Can you believe it, tomorrow is Christmas. Where did the year go?!?

 

This past week, Ron Altier posted an "inside out" Christmas ornament. He used a burning technique that raised a question about the process. I am sure there are as many ways to do this as there are turners. Here is my setup-

 

 

Eventually the wire will break so easy replacement is necessary

 

 

The wire came from Lowe's

 

 

 

I usually use the skew chisel to create a slight indentation. This helps guide the wire and keeps it where I want it. With the lathe spinning, place the wire in the pre-cut groove and pull it against the spinning work piece. Apply enough pressure to cause the friction to heat the wire and blacken the groove. It will smoke a little.

 

 

DO NOT WRAP THE WIRE AROUND YOUR FINGERS OR HAND! The wire gets hot! Or, if it catches, the results could be catastrophic.

 

 

The other week, we discussed the Longworth chuck. Here's a video of an alternative reverse chucking method. It's called a doughnut chuck-

 

 

 

And, as we have often mentioned here, most of us have that love/hate relationship with the skew chisel. I found two videos on the skew. The first shows the basic cuts. The second has a nice little project made entirely with the skew chisel.

 

 

and the project-

 

 

 

 

Not sure why the second video won't play here.

 

Well, everyone have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

 

Safe Turning

Always nice to  see a good clean local boy working on his very own garotte for Christmass.

A good Garotte is a necessary part of any  growing boy's personal kit.

 

Sneak up behind the school hall monitor and ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

Imagine having that on the back seat of your car and having to explain it to a policeman?

 

 

I used to keep a  double bitted axe in my VW hatchback.  One night a local police officer had stopped me - - out of boredom I suppose - - and when he saw the axe laying right there in the open he thought he had caught himself a serial axe murderer.

We grew up in a different time, didn't we! I made one of these and used it in speech class in the early 1960's-

 

We learned all about cannons and gun powder from the World Book Encyclopedia. Tried all sorts of rockets and anything that would go BOOM!

 

one thing to add is that different diameter wires will provide wider or narrower lines

Thanks, John! You are absolutely right!

Great post as always Lew!!

I usually burn mine twice. once before final sanding and then again after to clean out the burn. a quick touch with 600 grit will clean up the edges without erasing the burn.

I usually burn mine twice. once before final sanding and then again after to clean out the burn. a quick touch with 600 grit will clean up the edges without erasing the burn.

That's a great idea, John! Thanks, I really appreciate this type of input. I'm so isolated here, I get tunnel vision.