How can I duplicate candle holders etc.

Thanks
Keith

Keith:

Far easier and faster than expensive lathe duplicators and profile gauges
are the techniques used by turners for hundreds of years to turn out near
duplicates of chair and table legs, candlesticks and the like by the
thousands.

The key here is *near* duplicates, not *exact* duplicates, although you can
turn "exact" copies to any degree of precision you want. The legs of a
handmade chair, or two candlesticks or the pieces of a chess set, are never
exactly the same, but your eyes want them to be, so you see them as exact
duplicates. Go into an antique store some day and really measure the legs
of an old Windsor chair and marvel at the differences in those "identical"
legs. If you can, find a really old one whose legs are oval (they were
turned from green wood in 12 minutes or less each, and there is NO glue in
those still-tight joints) and not even round.

To duplicate your candlesticks easily, measure the locations of the elements
along the length, then mark them on a "story stick" that you can hold up to
a spinning blank and transfer the measurements quickly. If you are making
hundreds of the candle holders, instead of marking the story stick, actually
notch the edge to accommodate the point of a pencil, or place small brads at
the element transitions to make their places and simply press the stick into
the spinning blank. For the pieces to look identical, the location of the
elements along the length is FAR more important than diameters or the exact
shapes between the elements.

Measure the diameters of important points along the candle stick (widest
dimension, diameters above and below beads, deepest points of coves, etc)
and part the blank at those locations to those depths (or slightly shallower
as needed to allow for finishing cuts or sanding). Turn the bulk of the
candle holder between these points by eye, using the master candlestick only
as a reference pattern. Locating the elements and parting the important
points to diameter should take about as long as mounting the blank between
centers.

Using these techniques, I have many times turned sets of "identical" table
legs (some patterns in batches of 48 for a friend's business), chair legs, a
set of 150 balusters, Christmas ornaments, candlesticks, etc... certainly as
identical as anything to come out of an expensive lathe duplicator, and with
almost no set-up time.

For more ideas and photos, see Conover's Lathe Book and Raffin's Turning
Wood.

Michael Latcha - at home in Redford, MI