Hello all,

I'm nearly finished with my latest project on the lathe, and figured
it might be interesting enough to share the idea.

For our third anniversary, I wanted to make my wife a jewelry box- but
to be quite honest, I'm tired of regular retangular boxes, and wanted
to try something on the lathe. I had a plank of 5/4 butternut laying
in the shop, and decided to make a segemented turning. She is a big
movie buff, and likes (among other genres) fantasy films with
barbarians and castles, so I decided to go with a castle tower for the
design.

One thing I haven't seen, but thought might be interesting, is a
turning that incorporates slide-out drawers- so I made one.

The basic procedure was to make nine octagonal segemented rings from
the butternut- seven of the same diameter, and two which were larger,
and overlapped the other seven by about 50%. Glued up all the rings
individually, and then glued two sets of two rings together to make
the drawer cases and fronts. After those were dry, I cut along the
joint lines at the first and fourth joints with my bandsaw to separate
the drawer fronts from the cases. (drawer fronts = three segements,
case = 5 segements [it makes sense here to note that the rings were
offset like a regular segmented turning, so the bottom rings had a
couple of segements cut in half]) I then trimmed the height of the
drawer fronts by approximately 1/8", and set them aside. I also
trimmed the inside of the overlapping rings with the bandsaw to leave
a square internal space with 45deg. corners in the back (for the
drawers, as I wasn't going to be hollowing the inside)

Next thing to figure out was the "floor" between each drawer and on
the top. Easy enough to cut octagons and fill in the two larger rings
for the top and bottom and the first and fourth smaller rings in the
stack. So far, so good.

I marked all the rings for easy alignment, and then did the glue-up.
A little mistake here, but not too bad- to keep the drawer fronts on
while turning, I used a shim and two drops of pva glue on the top and
bottom of each drawer front to keep them in place so they could be
turned with the rest of the piece. Not easy to knock out later, as
I'm sure you can imagine.

Stuck a sacrifical block on the bottom, then turned the piece between
centers to near final sanding. Turned a foot for the chuck in the
sacrificial block, mounted the balanced piece, and cleaned up the top-
making a relatively thin wall between the "floor" of the top and the
top edge of the top ring. Used the tool rest and the index to mark
eight archer's slots, and then parted it off. I had to cut the drawers
out with a handsaw (the glue was bonded too well to just knock them
out) and cut out the slots in the top as well.

Some judicious sanding of the inside, and it's time to make the
drawers (my next task- for tomorrow night) Should be fairly simple,
and it's looking pretty good. Only a couple of stupid moments- gluing
the drawer fronts back in the way I did (a couple of small dowels
would sure be easier to cut out) and deciding not to hollow the
interior. You can't see it once the drawers are in, but it's a little
messy- In retrospect, I don't figure it would have been any tougher to
make discs to use as "floors" and fit them in after turning- and it
may have made the drawer fronts easier to remove.

Easier that I thought it'd be, though- and the segemented nature of
the turning makes it look like it's built out of bricks. I didn't see
anything like this with a couple of google searches, so I figured it
must be an uncommon project, and might be fun for someone else to try
out. I know some pics would probably help show the process better,
but we have rotten luck with cameras, and the last two I've had are
dead- hence the long verbal post.

Prometheus said:

I'm nearly finished with my latest project on the lathe, and figured
it might be interesting enough to share the idea.
snip

Sounds like an interesting project, one that I regret not having
thought of first. But you know what they say about one picture and a
thousand words...

Seriously though, I have owned two cheap HP cameras. Both, while not
the most high tech and feature laden, have performed as advertised for
many years. (I've found that the more crap, the faster it breaks.)
One is going on 6 and the other about 3. The oldest was immersed in
water for a while when SHMBO fell into a 4' deep eddy hole carved into
a rock in a California river with it in her pocket. Yea, I know...
I disassembled and dried it out, replaced a cap and repaired an eroded
trace on the flash board, and it is still working 3 years later.

Would like to see it when you get it finished.


Greg G.

Probably could have held the drawers while turning with hot melt glue.
Take some pics while on the project and... good luck!

Prometheus wrote:
Hello all,

I'm nearly finished with my latest project on the lathe, and figured
it might be interesting enough to share the idea.

For our third anniversary, I wanted to make my wife a jewelry box- but
to be quite honest, I'm tired of regular retangular boxes, and wanted
to try something on the lathe. I had a plank of 5/4 butternut laying
in the shop, and decided to make a segemented turning. She is a big
movie buff, and likes (among other genres) fantasy films with
barbarians and castles, so I decided to go with a castle tower for the
design.

One thing I haven't seen, but thought might be interesting, is a
turning that incorporates slide-out drawers- so I made one.

On Sat, 07 Oct 2006 08:02:27 -0400, Greg wrote:

Prometheus said:

I'm nearly finished with my latest project on the lathe, and figured
it might be interesting enough to share the idea.
snip

Sounds like an interesting project, one that I regret not having
thought of first. But you know what they say about one picture and a
thousand words...

Seriously though, I have owned two cheap HP cameras. Both, while not
the most high tech and feature laden, have performed as advertised for
many years. (I've found that the more crap, the faster it breaks.)
One is going on 6 and the other about 3. The oldest was immersed in
water for a while when SHMBO fell into a 4' deep eddy hole carved into
a rock in a California river with it in her pocket. Yea, I know...
I disassembled and dried it out, replaced a cap and repaired an eroded
trace on the flash board, and it is still working 3 years later.

I'll take that under advisement- the last one was a Poloroid, but it
died after two uses. Just wouldn't turn on any longer, and it had
been sitting on the desk for longer than the return period. I might
look at the HPs, though- I just don't want to blow another $100-200
for something that doesn't work.

Would like to see it when you get it finished.


Greg G.

Prometheus said:

On Sat, 07 Oct 2006 08:02:27 -0400, Greg wrote:
Seriously though, I have owned two cheap HP cameras. Both, while not
the most high tech and feature laden, have performed as advertised for
many years. (I've found that the more crap, the faster it breaks.)
...

I'll take that under advisement- the last one was a Poloroid, but it
died after two uses. Just wouldn't turn on any longer, and it had
been sitting on the desk for longer than the return period. I might
look at the HPs, though- I just don't want to blow another $100-200
for something that doesn't work.

I hear ya.
I'm becoming quite the Luddite in my "age of enlightenment."
I've seen far too many camcorders bought as Christmas gifts die
sitting on closet shelves as dozens of SMD electrolytics spew their
chemicals all over the PCB, etching it beyond repair.

I'm of the belief that we no longer buy electronic items, we lease
them for a very short period of time. Then toss them into a landfill
when they die, and stand in line to pony up for a another replacement.

Needless to say, I own little that is "new". I was foolish enough to
believe that WW equipment would be a relief from such nonsense...

And now this - From the VFD manual:
-----
3. If the AC motor drive is stored for more than 3 months, the
temperature should not be higher than 30 °C. Storage longer than one
year is not recommended, it could result in the degradation of the
electrolytic capacitors.
-----

While not exactly a new phenomenon, I have a cabinet full of older
electrolytics from the 80's that are still good. Even when the large
values degrade, careful application of voltage at low currents will
"heal" them. The tiny SMD types are self-destructing within a year or
so - even with a charge stored. Their ESR drops to the point they are
useless, and that assumes they don't leak corrosive liquid over
everything first.

Just Lovely...


Greg G.