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Hi, Alan Stratton, from As Wood Turns dot com.
What am I doing with a Bolo tie? Well, Randy asked me how to woodturn a Bolo tie. I decided
to make one segmented. This one is reminiscent of a wagon wheel with spokes, a hub, and a
rim. And, of course, the ends, I don't want those cheesy metal ones. I want turned as
in a finial, walnut ends to the bolo tie. So, let's make this woodturned bolo tie.
To get spokes in the wheel, I cut thin cross grain slices of walnut. They are cross grain
to avoid any problem with different grain directions. They have the same orientation
as the maple segments. I've laid out a double layer strip of masking tape. I'm placing my
segments on the tape. I'll glue up sets of four segments into half rings. The walnut
strips make this glue up more difficult -- there's twice the surfaces to cover with glue. I'm
using small bolts as spacers to separate the halves while using a band clamp to clamp the
segments together. After sanding the mating faces of the halves,
it's time to glue them together. My maple walnut ring slipped a little in gluing; I
had to saw it apart and redo it. Fortunately, the walnut provided the space for the saw
kerf. I started with the outer walnut ring mounted
to a threaded wood faceplate with hot melt glue. I'll trim the outer edge just a little
even though the ring is much bigger than what I need. I'm also facing off the face to ensure
it is smooth and parallel to the other face. Then I'll cut out the middle -- this will
define the inside of the tire and outside of the spokes. My sides must be parallel.
Again I'll use a pen to gauge how parallel they are.
Next I'll take off the walnut ring, measure the inner mortise, and transfer that measure
to the walnut and maple spoke ring. The spoke ring is glued to a wood faceplate with CA
glue. No hot melt here because I will be removing the outer portion of the ring where I normally
have the hot melt. After some trimming, I'm using a parting tool to remove most of the
extra ring. Maybe I can use the excess in another project.
Now to fit the two rings together. I'm preferring a square carbide cutter here to help make
cuts as straight and parallel as possible. The fitting process is repetitive, trim and
cut chamfer, test the fit and repeat gradually until the rings fit together.
Then glue the rings together with Titebond Original Extend and let dry.
With the hard part done, I'm shaping the wheel portion. After a little light trimming, I'm
parting off the excess walnut to use in a future project. I don't want to just waste
it. We'll see how I can use it. My wheel portion is thick enough for two bolo tops. I'll drill
out the center for an axle. Then I'll relieve the spoke portion just a little. This will
give it a lot of visual interest and avoid a totally flat tie.
After sanding and finishing with beeswax and mineral oil, I'm parting off the wheel.
While parting off the wheel, it developed a wobble. I realized I had pushed the glue
a little too fast so I had to wait a bit more before proceeding. Then I trued it up just
a little bit, touched up the finish and went on to finish parting it off.
My original plan for the axle was for a walnut plug whose surface was flush with the spokes.
But I changed to a button that would protrude a little from the spokes for a better representation
of an axle. I mounted a scrap piece of walnut. This time I just grabbed my tenon cutting
wrenches to size a ½" axle with a 3/8" tenon to mount it with. I rounded it over just a
little with a skew. Then I sanded and finished the button. I'll glue it to the spokes later.
Now for the bolo tips. No metal here -- This will be more like simple finials with a hole
in the end to accept the end of the bolo tie laced leather. I'm rounding a tenon to reverse
mount the wood in a small chuck. After drilling a hole, I'll go after the finial with a skew
near the top speed of this lathe. A bolo tie has two tips. The challenge is
to turn them to be the same -- or near enough to the same. I'll mount another piece of walnut
and repeat the process. I marked critical points on the wood to help the match. This
time I used my tenon cutters. They did the job but I'd prefer a gouge or skew.
With all parts finished, I glued the wheel and axle to a metal bolo tie clasp and the
finial tips to the ends of the leather thong. Just be sure to thread the thong before gluing
on the tips. I purchased the clasp and thong at a Tandy Leather Factory store.
Voila, a Western theme bolo tie. I like the way the wheel and spokes turned out. I'm glad
I recessed the spoke area—it helped a lot. There are lots of other possible variations
for bolo ties. Please click the like button on this video
and subscribe to my website and YouTube channel. Always wear your face shield. Until next time,
this is Alan Stratton from As Wood Turns dot com.