Going Knotty

**Mobyturns** · 4th May 2014, 11:49 PM

After seeing Bruce Wood’s celtic knot pens & arranging a swap with him at the Auckland Symposium in 2012 I set myself a goal to have a go at making some of these blanks.

In January this year I decided it was time to stop procrastinating and decided to follow Powderposts maxim "just do it". The first few blanks weren’t to shabby but I learnt very fast what not to do and how to set up to maintain accuracy in the assembly and in the drilling of the pen tube hole.

These are a mix of early and later blanks made from mostly local FNQ timbers with the exception of a bit of WA Jarrah. The line of completed blanks have been sanded to 800 grit with the grain and only have a coat of NC lacquer at the moment. The assembled Sierra’s have two coats of Wattyl Stylwood 30% NC lacquer.

Comments welcome.

DSCF3269_wwf.jpg DSCF3302_wwf.jpg DSCF3241_wwf.jpg

**MBUMIK** · 5th May 2014, 12:05 AM

fantastic job...well done

there is a lot of time and effort tied up in that batch... especially time waiting for the glue to dry between cuts

must have been quite a production line thats for sure

MIK

**Mobyturns** · 5th May 2014, 12:28 AM

Originally Posted by MBUMIK

fantastic job...well done

there is a lot of time and effort tied up in that batch... especially time waiting for the glue to dry between cuts

must have been quite a production line thats for sure

MIK

That's only part of them - all up about 110 so far. Not wrong about the waiting time & production run - easy once the TS is setup & the jig is performing well. I use Titebond II so overnight.

**MBUMIK** · 5th May 2014, 12:41 AM

Originally Posted by Mobyturns

That's only part of them - all up about 110 so far. Not wrong about the waiting time & production run - easy once the TS is setup & the jig is performing well. I use Titebond II so overnight.

110 ........ WOW!!!!

i use a compound miter saw with a depth stop and a jig that i made to hold everything in its place. i use gorilla glue the dark yellow polyurethane type.. i wait 3-4 hours between cuts and i don't cut all the way through the blank, i leave about 1.5mm to keep everything lined up

i also use aluminum angle as a brace for the clamps to keep it all squared up

i only have enough clamps to do 4 at a time

well done to you... keep up the good work

MIK

**DaveTTC** · 5th May 2014, 12:45 AM

That is very sweet ... I will have to have a go at one of them ... guess it is a waste to go to that effort on a slimline

Dave the turning cowboy

turning wood into art

**dai sensei** · 5th May 2014, 02:34 AM

**PLD** · 5th May 2014, 02:50 AM

Very nice looking bunch.

**JTTHECLOCKMAN** · 5th May 2014, 06:58 AM

I guess you have concoured those. Time to move onto some more segmenting. Nice job. Like the tripple ply inlay material. Makes the knot stand out better in my opinion. Thanks for showing and I assume they will be for sale so good luck with that too.

**Ironwood** · 5th May 2014, 07:49 AM

They look great, you have the proportions looking good.

Having done half a dozen or so celtic knot pens and some variations as well, I know the sort of attention to detail needed to get them looking as good as yours.

**Mobyturns** · 5th May 2014, 08:53 AM

Originally Posted by DaveTTC

That is very sweet ... I will have to have a go at one of them ... guess it is a waste to go to that effort on a slimline

Dave the turning cowboy

turning wood into art

Dave, I don't think the slimlines have enough meat left in the blank for them to look good. Perhaps with a thick centre band. With the bandsaw kerf it may look better.

**Mobyturns** · 5th May 2014, 08:55 AM

Originally Posted by JTTHECLOCKMAN

I guess you have concoured those. Time to move onto some more segmenting. Nice job. Like the tripple ply inlay material. Makes the knot stand out better in my opinion. Thanks for showing and I assume they will be for sale so good luck with that too.

I'll leave the segmenting to those poor tortured souls like my mate PowderPost

I'm more into linear laminating.

**Christos** · 5th May 2014, 12:19 PM

The title says it all.

Not something that I have tried but do understand how much is involved in making one. Not really high on my to do list.

If you are going to sell them might I suggest not to have them all on display at the same time.

Great going on the batch.

**artme** · 5th May 2014, 02:16 PM

A really top job on those!!

**tdrumnut** · 5th May 2014, 10:47 PM

Really nice work on them Moby, well done.

**Mobyturns** · 5th May 2014, 11:24 PM

Originally Posted by MBUMIK

110 ........ WOW!!!! - more part done too.

i use a compound miter saw with a depth stop and a jig that i made to hold everything in its place. i use gorilla glue the dark yellow polyurethane type.. i wait 3-4 hours between cuts and i don't cut all the way through the blank, i leave about 1.5mm to keep everything lined up - I use Titebond II. Tried the part way through cuts but encountered issues with glue starvation. I use a TS with a disposable sled set to the angle I prefer. When the kerf line is getting tatty I throw it. Through cutting is much faster for me & allows glueing up 6 or more in one setup. I use a pencil registration mark all round to align.

i also use aluminum angle as a brace for the clamps to keep it all squared up - me too, 6 or more in one session on the one "L"

i only have enough clamps to do 4 at a time - super cheap have a reasonable range of C-Clamps

well done to you... keep up the good work - THX

MIK

THX

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