A few trial pendants

[dai sensei]

I cast some Pine Cones in blue, Swamp Banksia in pink and Coastal Banksia in yellow resin. I then sliced them to form pendant blanks and made a couple from the end cuts to see how they will turn out.

Pendants aren't my cup of tea, but I do think they look really special :cool:, so might try a few more :rolleyes:

http://www.woodworkforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=137707&stc=1&d=1274693599

The Banksia ones are not for the beginners and need CA during turning. All finished with CA.

If anyone else wants a pendant blank to try (like these or many other types), see Bruce at woodnworkshop (http://woodnworkshop.com.au/index.php), they were selling like hotcakes at the Brisbane WWW show :U

Cheers

[corbs]

Thats pretty cool... I like the effect on all of them:2tsup:

How did you go about turning them?

[Big Shed]

Pendants aren't my cup of tea,


You said the same about pens not that long ago!:D

I agree with you though, they do look very special, well done:2tsup:

[mkypenturner]

neil they are great :2tsup::2tsup:

troy

[tea lady]

They look great. :cool:

I have found necklaces sell really well at markets and stuff. Not like a larger item that people have to match to decor and stuff. Jewelry can just be an object they like. :cool: I reckon rings in the cast banksia would work really well too. And maybe some blokes would even like them.:oo: (Not in pink of course.:rolleyes: )

[dai sensei]

How did you go about turning them?

Hot melt the blank on a sacrifical disc and turn back flat. Melt the glue in the microwave then turn the blank over and turn & finish the curved front face. Drill a hole and countersink both faces. Replace on disc offset and finish turning hole to blend in. Then do finial finish the front face.

That's the cheap way, but there is a special offset faceplate thingy to make it easy here (http://www.woodnworkshop.com.au/product_info.php?cPath=56&products_id=2023). I have something similar I am making in aluminium with a M2 taper, just going through some development, as the simple version didn't work to well :rolleyes:


I have found necklaces sell really well at markets and stuff. Not like a larger item that people have to match to decor and stuff. Jewelry can just be an object they like. :cool: I reckon rings in the cast banksia would work really well too. And maybe some blokes would even like them.:oo: (Not in pink of course.:rolleyes: )

They will take less time once I get the knack, but these ones took almost an hour each to make :-, Keep in mind Ive never made them before and that Banksia are not easy to turn at the best of times. Considering you would not get more than $20 at the markets, can't see them being economical to sell that way.

By the way, did you ever turn those Banksia balls I cast for you?

Cheers

[corbs]

Thanks Neil, might have another project to try now:2tsup:

[Cliff Rogers]

You can also stick them to a bit of melamine with double sided tape.

There was a bloke at Prossy last year doing them that way & he had a strip of melamine held in the jaws of his chuck.
He turned it round & then moved the strip in the chuck to offset it.

After watching a Gifkins demo on how to do finger joints with the plastic spacer that is moved from one side to the other of the workpiece, I reckon you could do something similar with the stip of melamine in the jaws.
Set it up with the spacer on one side before you mount & turn your piece round & then remove the spacer to offset it & the replace the spacer on the other side to offset it further.

[tea lady]

Hot melt the blank on a sacrifical disc and turn back flat. Melt the glue in the microwave then turn the blank over and turn & finish the curved front face. Drill a hole and countersink both faces. Replace on disc offset and finish turning hole to blend in. Then do finial finish the front face.

That's the cheap way, but there is a special offset faceplate thingy to make it easy here (http://www.woodnworkshop.com.au/product_info.php?cPath=56&products_id=2023). I have something similar I am making in aluminium with a M2 taper, just going through some development, as the simple version didn't work to well :rolleyes:



They will take less time once I get the knack, but these ones took almost an hour each to make :-, Keep in mind Ive never made them before and that Banksia are not easy to turn at the best of times. Considering you would not get more than $20 at the markets, can't see them being economical to sell that way.

By the way, did you ever turn those Banksia balls I cast for you?

Cheers:C No! Still on the round tuio list. Looks lik ewe might need another round tuit month soon.:rolleyes:

I reackon you will get the method down faster though. Might get more than $20 if all the other stuff you have is over $60.:D


You can also stick them to a bit of melamine with double sided tape.

Melamine heah? That could be a goer. I've tried wood ones stuck with double sided tape. Its a bit "exciting" . :rolleyes: The demo I saw, the guy did not fling one off anywhere. :C Don't know how he managed it. :doh: (I think it was Brian at 's. Last year. )


After watching a Gifkins demo on how to do finger joints with the plastic spacer that is moved from one side to the other of the workpiece, I reckon you could do something similar with the stip of melamine in the jaws.
Set it up with the spacer on one side before you mount & turn your piece round & then remove the spacer to offset it & the replace the spacer on the other side to offset it further.:hmm: Clear as mud. WE might need a WIP.:D:cool:

[scorpio_oz]

Fantastic looking pendants, I've just turned my first acrylic pendant on the weekend and they are a bit of fun.

Just a note about my experience with tape.

I've tried several brands and types of double sided tape, including the type which carpet layers use.

All I've succeeded in doing is collecting rolls of tape and launching and dodging small pendent sized frisbees off the lathe.

I now use hot glue. I see a lot of the IAP members are using doubled sided tape, but they are only turning one side, and leaving the back flat. I turn to shape and finish to a high polish the back first. then flip over and do the front side. I think the highly polished, and curved back doesn't give the tape much to hang on to, where as hot glue moulds to the curved back and hangs on real well, sometimes painfully too well.

Just my limited experience to date.

-Gavin

[John Lucas]

Those are nice pendants. I turn some as well but couldn't find the photo on this computer. I sand the backs flat before I mount the pendants on the wasteblock. My pendants are turned 2 ways. One is to remove 2 jaws from the chuck and use a rectangular piece of wood. After initially turning them round I move the blank up in the chuck and tilt the blank out a little. This gives me an off center hole and also tapers the pendant for a nicer look.
I taught a class recently at John C Campbell folk school. For that class I just used a waste block that was about 2" long and square. After turning the pendant round I had them tilt the block in the chuck about 1/4". This moved it off center so they could turn the hole and it tapered the blank. Then I had them re- center the waste block and tilt it to one side. This let them cut a crescent shaped detail in one side. then tilt the block the same amount to the other side and cut another detail. It worked even better than I thought it would. All the students were successful. On lady who was 72 years old turned 3 sets of earings using this technique. She got a catch and screwed up the pendant so I suggested she just shrink everything and make earings. Boy did they come out good.

[artme]

Noice:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:
Think You've just started a new fad.

[Ed Reiss]

the 60's live...groovey, man !!!

[munruben]

Nice work Neil, Look great. :2tsup:

[Frank&Earnest]

Ditto.

You are obviously an expert in the matter, so you can give an expert opinion.
Have you tried, or would you try turning a biconvex shape with the method I described in # 29 of http://www.woodworkforums.com/f8/pendant-104112/?highlight=pendant ?

BTW, Sellotape 2 sided has never given me any problems. I suspect these are due to being stingy and not replacing the tape when reversing.

Your comments would be very valuable.

[dai sensei]

I have used 2 sided tape, the good stuff, which I found great for finishing but not for turning.


Have you tried, or would you try turning a biconvex shape with the method I described in # 29 of http://www.woodworkforums.com/f8/pendant-104112/?highlight=pendant ?.

Your method would work fine as far as I can tell. I would still turn gluing them to a scrap block though, screwed to the face plate & offset as required, just a double curved surface would need a curved block to match. I might give that spiral one a go though, looks interesting.

[Frank&Earnest]

Fair enough, your way is safer and time is not an issue for us hobbyists. My problem is that I have not learnt to use hot glue yet... :wink:

[tea lady]

So Neil, how long do you microwave it to soften the ht melt glue? :?

:)

[John Lucas]

I used 2 sided cloth backed tape when I taught my class. We only had a few come off and beginner students are hard on work. The important thing is for the 2 surfaces to be flat, clamp them together and let them sit for a few minutes before turning. It's not as good for curved surfaces because you have to get both surfaces to the same curve.
Hot melt works I've just had trouble getting it back off the finished surfaces. Anyone have a good tip on that?

[tea lady]

I saw an artical in one of my mags (somewhere in the stack) about using double sided tape for mounting larger things. He was applying tape to both surfaces and pressing it down while the backing was on, then peeling and sticking the bowl to the face plate. I guess you would get much better adhesion. :cool: Haven't tried it myself yet. :)

[Frank&Earnest]

I used 2 sided cloth backed tape when I taught my class. We only had a few come off and beginner students are hard on work. The important thing is for the 2 surfaces to be flat, clamp them together and let them sit for a few minutes before turning. It's not as good for curved surfaces because you have to get both surfaces to the same curve.


There are advantages and disadvantages with curved surfaces in comparison with flat surfaces as regards contat with the tape, because the lathe, (not surprisingly :),) produces concentric circles. Therefore, even when the concave and convex surfaces do not meet perfectly, there will always be a circumference where there is a perfect contact of both surfaces with the tape. The trick is to make the convex surface slightly deeper, so that that circumference is on the lip, where the held piece is constrained by the rim of the convexity, instead of at some point closer to the centre, which could produce a fulcrum that would eventually dislodge the piece when subject to pressure.

In other words, you basically produce a shallow jam chuck, which is safer than two imperfectly flat surfaces where the contact with the tape can not be assured to be equally distributed around the centre.

[dai sensei]

So Neil, how long do you microwave it to soften the ht melt glue? :?

Here during the day, about 10 seconds, but in Melb it will need longer. Try it and see, if not hot enough, just zap it a bit more.


Hot melt works I've just had trouble getting it back off the finished surfaces. Anyone have a good tip on that?

Peel as much as you can, then zap it in the microwave and wipe of as much as you can. Then when cool, rub the remainder with your fingers and it should peel. If you finish turning with a decent finish on the bottom it will also come off easier.

[Sprog]

Here are two simple jigs for turning pendants, work really well and are fast to use.

South Auckland Woodturners' Guild (http://www.sawg.org.nz/)

Click on the Projects button then click on the Jewellery Chucks in the Tips and Jigs column.
Then click on Pendant Jewellery in the Projects column.