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Hi, Alan Stratton from As Wood Turns (www.AsWoodTurns.com). There is still time to get your Christmas
ornament video in for this year's Christmas Ornament Woodturning Challenge.
For my next entry, I'll make a very light weight snowman. This snowman weight about
1 ¾ ounces and is exhibiting cultural diversity. He's not very happy because it is getting
warmer. Let's make a cultural diversity snowman.
I started with a piece of maple left over from a previous project. With a tenon already
cut, I mounted it directly into my chuck. It required very little to true it up. I'm
able to quickly get started rounding over the bottom and largest snowball. By the way,
I'm not working to a precise drawing -- Just a general idea and five selected hunks of
wood. I'll form a tenon on the top of the snowman
to join it to the next snowball. It will also be a good way to hold the oh so cold snowball
tightly while I refine the bottom. With the exterior roughed out, I'll hollow
out the snowball by first drilling out what I can with a forstner bit. After drilling,
I'll use a ½" round nose scraper to get more wood out of the interior. I'll leave the interior
rough since I'll be gluing the snowballs together. No woodturner will ever be able to reach in
and feel the inside of this guy. With the interior hollow, I'll refine the
tenon just a little bit. Whoops. There went my tenon. Now it's a mortise.
Oh well. I'll just go on and finish the bottom snowball and see what I can do later. I'll
use mineral oil and beeswax for my snowman. Now I need a tenon to mount the snowball on
to finish its bottom. How about the next snowball? With the original tenon gone, I need a tenon
on this piece anyway. So I'll fit the bottom snowball to the next chunk of wood. It's a
bit sloppy because there's no flat spot in the mortise.
Then finish the bottom of the snowball. Now for the middle snowball, I'll use a piece
of walnut. Again, this already has a mounting tenon on it so I'm ready to turn the exterior.
I'll make it just a little smaller than the bottom snowball. Who's ever seen a perfectly
proportioned snowman anyway. Then, I'll drill out the interior with a forstner
bit and finish hollowing with my round nose scraper. Again, I'm not gunning for the world's
thinnest wood -- just to lighten it up. Then I'll use a smaller bit to drill out the
center of the top tenon. Then sand and finish this snowball trying not to get wax and oil
on the tenon. For the top snowball, I'll use some cherry.
After a little roughing, the first significant task is to cut a mortise to fit the tenon
on the second snowball. I'll bore it out part way then enlarge it little by little. Whoops
that got way too big in a hurry. I'll just cut it off and try again.
I'll go at it more gradually this time. Every bit I think I'm cutting from one side is in
reality doubled. So, easy does it. Then on to forming the exterior shape. This
time, I'll use a skew but switch back and forth with a gouge when I need heavier wood
removal. I'm leaving a tenon on the top to hold the hat.
The hat is laburnum, a very hard wood. I'll start with a very irregular piece. It's almost
too hard to saw. Then drill a hole for the tenon between the
head snowball and the hat. Whoops, my jaws weren't tight enough. Let's
try again. Then I'll finish shaping my bowler hat and
finish it off. Now for the real tough part: a nose and some
coals for the mouth. I'll use some walnut here. The first challenge is turning something
that small. The second challenge is actually putting these small pieces into the head snowball.
I started with the coals, drilled tiny holes freehand, and glued them in place with CA
glue. Tiny pieces and CA glue are a tough combination. I wound up with my fingers coated
with CA glue. Since I freehand drilled the mouth holes, my snowman is not smiling but
rather appears uncertain about his future in the coming heat wave. Fortunately, I glued
the mouth first. When things got really mixed up, I was able to remount the head snowball
and sand them back flush with the head. Then I glued on the nose which sticks out.
Sorry Mr. Snowman, the heat is coming. Have some good fun in the snow while you can. He's
ready to join into the challenge. There's still time for more ornaments for the challenge.
No complex rules, just make a video turning an ornament, upload it and let me know to
include it in the playlist. We're having some great fun in this challenge.
Be sure to like this video and subscribe to my website and YouTube channel. Please wear
your face shield when turning. Until next time, this is Alan Stratton from As Wood Turns
dot com.