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Oak newel cap acorns

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Oak newel cap acorns

Postby Mike G » 30 Dec 2021, 11:08

For the sheer novelty factor of posting in the turning sub-forum, here are some oak acorns I turned in the last few days:

Image

They're 100mm in diameter, and about 240mm tall, finished with 2 or 3 coats of thinned Danish oil. We've found that the water-based lacquer we used on the stairs isn't great on the handrail.............it goes a bit sticky with oils from your skin. So I thought I'd try Danish oil instead, despite the slight colour difference. There was one abandoned acorn, due to a bad knot, and two mock-ups without the dowel/ tenon, to work out the dimensions & proportions. The one with the big tenon is going to be cut in half to plant against the wall, and as you can't drill half a hole I will cut some sort of square tenon and do some chiseling in the post.
Believe it or not, each one took half a day to make.

They're all the same size and shape, but the tenon lengths vary.....hence the impression in the photos that they are somewhat different sizes.

Image
Last edited by Mike G on 30 Dec 2021, 11:21, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Oak newel cap acorns

Postby Dalboy » 30 Dec 2021, 11:20

For someone that does flat pack :twisted: :lol: :lol: :lol: you have done a great job as for the time it takes that is just a case of practice and you will be able to complete these all in one day.
Also a great job on getting them nearly all the same
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Re: Oak newel cap acorns

Postby Andyp » 30 Dec 2021, 11:20

Mike they are nice, very nice. How did you do the criss cross pattern?

the dog looks pleased with those too.
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Re: Oak newel cap acorns

Postby Mike G » 30 Dec 2021, 11:25

Dalboy wrote:For someone that does flat pack :twisted: :lol: :lol: :lol: you have done a great job as for the time it takes that is just a case of practice and you will be able to complete these all in one day.
Also a great job on getting them nearly all the same


Thanks Derek. The carving takes an hour plus, so I doubt I'd ever be able to do 4 in a day.

I made a template, so getting them all the same was straightforward. I had to ease the shoulder in of one of them as one of the newel posts was a few mm undersized.
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Re: Oak newel cap acorns

Postby Malc2098 » 30 Dec 2021, 11:26

Nice.
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Re: Oak newel cap acorns

Postby Mike G » 30 Dec 2021, 11:26

Andyp wrote:Mike they are nice, very nice. How did you do the criss cross pattern?....


It's just carved with a V tool.........mallet and chisel in the old fashioned way. Marking out was a task, though, and then it took a long time to work out a way of holding the work whilst carving.
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Re: Oak newel cap acorns

Postby Mike G » 30 Dec 2021, 11:37

Here's the little marking thing I had to make:

Image

Image

Obviously, there is a second one for the reverse angle cuts.

This is the template:

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And this is a close up of the carving. It doesn't have to be perfect to be pretty effective:

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Re: Oak newel cap acorns

Postby Andyp » 30 Dec 2021, 11:41

Brilliant, and as you say, very effective.
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Re: Oak newel cap acorns

Postby Peri » 30 Dec 2021, 11:49

I'm impressed :) :text-bravo:
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Re: Oak newel cap acorns

Postby StevieB » 30 Dec 2021, 12:03

Very nice. As someone who has never used a lathe, and knowing your *ahem* reluctance to do so, can I ask whether you have experience of lathe work and just don't like it, or did you come at this as a complete beginner?
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Re: Oak newel cap acorns

Postby TrimTheKing » 30 Dec 2021, 12:08

Very nice Mike. I’ve got 3 more to do to finish my daughters bed, that she’s been sleeping in for the past 7 years…
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Re: Oak newel cap acorns

Postby Woodbloke » 30 Dec 2021, 12:14

Nice Mike; your pal made a good job of them :lol: - Rob
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Re: Oak newel cap acorns

Postby Mike G » 30 Dec 2021, 12:20

StevieB wrote:Very nice. As someone who has never used a lathe, and knowing your *ahem* reluctance to do so, can I ask whether you have experience of lathe work and just don't like it, or did you come at this as a complete beginner?


I've turned half a dozen things in my life, I guess, mainly spindles. I've used friends' lathes once or twice, and did a bowl on a lathe at school 50 years ago. So, I'm pretty much a complete beginner. However, it is just wood and a sharp edge. It's much the same sort of principle as any other woodworking with handtools. I probably scrape more than I should, but I'll work things out over time.

I've got a spindle gouge coming, so things should get a little easier then. I've just got a roughing gouge, a skew, and a couple of mortice chisels I use as parting tools for setting the depths.
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Re: Oak newel cap acorns

Postby StevieB » 30 Dec 2021, 12:32

Thanks for that, much appreciated. A lathe is way down my 'want' list but never drops off the bottom - gives me some confidence I would be able to get something out of it if it ever makes it to the top!
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Re: Oak newel cap acorns

Postby Blackswanwood » 30 Dec 2021, 13:10

They are superb.
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Re: Oak newel cap acorns

Postby Mike G » 30 Dec 2021, 13:19

Thanks Robert. I was more thinking "adequate", though. :)
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Re: Oak newel cap acorns

Postby PAC1 » 30 Dec 2021, 13:27

Excellent.
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Re: Oak newel cap acorns

Postby Rezi » 30 Dec 2021, 16:22

Great job Mike, welcome to the wild and wacky world of turning. :eusa-shifty:
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Re: Oak newel cap acorns

Postby Dalboy » 30 Dec 2021, 20:31

Mike G wrote:
Dalboy wrote:For someone that does flat pack :twisted: :lol: :lol: :lol: you have done a great job as for the time it takes that is just a case of practice and you will be able to complete these all in one day.
Also a great job on getting them nearly all the same


Thanks Derek. The carving takes an hour plus, so I doubt I'd ever be able to do 4 in a day.

I made a template, so getting them all the same was straightforward. I had to ease the shoulder in of one of them as one of the newel posts was a few mm undersized.


Templates certainly help I like the little marking gauge you used for the cross hatch pattern that certainly made life a lot easier.
I must confess I forgot about the carving time so that could be cut down to maybe two a day :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Re: Oak newel cap acorns

Postby CHJ » 30 Dec 2021, 21:04

Great work Mike, excellent compliment to your staircase.
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Re: Oak newel cap acorns

Postby Lons » 30 Dec 2021, 21:05

Great work Mike those have come out really well. :eusa-clap:
Carving can often be done on a piece while still on the lathe, especially if the headstock has an indexing locking pin. It solves some of the holding issues. another way where there's a tenon like on yours is a bit of thick scrap with a hole the correct size and a sawcut so it can be pinched in a vice and easily angled or turned for access. You probably did something like that already.
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Re: Oak newel cap acorns

Postby Mike G » 30 Dec 2021, 21:07

CHJ wrote:Great work Mike, excellent compliment to your staircase.


Thanks Chas.
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Re: Oak newel cap acorns

Postby Mike G » 30 Dec 2021, 21:12

Lons wrote:.....Carving can often be done on a piece while still on the lathe......


A bit too risky for me when tapping with a big mallet. I'd worry about the bearings, and the face-plate. Besides, I turned the top end down to the mearest remnant nipple, and that wouldn't have withstood any of the hammering. Academic anyway, as I can't lock my headstock and the work would have been sontantly turning away from my gouge.

I ended up trapping it cross-ways between the wide-open jaws of my vice, with an anti-slip mat at the acorn end, and a piece at the other end of the jaw to prevent racking. It had to be lying down, as I discovered when I tried doing exactly what you suggested with a hole trapping it vertically in the vice. I just couldn't get the angle I needed to carve.
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Re: Oak newel cap acorns

Postby kirkpoore1 » 30 Dec 2021, 21:22

I like 'em! Did you finish off the turning with sandpaper, or just the skew? I like using the skew, but I have to be really careful about snags.

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Re: Oak newel cap acorns

Postby Mike G » 30 Dec 2021, 21:25

Mainly the skew, but a bit of sanding too. Bear in mind that I formed those curves below the acorn cup with the point of a skew (I don't have a spindle gouge yet), so they inevitably needed a little cleaning up.
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