Ornament Tutorial Assembly

Get out the super glue and keep your fingers apart at all times!  Lets get this ornament tutorial wrapped up!

As with most things in life, get a plan in place and get to work.  I like to layout my pieces to be assembled in a neat little space.  I have three components here (sorry yall, I already glued the finial and collar together) that need to be married.

I find that starting with the top piece is easiest.  This way, Im not pressing a piece into the globe with a delicate finial in my hand...  No, I havent broken one during assembly.  Oh wait, yes I have and it was because I put the finial on first which then broke when I tried to put the top on...  I do like to make the tennons fit rather snug.  Not "go get a hammer tight", but you get the idea.  I feel that the glue should act as insurance if you will.  Its there if you need it, and you have to pay for it regardless.

For gluing the top, you must be conservative with the glue!  Unless of course you like the way glue running down the side your ornament looks.  Each to his/her own...  I apply glue only to the tennon, depending of the diameter of the collar.  For this ornament, I added the slightest amount around the base of the tennon also.

Here we are with the top glued in.  I had already glued the eyelet into place before putting on the top.  I make these out of spare guitar strings by creating a loop, I then wrap one end around the other so that the eyelet has threads, so to speak.  Put a drop of super glue in the tiny hole in the top and thread the eyelet in.  Done!

Flip er over and repeat the same procedure as above.  Wait at least 10 minutes before you let anyone pick the thing up!  Youve made it this far.  Its ok to be a touch paranoid.  I dont care how pretty she is either.

Ive been using these cutsie hangers that my wife found for a while.  They work really well and Ive gotten a number of complements on them.  

Be sure to send a picture if you make one, and best of luck!  As always, feel free to ask questions or leave feedback.

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Making Ornaments Finishing Up the Globe

Alright, back on track.  Lets get to making the globe for a Christmas Ornament!

There are two ways to approach the design elements of any turning project.  You can either work from a sketch, or sculpt your piece as you work at the lathe.  There have only been a handful of instances when I work from a drawing.  Thats not to say that I dont sketch regularly.  I like to immerse myself in and around good design and art regularly.  This is critical to making something that is pleasing to the eye and has a spirit of its own.  Bad design is thrown into the trash pile in my shop and unfortunately makes for very time consuming firewood.

So, onward to making chips!  Before we got to this point, I mounted the wood onto a glue block.  The glue blocks are made of Poplar and the globe Im making is Bradford Pear. 

For shaping the globe, I mainly use a 3/8 bowl gouge with an Elsworth grind.  While this may sound a bit hippy, I develop the form of the globe by hearing what shape the piece wants to be.  I work towards a pleasing shape and visualize a center line around equator of the globe.  If I want a symmetrical piece, I establish the "equator" and begin to mimic the right half (farther from the headstock) to the left half (closer to the headstock).  Once I get the shape established, I shear scrape the surface with the wing of the gouge and sand the piece appropriately.  I generally start around 220 grit and work up to 600 grit before starting with Scotch Brite.  I finish sanding with the white Scotch Brite and then burnish the surface with shavings from the piece.  Before I start hollowing, I apply a coat of paste wax to the surface and buff again.  The last step before hollowing the globe is to drill out the center with a 3/8" drill.  Reduce the lathe speed and smoothly advance the drill through the globe.

After making our entrance hole, we can begin hollowing the globe.  I use the 45° hollowing tool to start off with.  Since the only reason to hollow an ornament is to make it lighter, Im not too concerned about the interior surface finish.  Unfortunately, the 3/8" hole I normally use is too small to maneuver the tool adequately.  Ill either need to make a smaller tool (dont worry, I will) or open up the hole.  For the time being, I go ahead and enlarge the hole so that I can effectively use the tool.  I alternate between the 45° and 90° tools to clear out the bulk of material in the globe. 

Apparently, I got just a bit too aggressive with this piece and it popped off the glue block.  You can see that the opening of the globe was damaged when this happened.  Now I have to figure out how to finish the globe...  Dont worry, I know what to do!

Little did I know Id also be giving a lesson on jam chucks in this tutorial.  I cant over emphasis the importance of being able to make a jam chuck.  Being able to make these will be a huge aid and could even get you out of a uhhhh...gulp...detour you didnt think youd be taking.

Since I had already drilled my 3/8" hole through the globe, I used a jam chuck I had previously made for this size.  My first step after mounting the jam chuck into my scroll chuck was to press the globe onto the tennon of the jam chuck.  I then cleaned up the opening that was damaged when the globe decided to free itself from the glue block.  Once that was finished I made a new jam chuck to fit the opening I just worked on.

Here are the steps I took to make this jam chuck:

• I left the glue block I was using in the scroll chuck and turned a tennon larger in diameter than the opening in the globe.
• I form the tennon with a tapper on it with the smaller diameter farther away from the headstock.
• With the lathe off I check the fit of the tennon.  If the globe just barely fits onto the tennon, then I have a great starting point.  Turn the lathe on and firmly hold the globe against the tennon.  You will see a polished section develop on the tennon.  This is the exact ID of the opening in the globe.
• With the reference point established, reduce the rest of the tennon just shy of this diameter and check your fit once more.
• If the globe just snugs up against the large face of your jam chuck, then youre done.  If the tennon is still too big, then take off just a little more material and check again until a very snug fit is achieved. 

I like to "back up" a piece on a jam chuck with the tailstock when I can.  This just gives an extra measure of insurance to keep your piece from flying off the lathe...again.  

If I had to work without the tailstock, I would use high quality masking tape to secure the globe to the glue block.  You secure a piece in this manner by laying multiple strips across the work piece, finished with a strip laying across the tag ends.

As you can see, I mimic the profile to create a symmetrical globe.  Light cuts are a must when working on a jam chuck.  A heavy cut will easily result in the piece grabbing and spinning on the jam chuck.  This can also cause your piece to not run true.

Here we are, all finished up in about twice the time it should have taken.  Maybe Ill be more careful next time!  This globe has been sanded and finished.  Now its just waiting for finials and a hanger!

As always, please feel free to comment or ask questions.  If you have made or make an ornament, send me a picture.  Id love to see how it turned out!

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