Hello All,

I did a demonstration of making the Chinese Ball at the Seattle Chapter of AAW
recently. The demonstration went beautifully until the last cut, when one of the
wooden plugs that I had put in more than a week earlier came loose and hit the
tool. It was a spectacular finish to a good demonstration. One of the audience
e-mailed me the next day suggesting plugs made of wax. I made up a mold and cast
a bunch of plugs out of paraffin wax and some from candle wax. They work great
and hold everything in place well while turning, but they are difficult to get
out and often have to be dug out little by little. I used these wax plugs for
the demonstration a week later at the South Puget Sound Chapter of AAW and
everything went well. Does anyone know of any other material that can be easily
cast, that would cut when your cutter hits it, but could be easily removed when
the ball is completed? I know that epoxy might work, however, it also might be a
bit brittle.

I have another demonstration coming up the end of this month and then one at the
Utah Woodturning Symposium in June and would like to be able to easily remove
the plugs at the end of the demonstration to show how the ball all fall apart. I
have normally moistened the wooden plugs when turning a Chinese Ball in my shop
with no problem, but a one hour demonstration is not enough time to do the
entire Chinese Ball so for demonstrations I normally do 9 or 10 of the 12 holes
ahead of time and only cut two or three during the demonstration. The plugs dry
out in the holes done ahead of time. The wax plugs fit so perfectly that they do
not require moisture to help hold the plugs in place.

I hope I've properly described the problem, can someone give some suggestions?

Fred Holder
http://www.fholder.com


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Fred Holder wrote:
Hello All,

I did a demonstration of making the Chinese Ball at the Seattle Chapter of AAW
recently. The demonstration went beautifully until the last cut, when one of the
wooden plugs that I had put in more than a week earlier came loose and hit the
tool. It was a spectacular finish to a good demonstration. One of the audience
e-mailed me the next day suggesting plugs made of wax. I made up a mold and cast
a bunch of plugs out of paraffin wax and some from candle wax. They work great
and hold everything in place well while turning, but they are difficult to get
out and often have to be dug out little by little. I used these wax plugs for
the demonstration a week later at the South Puget Sound Chapter of AAW and
everything went well. Does anyone know of any other material that can be easily
cast, that would cut when your cutter hits it, but could be easily removed when
the ball is completed? I know that epoxy might work, however, it also might be a
bit brittle.

I have another demonstration coming up the end of this month and then one at the
Utah Woodturning Symposium in June and would like to be able to easily remove
the plugs at the end of the demonstration to show how the ball all fall apart. I
have normally moistened the wooden plugs when turning a Chinese Ball in my shop
with no problem, but a one hour demonstration is not enough time to do the
entire Chinese Ball so for demonstrations I normally do 9 or 10 of the 12 holes
ahead of time and only cut two or three during the demonstration. The plugs dry
out in the holes done ahead of time. The wax plugs fit so perfectly that they do
not require moisture to help hold the plugs in place.

I hope I've properly described the problem, can someone give some suggestions?

Fred Holder
http://www.fholder.com


Fred
Try a harder wax like carnauba or sealing wax.
Don

Fred:

I use 5 minute epoxy for everything. Staying away from the normal
channels, I have found a great source at (Hooby Town?) a local hobby
store that is about 1/3 the price of my normal woodworking channels.
And by the way, it is literally 1/3 for anyone else reading this.

I would try that, or along that line, maybe something like beeswax. It
is not as brittle as carnuba, but harder than parrafin and not as
susceptible to temperature change. Seems like that would be easy
enough to remove at demo time. Online there are tons of suppliers of
the stuff.

Robert

One more thing Fred if carnauba is to hard you can cut it with bees wax,
might make a good finish too.
Don

Fred Holder wrote:

Hello All,

I did a demonstration of making the Chinese Ball at the Seattle Chapter of AAW
recently. The demonstration went beautifully until the last cut, when one of the
wooden plugs that I had put in more than a week earlier came loose and hit the
tool. It was a spectacular finish to a good demonstration. One of the audience
e-mailed me the next day suggesting plugs made of wax. I made up a mold and cast
a bunch of plugs out of paraffin wax and some from candle wax. They work great
and hold everything in place well while turning, but they are difficult to get
out and often have to be dug out little by little. I used these wax plugs for
the demonstration a week later at the South Puget Sound Chapter of AAW and
everything went well. Does anyone know of any other material that can be easily
cast, that would cut when your cutter hits it, but could be easily removed when
the ball is completed? I know that epoxy might work, however, it also might be a
bit brittle.

I have another demonstration coming up the end of this month and then one at the
Utah Woodturning Symposium in June and would like to be able to easily remove
the plugs at the end of the demonstration to show how the ball all fall apart. I
have normally moistened the wooden plugs when turning a Chinese Ball in my shop
with no problem, but a one hour demonstration is not enough time to do the
entire Chinese Ball so for demonstrations I normally do 9 or 10 of the 12 holes
ahead of time and only cut two or three during the demonstration. The plugs dry
out in the holes done ahead of time. The wax plugs fit so perfectly that they do
not require moisture to help hold the plugs in place.

I hope I've properly described the problem, can someone give some suggestions?

Fred Holder
http://www.fholder.com

Hi Fred

Would you be able to use cork ??, or is the surrounding web to week for
the pressure ??

Just a thought.

Have fun and take care
Leo Van Der Loo

Fred, I'm not at all sure of the problem, but I'll suggest the spray
foam sealant used to seal gaps around door & window frames and plumbing.
It does expand, but it drys hard enough to be carved and it bonds to
most materials. I've used it to support a tail center inside very thin
goblets. I don't know any safe solvent and when cured it must be
scraped off.

I've never turned a Chinese Ball so If I totally missed the problem,
enjoy a good laugh on me.


Turn to Safety, Arch
Fortiter



http://community.webtv.net/almcc/MacsMusings

Fred,

I hope I've properly described the problem, can someone give some suggestions?

Wouldn't it be just as easy to drill a small hole on the outside surface
of each plug? Then when you want to remove it, screw a small screw eye
into the hole and use that to get a firm grip on the plug.

BTW, I've watched David Springett's video and congratulate you on having
the patience to make one of those Chinese balls!

Harry

if the parafin your using works for everything but is hard to take out
couldnt you melt it out by putting the ball in boiling water for a
couple of seconds. or if that makes a mess of melted wax, try the
opposite harden the wax in the freezer and then try to take it out like
u would a normal wooden plug.
~Bezalel

Thanks Guys for the tips. I think I've got some Bees Wax somewhere. I'll give it
a try and then maybe follow up with some of the other thoughts. As far as
drilling a hole and inserting a screw eye to remove the plug, that is what I do
with the wood plugs and it sometimes works on the wax plugs, but sometimes does
not. Freezing didn't help, I already tried that. Since there are 12 plugs to
remove, boiling would make a real mess. I may try the epoxy also.

In any case, I'll report back when I come up with something that works better
than wood or the wax I've been trying.

Fred Holder
http://www.fholder.com

In article , Fred Holder says...

Hello All,

I did a demonstration of making the Chinese Ball at the Seattle Chapter of AAW
recently. The demonstration went beautifully until the last cut, when one of the
wooden plugs that I had put in more than a week earlier came loose and hit the
tool. It was a spectacular finish to a good demonstration. One of the audience
e-mailed me the next day suggesting plugs made of wax. I made up a mold and cast
a bunch of plugs out of paraffin wax and some from candle wax. They work great
and hold everything in place well while turning, but they are difficult to get
out and often have to be dug out little by little. I used these wax plugs for
the demonstration a week later at the South Puget Sound Chapter of AAW and
everything went well. Does anyone know of any other material that can be easily
cast, that would cut when your cutter hits it, but could be easily removed when


the ball is completed? I know that epoxy might work, however, it also might be a
bit brittle.

I have another demonstration coming up the end of this month and then one at the
Utah Woodturning Symposium in June and would like to be able to easily remove
the plugs at the end of the demonstration to show how the ball all fall apart. I
have normally moistened the wooden plugs when turning a Chinese Ball in my shop
with no problem, but a one hour demonstration is not enough time to do the
entire Chinese Ball so for demonstrations I normally do 9 or 10 of the 12 holes
ahead of time and only cut two or three during the demonstration. The plugs dry
out in the holes done ahead of time. The wax plugs fit so perfectly that they do
not require moisture to help hold the plugs in place.

I hope I've properly described the problem, can someone give some suggestions?

Fred Holder
http://www.fholder.com




--
NewsGuy.Com 30Gb $9.95 Carry Forward and On Demand Bandwidth

You might check with Alpha Supply at www.alpha-supply.com
they are a jewelry supply house and they have hard carving wax for casting.
that might be what you need. It is quite hard but carves with regular
tools.

Brian

Hi Fred. I'm not sure how firm or how large the plug has to be, but how
about one of the soft artificial fishing baits that feel like firm jelly?
Cut it to the needed shape and jam it in. You could first put a piece of
thread through one end with a needle to aide in removal, or a small screw
would likely grab it firmly enough to pull it out.

"Fred Holder" wrote in message
...
Hello All,

You might check with Alpha Supply at www.alpha-supply.com
they are a jewelry supply house and they have hard carving wax for casting.
that might be what you need. It is quite hard but carves with regular
tools.

Brian, IMO that's the best advice I've seen. Even more so since Alpha
is such a short drive away

There is also a hard maching wax available. It is used by CNC operators to test
a program. I think Freeman Supply has it.

Dan

"Dan Bollinger" wrote in message
m...
You might check with Alpha Supply at www.alpha-supply.com
they are a jewelry supply house and they have hard carving wax for
casting.
that might be what you need. It is quite hard but carves with regular
tools.

Brian, IMO that's the best advice I've seen. Even more so since Alpha
is such a short drive away

There is also a hard maching wax available. It is used by CNC operators to
test a program. I think Freeman Supply has it.

Dan

I believe Grizzly carries it too, it was in their latest mini catalog.

Jr

On 8 May 2006 07:53:40 -0700, Fred Holder
wrote:


I hope I've properly described the problem, can someone give some suggestions?

I'm not sure at all if this would work for you, but it'd be cheap and
easy to test...

I've done a fair amount of tile work while renovating houses, and I've
always liked the even consistancy of the dried grout that is left in
the bucket. Just messing around with it, I've carved things out of
it, and it cuts very cleanly. It also chips out very quickly with
little residue- but there is the chance that the portland cement could
damage or bleach the wood. It certainly does a number on your skin if
not rinsed off quickly enough when wet.

It might be worth a shot. A little carton of grout is fairly cheap
and will plug a lot of holes. The old "test on scrap" rule applies,
of course.