Woodcraft of Parkersburg, West Virginia, hosted a Christmas ornament woodturning class. The 7 student class began with safety instruction on the lathes and turning tools, followed by adding the mandrels and live centers to each Delta and Jet lathe. The various style wood blocks were pre-drilled for the 7mm diameter bushing sleeve and glued in place ahead of time with CA Adhesive, by our instructor, Chris Stull.
The 3/4″ cutter and pilot shaft assembly were used to clear out any excess glue and to square the wood blank ends by each of the attending students:
The students observed a practice run, as Chris showed us how to rough out the blanks with a 3/4″ roughing gouge.
The students assembled the blanks to the mandrel, aligned and tightened up the live centers and the chips began to fly…
Once the rough cuts were completed, we proceeded using various scrapers to design individual ideas created by our students. (Speaking of Rough Cut, be sure to check out what Tommy Mac has been up to by checking out his WEBSITE from T-MAC Season 1 tips to How-To Skill Building, he’s got it all going on.) Now back to our ornament class…
The final shapes are complete and we are ready for some sanding, starting with 220 grit paper, working our way up to 600 grit, followed by polishing with HUT Crystal Coat liquid friction finish:
Chris made some assembly blocks for the different diameter styles of the ornaments to protect in the ornament assembly…
Some of the finished ornaments…
A step-by-step process video with Chris Stull:
Check out all the classes offered at your local Woodcraft store as well as the ornament kits, various wood types and all the items that you will need to make your own ornaments for yourself or someone special this holiday season at your local Woodcraft store or on-line.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Woodcraft.
Auf wiedersehen…Frank
