Celtic Knot Re-Visited

[Ed Reiss]

Thanks Stu ...your instructions on the Celtic knot got my butt into gear to make a goblet (really a shot glass on steroids) with the Celtic knot pattern.

Base wood is White Oak, the knot is a three layer lamination of Cocbolo-Maple-Cocobolo. 165mm high by 50mm diameter. Two coats of DO and a thin coat of clear Briwax.

Comments welcome!

[wheelinround]

Ed very nice where's the WIP it

[Texian]

Ed,
Very nice miniature. Any chance you meant cm. rather than mm? How much is that in inches?

[joe greiner]

Texian nailed it. If it were truly 16.5mm x 5mm, the kerfs would have to be cut by laser. The attached pic may shed light on the entire problem 'Murricans have with metric. The upper and lower scales are correct; the middle one, used mostly by school kids, is wrong by a factor of ten solely due to the identifier. Construction legend holds that the Sydney Opera House, one of Australia's first metric projects, and built by Italian craftsmen, was almost ten times bigger, because they were accustomed to dimensions in cm, whereas the plans were in mm. Or something like that.

BTW, very well done, Ed.:2tsup:

Joe

[Manuka Jock]

Here in New Zealand , when we converted to metric , the building industry wisely decided to work with millimeters and meters only .
For that we are all eternally grateful :D


Top wee goblet there Ed , cheers :2tsup:

[Rookie]

Construction legend holds that the Sydney Opera House, one of Australia's first metric projects, and built by Italian craftsmen, was almost ten times bigger, because they were accustomed to dimensions in cm, whereas the plans were in mm. Or something like that.


I know the problem Joe. I grew up when metric conversion happened here in the 60's, but I still have trouble figuring out how many centimetres in a kilogram. :;

Seriously though, nice goblet. I've never tried a celtic knot...yet... but one thing I've noticed with some that have been up here is that unless you get the cuts very clean, the lines can look blurry. Nice clean lines in this goblet and that pleases the eye.

[badgaz]

Ed

That looks mighty good mate!
I have a question though, I turned a pen on the weekend employing my first attempt at a celtic knot (no sense in waiting around to get profficient). I used a pen blank made of a black composite material from CT. The inlays were maple and walnut. Even though it turned quite nicely, as I was sanding it smooth, I could not avoid the lighter wood progresively becoming stained from the dust of the black composite material. No matter what I tried there seemed no way to prevent this happening. Obviously it had a negative impact on the contrast I was aiming for. Is there a way (short of not sanding) to avoid the fine pigment of a dark material (or dark wood for that matter) staining the adjacent lighter wood?

All the best Gazza

[orificiam]

Beautiful goblet Ed.Stu as got a lot to answer for he's got me doing celtic knots as well I'm trying it on pens.cheers Tony.:2tsup:

[joe greiner]

We tried an all-purpose conversion factor of kilogram-acres-per-fortnight, and never got it right. (need smiley for BS alarm!):D

Gazza, I think the best way to avoid transfer of stain is to use un-stained materials, and/or un-staining material. The information sheet for EEE-Ultrashine (now just Ultrashine) warns about using it on wood adjacent to metal, because goop from the polished metal transfers to the wood. The same thing can happen with Brasso. Each material can still be polished, but only with extreme care to avoid transfer. This is impossible for a Celtic knot. Naturally dark timber, without pigment, should be more successful than the composite.

Joe

[Manuka Jock]

Ed

That looks mighty good mate!
I have a question though, I turned a pen on the weekend employing my first attempt at a celtic knot (no sense in waiting around to get profficient). I used a pen blank made of a black composite material from CT. The inlays were maple and walnut. Even though it turned quite nicely, as I was sanding it smooth, I could not avoid the lighter wood progresively becoming stained from the dust of the black composite material. No matter what I tried there seemed no way to prevent this happening. Obviously it had a negative impact on the contrast I was aiming for. Is there a way (short of not sanding) to avoid the fine pigment of a dark material (or dark wood for that matter) staining the adjacent lighter wood?

All the best Gazza

Gazza , for all that , it still has a good look all of its own , and a well made pen it seems too :2tsup:

There might be something in that 'mottled' effect

[Ed Reiss]

Ed,
Any chance you meant cm. rather than mm? How much is that in inches?

Right Tex....it should be 165mm x 50mm (6.5 inches x 2 inches)

Joe...your right about the school ruler being off by a factor (multipier) of ten.

Now I'm off to Home Depot to get a couple of rolls of duct tape....all this math has given me a headache!:doh:

[Ed Reiss]

Ed very nice where's the WIP it

Damn...knew I forgot something!!:doh:

[Ed Reiss]

Ed

That looks mighty good mate!
I have a question though, I turned a pen on the weekend employing my first attempt at a celtic knot (no sense in waiting around to get profficient). I used a pen blank made of a black composite material from CT. The inlays were maple and walnut. Even though it turned quite nicely, as I was sanding it smooth, I could not avoid the lighter wood progresively becoming stained from the dust of the black composite material. No matter what I tried there seemed no way to prevent this happening. Obviously it had a negative impact on the contrast I was aiming for. Is there a way (short of not sanding) to avoid the fine pigment of a dark material (or dark wood for that matter) staining the adjacent lighter wood?

All the best Gazza

Good work on the pen, Gazza:2tsup: ...I agree with MJ, the mottled pattern looks cool !

Some years ago I ran into a similar staining problem when doing a construct of Maple and Padauk.....the brilliant red of the Padauk completly stained the Maple when I applied tung oil. Just have to careful of the woods we use together.

[Ed Reiss]

Thanks for all the positive comments, Guys!:U

[robutacion]

Thanks Stu ...your instructions on the Celtic knot got my butt into gear to make a goblet (really a shot glass on steroids) with the Celtic knot pattern.

Base wood is White Oak, the knot is a three layer lamination of Cocbolo-Maple-Cocobolo. 16.5mm high by 5mm diameter. Two coats of DO and a thin coat of clear Briwax.

Comments welcome!

Yeah, I agree with some previous comments about the cleanness of the lines and transitions. Has been many years since I've done lamination, I should re-fresh my technique one day and see what comes out...!:D

I'm also a "metric" kind of person from birth, I'm ok with straight inches as reference, feet, miles, yards, hands and km obviously, but I get a little confused when someone comes to me and asks, I need a piece of 4x about 3 paces, 2 an a bit feet, 2 hands, 3 fingers and a little "smidgen":o, now is some measurement... believe me, put it all together in that order and you will get in within and arms length to what we is was king for...:doh::D
I would mind to see a proper WIP of one of those Celtic knots been made

Sorry folks, I just have to tell someone. I've not a new 22" across flat screen monitor, there is 1' hight and 18.5" wide and I'm quite impressed the way the hole forum page, colours, distribution and light comes out of this babe. My old 17" monitor (old style) has been only showing image after I would bash it literally with a lamp of wood, and this has lasted 2 month with progressive number and forces required to make it work. The day before yesterday I used the hammer while it was still on, and after a dozen hits, I just gave it one more but by then, it was disconnect from the power and out of the room, I used a 8 pounder wood splitter for better results and get some personal satisfaction, in order...!:no::D. My wife Merissa comes over and says, "well, you can not complain now that you cant see what is on it!":U V7 model - $290.00, ouch!

Anyway Reiss, I like your goblet!

Cheers:2tsup:
RBTCO

[Stryker223]

Wow, that is amazing Ed!!!!

[joe greiner]

I would mind to see a proper WIP of one of those Celtic knots been made

Cheers:2tsup:
RBTCO

Here ya go, RBTCO: http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?t=16781

This is how I found out about the forum in the first place. I'd made a small turned box almost this way, and was pretty sure I hadn't invented the process. The term "Celtic Knot" hadn't taken hold then, and I don't remember what search terms I used. My glue-up was different: I used cauls on the outside, with 45-degree ends to clamp across the inserts. I had the devil's own time re-centering for final turning.

I've been musing about an improved procedure to facilitate accurate centering, better clamping, and also allow more than four loops; as well as a harlequin pattern using two blanks as sources. I really must, must, move it nearer the top of the "bucket list." Maybe in a couple months, I hope.

Joe

[Stu in Tokyo]

Ed, very nice work on the knot, if I get blamed for stuff like that, heck blame me twice :2tsup:

Gazza, the color transfer problem is a constant one, I guess you have to just keep the air hose handy and try to keep ahead of the mess by blasting the little dark, or light bits out of where they do not belong, I guess hand sanding might help too, but yeah, it is still a problem.:doh:

Cheers!

[badgaz]

Stu, Ed, Manuka and Joe. Thanks for the compliments and the advice (I didn't want to hijack the thread, but since this knot work caper has certainly got some adictive properties to it I thought I should just throw the question out there).:;

If I come up with a solution you can bet I'll share it!

Anyway great work Ed, really inspirational stuff.

Gazza.

[Stryker223]

I was diggin thru my wood working links in my favorites file and came to Larry Marley's web site. He has a page with several videos on it and one of them is a Celtic Knot Ornament for Christmas. I watched it and it is an excellent video so I thought I'd post the link to it here for you folks.

http://marleyturned.com/id180.htm

It's a grand idea and can be used to accent many projects, as Ed has shown us here with his goblet!

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Gazza, the color transfer problem is a constant one, I guess you have to just keep the air hose handy and try to keep ahead of the mess by blasting the little dark, or light bits out of where they do not belong, I guess hand sanding might help too, but yeah, it is still a problem.:doh:

:yes: I've also found that a good, clean finish off the tool, followed by a "priming coat" of a tung-based Danish Oil (something that penetrates the wood & seals the pores) before sanding can be a BIG help.

It does tend to restrict the choice of final finish though.

I'd imagine a good NC sanding sealer would do the same, 'cept I don't use the stuff. :-

[Manuka Jock]

Gazza ,
here is a handy page on Using Sanding Sealer (http://www.sydneywoodturners.com.au/site/articles/finishing/sandingsealer.html) , from woodworkers from all over , a few turners too .

[Grumpy John]

I'd imagine a good NC sanding sealer would do the same, 'cept I don't use the stuff. :-

Skew, in my trade background NC stands fo Numerical Control, obviously not in this case. Please enlighten me and other novices.

[RETIRED]

Skew, in my trade background NC stands fo Numerical Control, obviously not in this case. Please enlighten me and other novices.Nitro-cellulose.

[Ed Reiss]

I was diggin thru my wood working links in my favorites file and came to Larry Marley's web site. He has a page with several videos on it and one of them is a Celtic Knot Ornament for Christmas. I watched it and it is an excellent video so I thought I'd post the link to it here for you folks.

http://marleyturned.com/id180.htm


Good one Stryker...he made it look easy!:U

BTW...did you get out to the Great Gulf Coast Art Festival last weekend?