Thread: Book Ends

Ted they look a work of art like them lots.

very nice ted,i like them and very functional too!
well done
cheers smiife

Hi Ted these look amazing. I love the look of them

I'm wondering if you could indulge me as a turning newbie. Could you be so kind as to detail exactly how you made these step by step?

I cant even imagine how you would turn this shape. All my turnings have been done with a grub screw or a face plate with screws - obviously not possible with this figure without making a big ugly hole in the back of it.

I like them.

Simple but effective, very well done. Love the colour of the timber and the shape.

Ted

Great work

Excellent bit of recycling Ted

I love the way different people see different things in the same bit (well you know what I mean) of wood.

Your right to not have filled the cracks they make the pieces.

They look excellent ted, very nice indeed.

Ted,

Bookends, excellent idea I always have a need for these.

Thanks for the comments.This is the third set I have made.
This is how they were made.
For the first attempt, I mounted the blank on a faceplate ,expecting the screwholes to be in the waste wood. They weren't and I had to fill two of the holes latter. The other two were lost when sawing in half . Actually only another turner would pick the filled holes .Anyway I shaped one side,mostly using pull cuts then bored a hole for a screw chuck. I then turned it over, mounted on the screw and turned the other side
I did not have confidence that my bandsaw blade would not wander cutting timber as thick and as hard as this , so I chose to cut it on my table saw but my tablesaw depth of cut is only 80mm so it meant two cuts.I made up a sled for the table saw consisting of two rails holding a bowl shaped depresion,sat the finished turning in it and pushed it through the saw with my wife operating the on off switch. I then turned it over and cut from the other side. I found it very difficult to line up the two cuts, but it came out near enough . A 40grit belt on a linisher tidied it all up.
I sat one half on a bit of 12mm MDF and traced round the outside then cut the shape out . I was then able to sit the half section in the cutout and run it through the table saw to cut the base.

For my next attempt I screwed a bit of ply on the faceplate to increase the diameter and mounted the blank on that, but I ran into even more problems The screw holes were visable and even worse I had three screws snap off when trying to remove them . One is still in the finished job which caused all sorts of headaches. This time I left my blank almost square and when I had I turned the first side, I took it to the tablesaw and using the square edge made a cut halfway through ,hoping to use the cut as a guide when I finally cut it in half .I also made up a smaller screw chuck to mount mount on when turning the second side so's I didn't have to hide part of the screw hole on the cut face.

For the third attempt I glued a tennon on instead of using a face plate and abandoned trying work with a square blank.When it came to cutting it in half I fitted a bridge to my sled and on this I mounted a couple of large bolts which I was then able to screw down to hold the job which made it much safer and I could cut it on my own. Alignment is still difficult but I get there . I think on the next attempt I will make some sort of register in the middle of the bowl shape and on the bridge to line things up.

This has been pretty long winded but as I said, there were challanges.
Ted

Well done Ted!!!

My imagination doesn't stretch that far BUT I will keep this beaut idea in mind.

bassmansimon
If you want further details on how to make this, It's only about 40 minutes from casula to burwood and I can explain how to make it in detail . PM me if interested.
Ted

Thanks Ted that's a really nice offer. Might take you up on that once I get back from holiday