Wood Turning the Ball and Icicle Christmas Ornament
Intermediate/Advanced Woodturning Project (1)
| Christmas ornaments have long been around as a combination of ball and icicle. Generally they have been made of plastic or glass but the wood turner has another opportunity to make use of the natural beauty of wood. For this to work as an ornament, it must be light and well designed for beauty. Many woods are heavy by their nature, certainly heavy enough to bear down a fir branch. Hence it is necessary to hollow the ball. |
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Most turners who make this type of ornament start with a square of wood about 1 1/4" square and 7" long. I find this wasteful of wood and prefer to start with a 2" square of wood 7" long. Please note that this changes if you use a 3" square of exotic wood. This can be cut for 4 ornament blanks or, if you follow the text here,
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| At the bandsaw, cut down the two lines on one side, keeping to the waste wood on the outside of the line. |
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| Rotate the wood 90° and cut the other side. |
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| Now cut off the waste wood with a cut from the side. |
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| Cut the waste from the other side. |
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© 2006 copyright Darrell Feltmate, Around the Woods, Wood Turning Techniques