Popular Woodworking 2007-12 № 166, страница 60

... and with the driver in forward, fit

the key into the chuck and tighten the jaws around the stem. With practice you can get the workpiece mounted in just a few seconds. Don't tighten too much or you'll crush the dowel and it will blow apart in turning.

Cut a smooth taper from the disc to

the tip, and part off from the waste (which will probably fall away at this time).

Begin turning by rounding off the outer rim of the top. Use a long fingernail-grind spindle gouge, and cut with the long side (either direction is fine here). Co slowly and take small cuts; it's easy to break the stem by applying too much force. Position the tool so the bevel rides behind the cut as soon as the edge is far enough into the wood.

Another cut you may want to learn is a

shearing cut, done with the same tool (but considerably more difficult to master). At the same instant you move from the stem to the disc, you roll the tool clockwise so that the bevel is riding on the disc, and pull the tool all the way out to the edge. Be warned: It takes some practice to do this cut without blowing up the blank. If you come off the bevel the tiniest bit, the edge will dig in violently and the entire blank will probably disassemble itself. You must wear a face shield; it is not safe to turn even small items like this without one. The pieces will come right at your face when the blank breaks. (And they will, from time to time; I've made about 60,000 of these and I still break some.)

Move back around to the bottom of

the turning, reversing the position of the gouge, and taper the stem to a point. I usually just catch the top in my left hand (I'm turning backward here, with my left hand on the gouge, so that you can see what I'm doing) while parting with the right.

Catching the top like this takes some practice; if you aren't comfortable doing it this way, keep both hands on the gouge and go find the top later on. It's out there somewhere in all the shavings.

Using the same gouge, bite into the stem just above the disc, then draw the gouge outward in a scraping cut (bevel is not rubbing). Keep the bevel well away from the wood, or the edge will dig in. Cutting from the center outward will help get a clean cut on the disc. Tapering the cut (to be thinner at the outer edge) will make the cut easier, and makes the finished top look more elegant.

After cutting the other side of the disc

(just reverse the position of the gouge, and again cut from the center outward), begin tapering the upper stem of the top.

The finished top. After a few hundred more, you'll get the hang of it. PW

popularwoodworking.com ■ 85