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Hi, Alan Stratton from As Wood Turns dot com First, I want to express thanks to all the
woodturners who have submitted videos to the Christmas Ornament Woodturning Challenge.
We've had some fun. There's has been a good variety of ornaments, a good variety
of techniques and styles. Really nice. If you're a viewer, enjoy. If you're a
woodturner, there's still time to submit another video before Santa flies.
For my next entry to the Christmas Ornament Woodturning Challenge, I'm going to make
a bell. I made a bell some time ago as an inside out turning but there's some technical
aspects of that, that has some risk and such. So I thought I would try a different approach
this time. I'll use poplar and I will drill out the
center in two directions to get the inside of the bell shape. I will have to remount
it after I part it off on a dowel to finish the very top. And then, what we should wind
up with is a bell. It has the look of an inside out turning but is not an inside out turning.
So. We'll see how this goes. Let's have some fun
I started by marking my hole centers on all four sides of the wood. I intended to drill
from each side rather than drill clear thru the wood. I used a ½ inch forstner bit for
the two outer holes at the bottom and the one very top hole, a one inch forstner bit
down from the top of the bell, and a 1 1/8" bit for the lower body. I mounted the block
to the lathe then drilled out the remaining interior to the bell with a forstner bit.
I started turning with a bowl gouge, then switched to a skew for more refined work.
The gouge left it a little bit rough. This bell took a lot of hand finishing: a
coarse rasp to quick remove points and shape the inside of the bell; a fine rasp to clean
up after the coarse rasp, and a lot of sanding. After parting off the bell, I reversed it
and mounted it on a dowel glued into the waste block. With the bell well taped to the waste
block, I was able to trim up the top of the bell and sand it.
My original intent was to dye the bell blue. But not enough dye stayed on the surface of
the sanding sealer I used. So my wife painted it with blue acrylic paint. It turned out
so dark that she repainted it with a gold paint and went for an antique look. I think
she succeeded. Then time to turn the finial. I used a piece
of maple I had sawn years ago for a pen blank. I continued the bell theme by turning a small
bell as the top of the finial with just a small half bead between it and the ornament
bell body. When it was time to drill the finial, I needed
a hole clear thru the entire finial. I had about an inch and a half to drill and did
not want the drill bit to wander and poke out off center at the bottom of the finial.
I drilled the hole thru the finial in small steps. I did not want to give the bit any
room to flex. I needed a long tenon on the finial as it
needed to pass thru the entire top of the bell to hold the knocker inside. I used a
3/8 inch end wrench to get close, then gave it just a little more to have it fit inside
a 3/8 inch hole. The bottom of the finial will show thru the
top of the bell. So I gave it a slight chamfer and finished it but was careful not to finish
the tenon where it would need to be glued. Then I sanded the finial up thru 600 grit
and finished it with friction polish. When all paint was dry, I made a brass hanger.
Glued the finial into the bell, mounted a metal bell on a fine nylon thread and threaded
the nylon up thru the finial. Then I glued in the brass hanger with CA glue. It would
hold the nylon wire also. In the end, I have a nice antique looking
Christmas bell. The knocker is also a bell. So, it's a bell in a bell suspended by a
bell. It has a similar look as the inside out bell I made recently. It was less technical
because it did not need to have the inside turned separately, separated, and reglued.
But it required a lot more rasping and sanding than the inside out process.
Now I have two very nice bells. Both are keepers. Either technique has its plusses and minuses.
Next time, I may combine elements of both. If you have a woodturning project you'd
like me to try, please let me know. Meanwhile, please "Like" this video and
comment below. Please add your tips and ideas for projects.