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Turn the
spindle The spindle is held to the base with a 5/8”-Dia. x 1/2”
long tenon. The next step is to turn this tenon on the headstock end of
the spindle. Begin by laying out the length of the tenon. Set a pair of
calipers for the desired diameter, plus just a hair more. I like to “sneak
up” on the final dimension— I get more accuracy this way.
The tenon should fit snugly in the mortise, but not too snug to make gluing
impossible. I like to drill a hole equal to the diameter of the tenon
in a piece of scrap stock and continually check the fit until I am satisfied.
A sharp parting tool works best to turn the tenon.
Most “first-time” turners have a difficult time making this
joint and achieving a snug fit with no gap. Usually what happens is that
they inadvertently turn a bulge in the base of the stock close to the
tenon which prevents the joint from closing tightly. If you undercut the
joint ever so slightly, you eliminate this problem and get a nice tight
joint.
Begin to lay out all the transition lines on the spindle with the exception
of the one for the depth of the deep cove and full bead adjacent to it—you
will do these later. Sometimes unnecessary lines make the turnings more
confusing then they actually are.
If you study the full size pattern (located in Full Size Pattern Section
No. 2), you will discover that this turning, with the exception of one
shallow and one deep cove, is really just a series of half-beads. Since
the shallow cove is flanked by two of these half-beads, I started with
the cove first. I used a sharp roundnose tool to turn this profile about
3/16” deep.
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The half-beads are turned with a sharp
spindle gouge. Note that I scored the centerline prior to turning
the bead. This helps to prevent the wood adjacent to the cut from
splintering as it so often does when you don’t do this.. |
All
the halfbeads are turned. The profile of the deep cove was turned with
a sharp roundnose tool.
Note that the transition lines are not removed
entirely by the turning process. Sharp edges are important especially
after the sanding process is completed. At this point I step back away
from the turning and examine the profile with a critical eye to see if
all the beads are symmetrical and round and to see if there are any “lumps”
or “bumps” that should be removed in order to make the turning
flow together.
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