I posted earlier I was going to make a French knitter, or knitting nancy for the Feb. demo for our club. I've often said, no one learns more during a demo than the person doing the demo. I've also often said, I will make every mistake possible before I figure something out. This project is a good example of both of those statements.

Since it's still winter and kind of the holidays I thought about making one in a kind of snow man shape. Grabbed a piece of spalted birch and turned this one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was basically happy with it but it occurred to me I could make a snowman(or snowlady) shape and hide the pins and pic under the hat. Tried to do a couple with the spalted birch but it was too punky to get a good fit between the hat  and the tenon. I also felt it was important to get a good grain match so the whole thing would look like just one piece.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since the spalted wood was too punky I grabbed a piece of hard maple. Parted off a piece for the lid and drilled to accept a tenon. Naturally I forgot it would have to be drilled deeper to make room for the pins and pic. Of course, I noticed this about 2 seconds after parting it off so I couldn't fix it. Since it's important to me to match the grain and hide the joint I grabbed a whole new piece of wood to start over.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, so now I've made a new snowman and have the hat drilled deep enough to work. Grain matches nicely and it's a nice friction fit. Plenty of clearance for the pins and the pic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Made the pic, fits nicely under the hat and it's nice snug fit  in the center hole of the snowman. Too snug actually, can't really grasp the pic to remove it easily.

Decide I'm going to put a little step on the next one so it won't go in so far and will be easier to remove. Great idea, except I left the top to big around to fit between the pins. Back to the lathe, last one works but is too sloppy and will rattle when it's under the lid. Enough for today, back to the lathe in morning and incorporate all the little nuances to maybe make one that will be just right. All of these little details that I'm figuring out will become part of the demo. It's a simple little turning but I've learned a lot already.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

17 minutes ago, Steve Krumanaker said:

I grabbed a whole new piece of wood to start over.

I'm never smart enough to od that. I'll spend hours trying to see how I can fix my mistakes. Almost always, I would have been better off just starting over.

I thought I was the only one to do stuff like that.  You made my day.

Mistakes or not, I like them all especially V1.0, the spalted birch one. It is a clever idea to hide the pins under the hat though.

Look at the bright side...you'll have several visual aids to pass around during the demo.

4 hours ago, HandyDan said:

I thought I was the only one to do stuff like that.  You made my day.

mine too...

Great ideas here and like Lew and Dan I just try to fix the mistake instead of starting over.

Steve, I believe your club demo will go well. You will be prepared. I am new to turning and I have a question for you. What are the pins for?

Don, they hold the yarn which forms a loop around them. Here's a little video that shows what they do.

 

 

Thanks for your reply, Steve.