Your thoughts on Turning this piece into a split grain lamp

[Mike the Newbie]

I am planning to carve this piece into what will look like a wine flask/bottle. I have recently come across pictures of split grain lamps and I thought it would look great if I could pull it off.. or should I just stick with carving it? Any suggestions would be appreciated :)
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[Christos]

I can almost see the flask/bottle coming out of this piece. I am thinking that you might be able to leave the bottom half of this piece natural and get the top carved and smooth. Or a transition from natural at an angle coming from the lower part of the piece and including the handle.

[Mike the Newbie]

I was thinking of leaving the bottom half as it is and shaping the top into a short neck bottle. Should I try to attempt to make cross cuts to make a light out of it like the fourth picture or would the pieces break apart since it is basically a large knot in the middle of the handle?

[Christos]

Wow not many replies guess not many people have done this.

I am certainly not the one to tell you what might happen but in general knots are not very strong.

[Mike the Newbie]

Yah the knot is a problem but would this idea of mine for cutting it out work? I am thinking of cutting out the 6 inch part ( from the handle top and bottom ) and then glue or resin the ends and let them cure completely. Then make a 1/2 cut on both ends and do the same... and so on. Then with all the cut pieces clamp them together to drill out the 2 inch hole in the middle for the light to reach the top layer. Would this be feasible to hold the pieces together? I would then use 3/8 dowel pins to separate the pieces for light to come through. Time consuming of course but as the old saying goes.. Measure 3 times, cut once.. and curse later lol

[Christos]

It is time consuming for the process that you described. If this is your hobby then it does not matter as time is not our enemy. I think your plan has some merit just not sure how the knot will hold up once you start cutting the piece. If you will epoxy fill the possible void after the initial cut then you have created a solid piece.

This is what I and many wood turners have done to fill gaps in pieces that will be turned into a bowl or platter. The stresses(force) produced in a turned piece while on the lathe will be a lot more when cutting on a bandsaw, table saw or even by hand.

So as I said your plan has merit, just be careful on the initial cut.

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

What a lovely piece of wood. It certainly has plenty of character!

I love turning simlarly 'flawed' blanks although that piece wouldn't be suitable for obvious reasons. I think you're on the right path but, not being a carver and not being able to handle the timber to assess it's strengths, I'd approach it slightly differently I think.

I'm concerned about the integrity of the handle, particularly that lump where the top returns to the body. Is that more solid than it looks?


Here's how I'd approach it and why... maybe it'll give you some ideas on how to refine your approach?

I think I'd make a 'hidden' cut through that lump at the top of the handle with a thin kerf saw (japanese pull saw?) with the intention of pinning/regluing during final re-assembly. That way when you're cutting the body you're not risking snapping the handle section.

Then I'd make the first cut through the body of the piece, probably the bottom-most cut to seperate the piece into two parts.

Mark and drill the holes for the dowels now, while it's only two pieces, to minimise alignment issues. At this time I'd probably also bore a hole up the middle (forstner bit?) to ensure sufficient clearance for the light/fittings and down through the centre of the base for wiring.

Flatten both faces of this cut, glue fine cracks with CA, fill/epoxy the bigger ones and cleanup. I'd also treat the inside of the bored hole the same.

Put the bottom part of the body (with the handle) aside, make a jig to hold the top-most section of the body securely (ensure the cut face is parallel to the saw blade!) and take off a slice. Flatten both faces, fill/epoxy and cleanup, but do not remove the piece from the jig so you know all slices will be true to each other.

Take off the next slice. Rinse & repeat until you have enough parts.


Whatever you do, good luck with it and I wish you a successful result! :wink: