Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
New Piece to Share
Fred Holder
>I just finished turning this today after about three failures. It is an interesting piece that I call cubes. It isn't a bowl or hollow form, but maybe some of you can appreciate it anyway. I call it "Cubes" because it is sort of one cube inside another all inside a sphere. The cubes are not loose. Wood is elm and African Blackwood. Size is 3-1/4" tall by 2-1/2" wide.
Re: New Piece to Share
Dave MacLuskie
>That's really striking Fred! Care to share how you made it? The more I see these turning/sculptures, the more I'm getting the urge to give these a shot. They always look like magic tricks -- you see it done, but you can't figure it out.
Re: New Piece to Share *LINK*
Fred Holder
>I got the idea from a similar piece pictured in Woodturner magazine. No information, just a picture. That picture had seven steps in it, so it was a much larger ball that I was working with. I normally make Chinese Balls from 2-1/2" balls and had several on hand. I destroyed three before I finally determined the size ratios. For the Forstner drill size that I chose to make the outside hole, the ball should have been 2-1/4" is diameter.
First, I laid out six holes equally spaced on the ball. One hole at each pole and four equally spaced about the equator. At each position, I drilled a 1-1/2" diameter hole 5/16" deep. I then drilled on the same axis a 1-1/8" hole 3/16" deep. The next drill size was 3/4" in diameter and it was drilled 3/16" deep. The final hole was a 3/8" drill and again the hole was drilled 3/16" deep.
I actually drilled all six holes with the 1-1/2" drill, then all six holes with the 1-1/8" drill, etc.
Finally, I drilled 1/4" hole at the center of the triangle of three of the holes. I drilled this 3/16" deep. I turned the African Blackwood base between centers and turned a 1/4" tenon on its top to fit into the 1/4" hole in the ball.
If the ball has been 2-1/4" in diameter, it would have only needed to drill the 1-1/2" hole 3/16" deep. If you wish to make this thing larger by one step, use a 2-5/8" ball and make the iniatial hole 1-1/2"+3/8" or 1-7/8" diameter. Make it 3/16" deep at the point where the drill actually cuts the surface of the sphere. Then use the 1-1/2" drill, and the others on down.
I hope that is clear. If not e-mail me with specific questions and I'll try to answer them
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