Three Stories
01 / 20
The idea behind this folder is to convey some of the thought processes that go into the making of one of my pieces. Some of the pieces and photos have appeared in other folders, but I usually do photography only on new ideas. After making a few pieces in a particular design I stop photographing. The idea involved in the above piece was to get away from straight lines. see the "SOFA Presentation 07" folder for the processes.
02 / 20
The blue tape is the result of a lesson hard learned. Given the thinness of the pieces and the vibration caused by the router, pieces often fly off, never to be found again, even though I put all the cuttings through a sifter??? After cutting the face the back is removed in stages. notice the places where there is still wood in the cuts. This is the result of warping, as little as 1/64 of an inch over the 18" diameter. A sharp knife removes the wood and frayed edges, followed by a sparing application of sandpaper. Too much and the surface shape changes.
03 / 20
The story of this piece is told elsewhere. The thing about the gold leaf is that I really don't like the idea of messing with the wood. Were it not for the AAW contest, I was happy with the piece the way it was. I think the leaf distracts attention from what I am trying to accomplish. My challenge as a maker is to present the wood in the best light possible. Taking advantage of what I find by siting and form. To that end I usually choose problem wood or burls. I consider the wood closest to the pith, the center of the tree, to have the most color, variation in grain and excitement. It is also the most likely to present surprises. Sometimes fatal.
04 / 20
I am forever experimenting with new linkages. The purpose is to create different designs. For example. the linkage in the first picture will produce a swirl that is very small because of the long length of the pivot arm. That is the piece of plastic attached to the existing arm. The linkage on the right was supposed to make a left swirl on the first half and a right swirl on the second half of the swing. Sort of an "S". Good theory, lousy result. I had a good time doing it though, which I suppose is the purpose of this whole enterprise.
05 / 20
Three more ideas. The one on the left makes horizontal cuts, either straight or curved, in a piece. The outside is formed with the jig and the inside is removed the old fashioned way, with gouges. I have made 5 or 6 of these and I'm still looking for the perfect form. The center photo was supposed to make radial cuts. After a day making the holder it proved not to be strong enough, Neither the tool or the holder. The larger size tool is too big and coarse. Scratch the idea. On the right is an idea that has proven useful in making squiggly lines. By counterbalancing the router with a movable weight, I get more control of the fine movements that are required.
06 / 20
During the summer of 07' I was in Portland, OR for a AAW convention. Some of the ornamental turners, another subject, were promoting their craft by touting what is called an Ornamental Rose Engine. It is basically a spinning cutter and a rocking head on the lathe. I thought "Why can't I do that with my lathe?" On the way home I made drawings, and had the parts made. What you see is the head of the lathe on a pivot, A motor drives a chain which drives the spindle and cam, as the motor turns. This produces a rocking action. Because the cutter location is fixed while the piece moves forward and back the pieces are no longer round. This has totally changed my work!
07 / 20
Oh, yes. I was working in my shop one night and Fiona asked me to get something from the screened in porch. When I went out I was taken with the view into my shop. I had never seen it from this perspective. I got my camera and took this picture. This gives you a sense of what it takes. The lathe is behind and to the left of the center post. I forgot to get what Fiona asked for....
08 / 20
This is the result of the rocking action. What you see here is the lathe with a motor speed controller, an automatic feed, counterweights, and a piece of Jatoba. The motor controller is needed to slow down the lathe to about 2 RPM. Counterweights, the black things next to the controller, reduce the weight on the cam. A turnbuckle keeps enough tension in the system to eliminate backlash. An automatic feed is required because I need to use a 1/8" cutter to reduce the effects of parallax. Don't ask. The drawings I made in Portland got me about 60% of what was actually needed.
09 / 20
Offsetting the cam by 1/4" produced a slightly oblong effect. See the cam holder two panels back with 5 sets of holes. Using my squiggly line maker, with a pattern designed for this piece, the result is the piece you see above. As always, I spend quite some time before starting trying to discern where the grain pattern will be when the piece is finished. In this case I wanted the light area to come out on a minor high point. As you can see, I succeeded.
10 / 20
Yet another idea I have been working on for the better part of 2 years. Because of the way my jig works all of my pieces are portions of spheres. I have long wanted to escape this limitation. I knew that if I could build a proper jig that can cut ellipses, I would have another form to add to my collection. The geometry is beyond anything I imagined. How the cutter moves over the wood, parallax times two, placement of the jig in front of the work, locating the foci, getting clearance to get the cutter in place, ENDLESS. The jig you see above was the next to last version. It worked perfectly except for its limited adjustability. Again you see the automatic feed. This feeds the cutter over the wood at a rate of .050" per revolution. This means that a cut of 8" can take as long a 2 hours.
11 / 20
In the previous panel the center photo shows the linkage that produces the swirls. I mostly make it up as I go along. The photo on the left shows the increasing curve indicative of an ellipse. The wood, which is ancient Kauri comes from New Zealand and is 50,000 years old (ancientwood.com).
12 / 20
This is the finished piece. I ebonized the rim to give it contrast. The wood itself is incredibly stable having been kiln dried over thousand's of years.
13 / 20
This is the final version of the elliptical cutter. I now have flexibility in locating my centers. Notice the sliding holes. I would like to thank the excellent machinist that turns my ideas into steel, Eric Magrino.
14 / 20
In my SOFA presentation I show this piece and say that I put it aside and focus on the little piece that came off the top. Now for the story of the big thing. I have been looking at this for a long time. I have drawn many different designs on the face and found all of them lacking. I really wanted to feature the detail on the top. During the summer of 08' all of my ideas came together. After making another drawing on the face and some sketches I decided that it was time. Fortunately the Coolabah burl was very stable and didn't distort more than 1/16". After locating the center I re-cut the piece to be sure it still was useable.
15 / 20
I took a piece of scrap wood and made a maquette, a small sample to test out the various details and cutter positions that would be required. This was the result and it validated my design.
16 / 20
As you can see from the previous picture the idea was to cut a six sided bowl with a undercut in the round surface and, after removing the wood behind the large face, to make radial cuts. I used the rocking action of the head to make the bowl. The externally long spindle extender was necessary because the center of the larger surface was behind the piece. After cutting the hex bowl I then needed to work from behind to complete the project. Notice the tinker toy set of parts on the back shelf, and the ubiquitous auto feed.
17 / 20
After solving a myriad of unforeseen issues, this is the result. Well worth the effort and wait!
18 / 20
At the AAW convention in June of 08' the curator at the Carnegie Art Museum in Pittsburgh, Jason Busch, requested that I submit some samples of my work for inclusion in their permanent collection. I made a CD of the 6 best pieces that I had on hand. Some weeks after sending the CD to him I completed this piece. I felt it was the best example of my work to date. I sent the above photos to Jason, indicating that if he is going to accept a…
19 / 20
…piece for the museums collection, I want it to be this one. He indicated that he was going to be at the SOFA Chicago 08 exhibition, so I took it there for him to see. It is now part of the Carnegie's collection.
20 / 20
Stay tuned for more. 9/08