Turning Two Part Ornaments

Here are attempts at the two part ornaments. I learned these from Larry Hasiak and Bobby Clemons. They are stacked in the order I made them. The first one I left unfinished because I didn't leave enough room to turn the top and screwed it up. I also didn't like the shape.

I turned the next one out of a really green elm limb to see what would happen. It did check very slightly in the thicker part of the bottom which isn't hollow. This is a worse case scenario being green and with the heart in. I believe if you leave the heart out and hollow out the ball portion pretty good you will probably be okay. Bobby Clemons cuts up the scrap left over from cutting bowl blanks and lets them season a few months in the shop. Then he cuts the checks off the ends and turns them.

The rest were turned from wood that's been in my shop for about a year. It's still green but pretty seasoned. The walnut pieces were from a log that has been down a year. It is too checked for bowls but worked great for this. I like carving the little tail on the bottom. The last one on the right has a curly cue kind of tail. I think I'm going to do one that has more curl.

These are fast to turn. I'm a little slow at them because I'm new to this style but I was able to turn them in about 20 minutes or so minus the carving time on the walnut ones. Here are the steps I followed:

1. Mount between centers and turn a tenon on the bottom of the ornament.

   I use a parting tool to do this. Make the shoulders square so the shoulder rides on the top of the chuck. This reduces vibration and makes it hold better.

2. Mount in chuck. Pull up tailstock and turn tenon on the top of the ornament.

   I use a parting tool for this.

3. Rough shape the ornament ball.

   I use either a spindle gouge or skew depending on shape. Draw a line parallel to the lathe bed. This will help you align the grain after gluing the ornament back together.

4. Part through the ornament ball at an angle rather than straight through.

   I use a homemade thin parting tool made from a keyhole saw. This makes re-gluing easier. Its like placing a cone inside another cone.

5. Hollow out the bottom of the ornament ball.

   I use a bowl gouge for this but a round nose scraper would work.

6. Remove the bottom and place the top in the chuck.

   Hollow out the top of the ornament ball.

7. Glue them together. Be careful to align the marks.

   I use medium CA glue and accelerator.

8. Finish turn the ornament.

   I use the spindle gouge. You may have to support the backside of the finial with your fingers to reduce vibration.

9. Disguise the glue joint.

   I use the tip of the skew to make tiny V cuts. You might want to burn the grooves with a wire. Dont wrap the wire around your fingers.

10. Sand and apply finish.

    I bribe my son into sanding. I use earring fobs for the hanger. You can also use Bait saver fish hooks. Cut the curve part off and use the straight shank of the fish hook.