How Do you do this

[chazmonro]

I figure you turn the red blanks down to a diameter then drill the lighter wood blanks to match and glue that up. How do you do the spiral though? I've seen it done on tons of turnings but I've never been able to figure it out, whats the trick? How is it done? Do I need a speical tool?

Chuck

 

[btboone]

Hi Chuck, it's done with a round hand file. It could also be done with a special follower attachment for a router, or it could be done on a CNC machine. The file is cheapest and works just fine. It's slow, but good stuff takes time.

 

[Tom McMillan]

Hi Chuck---For lack of a better way (don't own a mill lathe or a Legacy or a CNC unfortunately), I do these completely by hand. I lay it out and use a small bastard file and only turn the lathe with my hand as I route out the spirals. Try this link for an old topic here at IAP where I gave a fuller explanation: http://tinyurl.com/a4z36
Hopefully that link will work for you (look about half way down the first page for my explanation)---and feel free to ask more questions if I can be of any help.

 

[chazmonro]

Thanks a million Tom, that is an amazing pen you got there, I might have to try one someday. I actually just turned my first pen two days ago, so I have a ways to go before I attempt anything like that, but I was curious how you did it. I've seen spirals on other turnings, and had no idea. I figured it had to be all in the layout.

Tom, since I have your attention, have any advice on finish (I know wrong forum) I've gotten about a zillion different answers, and I'm probably going to try the CA/BLO finish next, I've use BLO on a bunch of my woodworking projects and I've always liked it. I used shellwax on my first two pens (because thats what I got in the kit) and they turned out pretty good. I'm still just practicing though.

Chuck

 

[Tom McMillan]

As far as finish---on the 2 layer pens I use a sealer first then use 3 coats of thin CA, then I sand lightly with 800 and 1200 grits and usually use EEE Ultra Shine to polish it out ---I don't use the BLO.