. While the set is lovely on its own, when displayed in a decorative box, such as a glass top display gift box, it makes a striking presentation piece. This project does require some turning experience in order to match the profiles of the turned pieces, and there is also a trim process used on the finished turning which requires some time and patience to complete successfully.

Using a template for selecting blanks from a piece of tulipwood. Note the area wtthtn the lower left template would be a better choice due to the wood variation that would show up in the finished blank.

Although we are using prepared and pre-cut blanks, we recognize that many turners prefer to cut their own blanks. There are many ways of selecting and cutting blanks, and for those of you new to turning, it may be difficult to focus on (he small area of wood that is actually used for a project. We suggest making templates for your blanks, then positioning them on your board to help you determine which areas of wood to use. A finely figured board of birds eye maple, for example, may seem ideal. However, once the template is placed on it, there may be only a few eyes that show in (he small area of the blank, and even these could end up being removed during (he turning process.

To make the templates for the desk set. cut two openings in index cards or cardstock, the first one measuring 5/8" x 4-3/4" and the second measuring 5/8" x 3-1/4". Move these templates over your piece of wood to find areas of similar figure tor the set. (When making the desk set, you will need two 3-1/4" x 5/8" pieces and one 4-3/4" x 5/8" piece.) Use a pencil to lightly outline your chosen areas, then remove the templates and loot over the outlined sections carefully for uniformity. Adjustments are easily made at this stage. Once the wood is cut, there is no chance to make a small shift to a different section of wood.