http://www.getwoodworking.com September 2019 The Woodworker & Good Woodworking 81
9 The relationship between the stem and base
is very important and will make the whole thing
look balanced. There will be a small fillet on the
stem, which needs to be the same diameter as
the circle on the base8 Once the base is sanded, mount up the spindle
blank, which is 90mm long × 40mm square. Make
the whole thing round and cut an accurate 25mm
spigot on the bottom5 I’d normally attach a piece of baize to the bottom,
but in this case I decided to leave it as plain wood,
which will allow the whole thing to be cleaned after
it’s been used. Therefore, the bottom needs to be
sanded to a fine finish2 First, mount the base, which is 135mm diameter
and 30mm thick, on a short screw chuck and true
it up using a bowl gouge. Working towards the left
means any breakout of the grain will be removed
when shaping the top6 After remounting the recess in the chuck, drill a
25mm hole to accept the stem. A sawtooth machine
bit will cut a clean hole when mounted in the tailstock
chuck on the lathe3 A recess is fine for small pieces such as this base.
Transfer the diameter of the jaws to the bottom using
a pair of dividers, ensuring only the left-hand point
touches the wood7 The majority of the shaping can be carried out
using a bowl gouge, but having the toolrest close
to the work means I can use my preferred tool.
I find that the signature spindle gouge often gives
a cleaner cut
4 After removing the bulk of the waste with a gouge,
clean up the recess using a skew as a scraper. I’ve
ground this tool at an acute angle, which allows
me to fit into this tight spot
1 This project requires a surprising amount of timber.
I decided to go with oak and padauk, which will give
an interesting contrast of colours to the finished piece