Thread: 1st go at Celtic Knots

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Ready to cut the 3rd cut, and then the 4th cut.


I also did a piece with Quince inlay, here it is ready to turn.


Here is the Purple Heart inlay piece, I think I did not bad for a first try.



Here is the Quince inlay piece, again, I really like this, it is almost magical

Now these two pieces were just for fun, for practice and to see if this way of making the cuts etc. would work, and I think I like this

I can certainly see making some pens from this, and I can see doing this on other items, lets say the toothpick holders or some other items.

Cheers!

Originally Posted by Stu in Tokyo

Here is the Purple Heart inlay piece, I think I did not bad for a first try.

Not bad at all! (Actually, my fingers are itching to grab hold of the piece for closer investigation.)

I love turning celtic knots, there are a few variations that can make them even more interesting. eg. by making layered inlays you can add a "shadow-line" effect to the knots. (Just thought I'd mention that to get you thinking... )

Also, doing opposite cuts (so the inlays form an X on one side) in one timber and then doing the remaining two in yet another contrasting timber gives a very nice effect. You do need to make the cuts in correct order, though.

Oh yeah, the possibilities are great, are they not

I saw Eli Avisera do a bunch of inlay things with inlay that was sometimes 3 and 4 layers, really amazing stuff.

I need to try some more for sure, might even make some thing this time, instead of just practice

I've got some Dessert Iron Wood to try, that stuff is not riddled with tiny holes like the Quince and Purple Heart is, so it should be even nicer

Cheers!

Great photo tutorial and love the tip for not cutting all the way through the blank

Good find that Stu .
Much as I admire the art , and some of it holds me in awe, I have never had a hankering to do segmented turning .
But ,
that young lad has piqued my interest . May be a cultural memory thing

Not pens tho , never done any ,
something different is nudging the back of me brain .


I like the look of your quince one Stu , nice colour contrast .


Jock

cool

Who says you can't make round things with straight cuts!!

Terrific post, Stu.

For those who have not tried these, make sure the angled cuts are all exactly the same distance from one end of the blank or the lines won't cross right.

Do y'all cut the inlays at the same angle (45 degrees or whatever) so that the grain orientation is the same for all the pieces?

Thanks for an amazing post. It is pretty hard to get my head around the transformation when you turn the inlays.

Stu, I saw this before, you did it very well. Always very nice to figure out how it works huh.
Already finished with the work for your daughters room? You notice I keep an eye on you.

All the best Stu.
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Love this effect Stu, never seen it before. i pulled up this page at the community shed to show the woodturning boys, they are all very interested. I recon we'll be seeing some celtic knots turning up before long.

Pretty good suff, heres another one you may be interested in.
http://marleyturned.com/id180.htm
Cheers Steven

I found the glue-up procedure in the video to be more complicated than it needs to be but enjoy making the celtic knots. If they are made near one end of a glue-up the block can then be bored using a forstner bit, a plug made to fit the bore (the plug should have a shoulder about equal to the wall thickness you want), placethe setup between centers and a goblet is then easy to make. Of course a purist would do the bore on the lathe but that has othe complications.