The Woodworker & Woodturner – August 2019

TURNING

62 The Woodworker & Good Woodworking August 2019 http://www.getwoodworking.com

The Engineer’s Workshop – candlesticks

rubbing the abrasive up and down the grain
to remove any sanding marks.
The next job is to wipe away any dust and
seal the timber with sanding sealer, which,
once dry, can be flattened with ‘0000’ wire wool.
Finally, apply a good coat of polish and buff to
a sheen. If you’re making a pair of candlesticks,
it’s far better to make both of the bases at the
same time while it’s all fresh in your mind.

... & wenge capping
The base is capped top and bottom with wenge
discs, and providing the timber is flat on one side,
you can mount it straight onto the lathe with hot
glue so that you won’t be left with any chuck or
screw holes.
Turning wenge can be very dusty so it’s
advisable to use an extractor, especially when
sanding. Moreover, this timber is hard and a
touch brittle, and requires careful turning.

The gouge that you see me using to turn the

bottom disc is a 9mm bowl gouge; I was careful

to refresh the edge frequently as wenge soon

takes the edge off a tool.

The next step is to turn the disc to the finished

diameter then remove the tailstock and face

it up. You can now turn the slight taper on the

edge, using an adjustable square to transfer

the angle to the next disc.

Turn the recess for the large spigot with a

6mm parting tool. You’re aiming for a good push

fit, remember; once you’ve achieved that, stop

turning and don’t sand it! Instead, sand the parts

of the disc that will show and apply sanding

sealer. Again, when dry rub it back with ‘0000’

wire wool before applying a coat of polish –

dark polish if you have it – before removing

the disc from the lathe.

The cap for the top of the base is turned in

the same way except that it’s turned around

and put onto a jam chuck – a piece of scrap wood

with a spigot turned on it to fit the recess in the

disc. Do the necessary turning, and then drop

the speed down so that you can drill a hole for

the spigot on the column.

To do this, fix a Forstner bit into a Jacobs chuck

in the tailstock, then wind the tailstock in slowly

and drill all the way through the disc. Sand and

seal the wenge, then remove it from the jam

chuck. The base is assembled with a little PVA

glue on each of the capping pieces, lining up

their grain with the base, and then clamping

all three pieces together.

The column

The column is turned in paduak, and is made

up of two main parts and two wenge rings;

the spigot that fixes the column to the base

is turned separately.

Starting with the long section, you need

3 Saw the finished block in half and check them over

to make sure the joints are tight

9 Use the parting tool to turn the recess, keeping

a close eye on the depth

6 ... and check the taper with a steel rule

2 ... which should be clamped together as tightly

as possible

8 Check the angle on the disc then transfer it to the

second disc

5 Turn the taper, taking light finishing cuts to achieve

a good finish...

1 The base is made up from blocks of paduak
and veneer...

7 Hot glue the wenge disc onto a scrap piece of wood
and turn the taper

4 Mount the block between centres; true it up then
turn the large spigot on both ends