My first attempt at a Celtic knot

[rfas]

Kind of a comedy of errors this weekend but I think I'm close to dialing it in. I built a 45 degree sled. Ran a trial with scrap walnut and basswood for contrast. Threw it on the lathe without intending to make anything out of it, and hey, didn't come out too bad. That's the first picture. Didn't sand or finish or anything. Since it came out ok, decided to drill it for a pen tube and take it the rest of the way. Oops, it blew up when I tried to drill it. Not enough material left for it to hold up to the drill. Oh well, mission accomplished and I know my sled works and I have the basic technique down.

Attempt #2 on an actual pen blank - Wenge and aspen. Looked like it was going well, except I managed to get the knot too close to one end. Got it drilled, the tube glued in and set, but it blew up when I hit it with the barrel trimmer

Attempt #3 - back to walnut and aspen. This time I decided to put the veneers in first, THEN cut the blank to length. It's not easy judging where center is on the table saw sled. Maybe I'll get the hang of that part later. This worked much better - no structural issues. But…somehow I managed to screw up the pattern. I must have cut the slots in the wrong order or something. Ugh!! Steeeerike three!! Regardless, I decided to go ahead and finish it, only to discover I used a tube for a pen kit that I don't have. Ugh!!! Anyway, that's the second picture.

Attempt #4 in progress. I learned today that PSI has a "Gatsby" kit and a "Gatsby Grande" kit. I have the drill bit and bushings for the Grande, but right now only have the standard Gatsby kits. So this attempt goes on the shelf for a week or so until o get the correct bit snd bushings in. The blank looks solid though, so hopefully this one will be the winner
.

 

[jttheclockman]

Welcome to the world of segmenting. Just a few tips. 45 degree is nice and does work well if the kerf is not too wide. I like to use 52 degrees. My kerf is either 1/8" or 3/16. I like to use 1" as the blank size and always work with a square blank. Makes things easier if making jigs. There is no right or wrong way to cut the order. What happens is the way the rings lay on top of each other if you do a 1,3,2,4 cut. They are random if done 1,2,3,4. Must match the kerf with exact sized inlay material to replace. I prefer not to cut all the way through the blank and leave about 1/8" material to help keep the alignment dead on. When drilling you need to drill the center of the knot and not the center of the blank and that is why I like to use a square blank and keep it that way all through the process. Anyway good luck and have fun. That is a nice design that has been around a long time.

 

[rfas]

Welcome to the world of segmenting. Just a few tips. 45 degree is nice and does work well if the kerf is not too wide. I like to use 52 degrees. My kerf is either 1/8" or 3/16. I like to use 1" as the blank size and always work with a square blank. Makes things easier if making jigs. There is no right or wrong way to cut the order. What happens is the way the rings lay on top of each other if you do a 1,3,2,4 cut. They are random if done 1,2,3,4. Must match the kerf with exact sized inlay material to replace. I prefer not to cut all the way through the blank and leave about 1/8" material to help keep the alignment dead on. When drilling you need to drill the center of the knot and not the center of the blank and that is why I like to use a square blank and keep it that way all through the process. Anyway good luck and have fun. That is a nice design that has been around a long time.

Thanks for the tips! I'm using 1/8 kerf in 3/4" square blanks I got from Ocooch Hardwoods in Wisconsin. They sell exotic wood blanks for 50 cents each which is a pretty decent deal. I'm not sure why my one design came out so wonky. The Gatsby kits I have now require a 27/64 drill bit and slightly different sized bushings than the "Gatsby Grande" I got last time, which caught me off guard. While I'm waiting for the new stuff to come in I think I'll just build a few blanks so I have different combinations to turn when it gets here. I think the process should be pretty straight forward now that I have my sled working. Maybe I'll build another sled or two with different angles. This should be a lot of fun to play with!

 

[jttheclockman]

Have to say 3/4" blanks is awful tight tolerances if not cutting all the way through on most kits. Especially if using the larger sized Sierra or Gatsby Grande kits. 1/8" kerf works well especially for single strand inlay material. When you start using 2 and 3 layered inlay stuff you may want to step up. But again then the angle can come into play. The more you play with this design you will find what works for you. Good luck and look forward to seeing what you come up with.

These were done 52 degree, 3 layers, 1/8" Cuts were 1,3,2,4

 

[randyrls]

To join the thread; I have used a 7-1/4" circular saw blade in my table saw to cut a .075" (a bit larger than 1/16"=.062") kerf. Cut slowly; the blade can "sing" or vibrate side to side making the kerf larger.

Add 1/8" plywood stiffeners to all 4 sides of the blank to help with drilling.

JT That looks beautiful.