So the design is decided, then the big job of making up the blanks..these are monsters. I won’t go into the milling, glue up and squaring the sides, save that for another project and post. It is too bad that wood couldn’t be had in the dimensions needed, I am not a big fan of laminated turnings. Because they are so big, 7 inches in diameter I can’t use my mitre or table saw to square the ends..I could make 4 crosscut passes through the table saw but the center where it has to be flat would still be rough, have to cut through the center inch and a half by hand, they are so freakin’ heavy, I would not be able to push them through easily or safely, a sliding table would make it easier but I would lose even more height from the saw blade…I have GREAT respect for a 3 hp saw…therefore I did some trickery. I cut off as neatly as I could, the ends on the bandsaw..with a little help from another set of muscles.

I put a couple of guides squarely on the posts, put a false bottom of plexiglass on the router to give it some width and flattened a space to put on my face plate..though it is being turned between centers, I was afraid the drive spur might not hold it if I ran into trouble. This is a little work but turned out great. I marked the center and drew a circle to position the plate. oh yes, if it wasn’t square and flat on the bottom of the face plate with the blank being 54 inches long I would be in trouble with the shoulders of the base.

Now with the help of my husband it is mounted on the lathe and ready to go ..almost.

There are marks on a stick to give me the vertical measurements needed so each blank will be the same…I have to be sure to have the base and the top shoulders & flat that the stair rail joins to exactly where the plans say…… And I use a knife to cut the shoulder for the base in case during roughing out it splinters…once the wood is gone there ‘ain’t’ no going back. The vertical measurements are very important, the eye will pick up a variance in those before any in the diameters. Weird, I know.

So then the slow process of ‘roughing out’ , my lathe is heavy, about 950 lbs. , I have changed the belt position to give me more torque, allowing for the weight and changed the braking to long..start slowly and it is well centered, not any shake at all..Yahoo!!  One thing about turning wood, you cannot mind getting dirty…I spend the better part of my life covered in wood chips or sanding dust..oh wait…. throw in the ‘odd’ dog or cat hair… A  total mess most days..sigh… I hesitated to put these photos that Paul took in this post..but …..whatever, it is what it is.

After the blank is round I start to put the profiles in….I start with the largest diameters putting them closest to the tail rest…up near the drive I won’t get too much shudder when the narrowest cuts are made….I am using a spindle gouge to make the vase & cup profiles..will touch up with the skew. I am somewhat unorthodox when it comes to this…mostly I have taught my self..so don’t take my way as the best…it just works for me.

I will turn all 5 roughly then put them back on to sand..if something were to go terribly wrong and I ended up with a smaller measurement somehow, there is the opportunity to clean them all up to the same measurements when they are remounted to sand….

PLUS I have to cut hexagons on the base & handrail space..

I will do that with them mounted on the lathe using a jig and my ‘beloved’ router because my lathe has an indexing system to give me a lock up at what ever degree space I choose…that is for another day, another post. Maybe I will do a shop clean up and surprise you all !!

Hoping everyone has a wonderful remainder to the weekend..Enjoy the crisp January air. It was beautiful today in PEI.

Smiles, Brenda