What did you make today?

[Griff]

How cool will this be!

[fargon]

Very Kool. What are you going to use for wheels, and other hard parts?

[glatt]

The wheels will be plywood. I still need to order some bits and pieces of hardware but have bearings and shafts and a motor.

[xoxoxoBruce]

That will be interesting, getting the blade to track without walking off the wheel, and enough traction of the blade on the wheel so the blade won't slip and stall yet not enough to tear into the wheel. Most use a rubber coating(tire) on the wheel.

[glatt]

Inner tubes.

There's a few hours of information here about the plans I'm using, including lots of examples built by readers.

It is going to take a long time to make this. I hope to have it done in 2016. If I can spend an hour or two each week, I should reach that goal.

[xoxoxoBruce]

I suspect this is more about having fun with the challenge than your dire need of a bandsaw, so you can't lose. Win!
And you'll end up with a bandsaw. Win!

And 99 years from now...
glatts daughter-in-law - Why don't you get rid of all this junk, like that wood thing.

glatts son - Better back off, bitch, me and dad built that.

[footfootfoot]

After being unable to work in my woodshop for the past year I had to force myself to finally glue up the entry door that I made for someone. (No hurry apparently) I also need to repair two canoes for a friend's rental fleet (no hurry last fall, big hurry now)

While waiting for the glue to set on the first part of the glue-up, I turned a candlestick. It isn't finished, that gnarly bit on top is where the drive spurs set and that will be sawn off. I took it off the lathe to look at it for a while and saw where it needs a bit of tweaking an refinement. I'm putting it back on tomorrow, finishing it and then I'll show you the after pic.

Somewhere I have an antique woodenware book with great examples of candlesticks but I suspect the previous administration may have absconded with it.

I was curious to see how long it took me to make (excluding design time) because I was wondering if there is any profit in making them. I guess that also depends on how much they would sell for.

About 10 or 15 minutes in design, 20 minutes setting up, and so far about a half hour turning-but some of that was design changes as I went. After I get my chops back I think I could make a pair in 40 minutes, assuming a production run of 10 or 20 pair, including an oil or shellac finish.

[glatt]

I like it. Very elegant. How is the base attached? Is it a time consuming joint?

[monster]

do it.

[Griff]

Do it.

Google says prices are all over the place.
https://www.google.com/search?q=turn...ticks&tbm=shop

[footfootfoot]

Originally Posted by glatt

I like it. Very elegant. How is the base attached? Is it a time consuming joint?

I suck at documenting things but it was very easy.

Started with a 1"x5"x5" board. It would have been S4S but my planer is not working so I had to mount it on the lathe to surface it.

Let's say it was S4S. Mark center and drill a 1" hole

Take square turning blank 1.5"x1.5"x12", chuck in lathe, rough it to a cylinder and turn a 1"x1" round tenon on the end. Be sure the shoulder is square or a bit undercut for a smile-free glue joint.

Glue tenon and hole, insert tenon, let dry.

The end of the tenon is exposed on the bottom so you can chuck the whole thing back in the lathe and it should still be true.

Mark out landmarks, e.g. high and low spots, beads, coves, etc. use parting tool and calipers to set depths, turn to landmarks. Refine, sand if needed, add finish.

Off to the basement.

Some of those prices are excellent. I have a friend who "makes" antiques. He has what he calls a time machine. I've seen wood taken from his firewood pile turn into all sorts of things that he copies from various out of print woodworking books from the 1800s, then go into the time machine and come out looking positively ancient.

A lot of his stuff has ended up at big auction houses. His approach is just, "I found this in a barn in New England, is it worth anything?" and there you go.

I'm not there yet.

[footfootfoot]

Here is the finished proto-type. The compare photos are from different angles so that changes the look of the piece somewhat so I added pointing fingers to indicate the places I made changes.

So far it has one very thin coat of Watco (25% Watco 75% turps) I am thinking about what kind of finish I'd like to put on it, if I want to stain it or do something else.

I wanted to make the transitions crisper, that is a hallmark of a hand turned piece made with gouges and chisels; the finish they leave behind is smoother than sandpaper which softens or obliterates fine details. (Full disclosure: I did sand a few spots because I'm out of practice and my tools aren't sharpened as well as they can be and that led to a couple of lumpy spots on the vases.)

Standard candle bases are 7/8" unless they are from China where they use metric sizes making your candlesticks too big. I didn't have any inserts on hand ($0.07 ea) so I cut a 3/4" copper pipe connector (7/8" ID, <1" OD) annealed it, upset one end so it would fit snugly, and flared the other end, re-annealed it and peened it over the top of the candlestick.

When I make the mate I'm going to change the order of some of the steps to make it more efficient. Making the metal insert cost a lot more than seven cents in materials and a crazy amount of time. If I make more of these I'm buying inserts.

I also need to build a proper sharpening jig for my gouges. The shape is very complicates and despite a lot of practice my results are inconsistent and costly in terms of unnecessary wear on the tools. I bought mine over 20 years ago and nearly crapped when I saw how much they cost today.

[Gravdigr]

Vurry nize, feet.

[glatt]

Yeah. That came out nice.

Even somebody who doesn't know anything about machine manufactured vs handmade can look at that and see all those crisp edges and know it's different and better.

The copper work is impressive.

What species of wood? Looks like maple, but maybe something else?

I think the trick is finding the buyer who will pay enough to make it worth your while.

My cousin is a carpenter in NJ, and he somehow got in with some wealthy regular customers and is able to afford to do high end finish carpentry and unique woodworking projects now instead of framing tract housing.

You need to find a wealthy sponsor. Any Hudson river valley equestrian clubs or anything like that? Someplace where those bored CEO wives from NYC go shopping on weekend outings to the country.

[footfootfoot]

Originally Posted by glatt

Yeah. That came out nice.

Even somebody who doesn't know anything about machine manufactured vs handmade can look at that and see all those crisp edges and know it's different and better.

The copper work is impressive.

What species of wood? Looks like maple, but maybe something else?

I think the trick is finding the buyer who will pay enough to make it worth your while.

My cousin is a carpenter in NJ, and he somehow got in with some wealthy regular customers and is able to afford to do high end finish carpentry and unique woodworking projects now instead of framing tract housing.

You need to find a wealthy sponsor. Any Hudson river valley equestrian clubs or anything like that? Someplace where those bored CEO wives from NYC go shopping on weekend outings to the country.

@ Grav: Thanks

@ Glatt: Thanks. As Sy Syms used to say, "An educated consumer is our best customer." You'd be surprised at how many people can't tell quality and buy based on brand name. An electrician once told me that rich people only like to spend money on things that show people how wealthy they are. That's one of the reasons they try to stiff or haggle with tradespeople who do work for them. There's no real advantage to paying a plumber because people aren't seeing your plumbing. That's Manchester at any rate.

The wood is cherry, but the stick part is glued up from some sap wood scraps that are much lighter, hence my thoughts of staining.

I'm very close to Manchester, VT the multi-millionaire ghetto, and Saratoga Springs, rich but horsey. I'm keeping my eyes out for a sponsor or the right type of craft fair/farmer market.