Baltic Birch Lamp Shades

An interesting commission for lamp shades that turned out to be more difficult than I thought.

See the finished product here.

01 – The initial design and two of the cardboard templates used to mark out the plywood.

02 – Marking out and bandsawing the half rings.

03 – Cutting through a pile for one layer. The half rings are seen in the background. I was cutting for ten lamps at a time.

04 – Careful cutting with the table on the bandsaw tilted would mean less work on the lathe later.

05 – One level of half rings glued up. Three more waiting.

06 – Gluing up the initial levels before they are put on the lathe and cleaned on the inside.

07 – The initial portion of the lamps ready for another layer.

08 – Gluing on the next layer.

09 – The lamps are growing nicely.

10 – More rings, more glue–ups, more inside cleaning on the lathe.

11 – More than half way. Things are going well.

12 – Final glue-ups. Have to use larger clamps now.

13 – A plug on the end allows me to clean the outside of the lamp all at one time.

14 – The plug removed for a clearer view. The wall thickness is under a quarter inch and uniform.

15 – Applying a wipe-on finish.

16 – Wet sanding on the lathe. A bit messy.

17 – Wrapping for transport so the first ten can be installed.

18 – The lamps can be tested while the kitchen is being refurbished in stages.

19 – Different types of bulbs produce different effects. Who would have guessed?

Wooden Spheres

A commission to produce 60 Baltic Birch spheres of varying size.

See the finished product here.

01 – The sheets were cut into strips and glued up.

02 – Rough blanks of different size.

03 – The corners are cut off on the table saw to save time.

04 – The blanks are cut over-sized.

05 – A tapered foot is turned between centers and some material trimmed in the bandsaw.

06 – The blank secured in a chuck and the router jig set-up and ready to go.

07 – The cutting process

08 – The jig eventually bumps into the headstock.

09 – The spheres quickly begins to appear.

10 –The blanks are reversed and held in a cup-chuck with a single screw.

11 – The cutting process begins again from the other end.

12 – Matching up the curves.

13 - The spheres begin to appear.

14 – The jig is adjusted for the smallest diameter.

15 – Cutting the sphere.

16 – The cuts are lining up nicely.

17 – All the spheres have been cut.

18 – Sanding begins with the sphere held between two cup-chucks.

19 – The sphere is re-positioned often. I now use a vacuum chuck for sanding.

20 – the spheres with a coat of finish.

Prayer Beads

An interesting commission from the AGO for a travelling exhibition. Examples of the AGO Ken Thompson collection of prayer beads can be found on-line.

The core of the prayer bead had been carved in miniature to depict scenes from the bible. I was commissioned to produce copies of the bead that the public could handle while the inside was being rapid prototyped.

See more process images here.

01 – The original beads were turned from boxwood which is quite expensive. Because the beads would be handled (and likely broken) while out for public display we chose to work in hard maple The blanks ready for turning.

02 – Here you can see the plastic reproduction I was copying, , the original prototype I made (to figure out the process) and the real sections being turned in sequence. I was making three spheres.

03 – Beginning the hollowing process.

04 – Here you can see the marking out of the spheres, the pre-drilling and the cutting process started.

05 – The cutting was done on the scroll saw rotating the blank on an angle

06 – All the rough cutting complete.

07 – Back on the lathe re-turning the inside to finished dimensions.

08 – The half sphere is held against a jamb-fit chuck by a dowel nesting in the tail stock. The stopped detailing and cutting for the hinge is done with a small router set-up.

09 – The hinge sections rough cut. One man down.

10 – Cleaning up the handle and pin section.

11 – One by one in sequence.

12 – The sections all fit together ready for drilling of the hinge pins.

13 – All drilled out. You can see hinge pin before trimming. I used a hollow sleeve glued into the material to support the pin.

14 – The plastic version above and the open maple one below

15 – One of three completed spheres. Sometime later small diameter woven steel cable would be secured to the bottom so the sphere wouldn’t wander out on display.

Hollow Egg Halves

A commission for an African Mahogany egg cut into two halves and hollowed out.

01 – The original plank which was left over from another job.

02 – The segments machined to thickness.

03 – Checking against a template drawn to the customer’s specs and trying to guess what the grain will look like after the blank is turned.

04 – Gluing up the blank.

05 – The corners are trimmed on the table saw.

06 – The blank is mounted on the lathe and turned to a cylinder.

07 – Marking out and turning in stages.

08 – Almost done.

09 – Sanded clean. Horns are left on the ends for attaching the egg to a bandsaw jig.

10 – Cutting begins on the bandsaw. The egg is supported by the jig.

11 – Help is enlisted to quickly tie the egg back together at the horn as the blade travels deeper into the egg.

12 – Almost through.

13 – A nice clean cut.

14 – The jig is re-worked to hold the egg on a sand bag.

15 – The egg is partially drilled out and then an angle grinder was used to clean out the rest of the material.

16 – The hollowed egg halves were to be used as deck covers for exposed parts on a mahogany boat.

Table Base

An interesting commission for a large carved pedestal. The round top and foot of the table were to be granite.

01 – The glue-up was done in two layers to give the volume need. Additional pieces were added later after the carving had begun.

02 – The completed blank. A 5’ diameter pipe would be inserted after carving bolted to large metal discs used to support the granite foot and top.

03 – The top and bottom of the blank are leveled using a router.

04 – The hole is covered with a plywood disc and a face plate attached.

05 – The blank is mounted on a lathe.

06 – Turning begins.

07 – Starting to take shape.

08 – The turning is completed. Sections are left flat where more material will be attached later.

09 – The turning is divided into segments and a rough copy of the design sketched on.

10 – The carving is roughed out trying to retain a balance between repeating motifs.

11 – The shape is beginning to evolve.

12 – I moved locations in the shop and began the final stages of carving.

13 – Finding a balance.

14 – Starting the final clean-up in preparation for a paint finish.

15 – The other side.