an ornamental turned box

These are soooooo cool.... how do you do these????? I think I like this one the best!! Good job on it!

Jonathon

Hello Jonathon. Thanks for the kind words, and thanks for checking it out. I built a rose engine lathe, and these are 2 out of 3 of my first boxes I've turned on this lathe (the third one isn't very good). Ornamental turning is a fantastic and intriguing area of woodturning.
Henry

I like the one with the cuts on the inside top of the lid. They all look neat. Looks like your newly designed lathe is working well!

Thanks Jeff. I posted this on WOW and the response was really positive. As I keep working on my ornamental turning, I intend on posting in this forum as well.
Henry

Henry,

Your piece is fantastic. I read on WOW that you admire Dale Chases work, I really admire it as well. Can you please provide information on how you built your own Rose Engine lathe?

Chris,
I got all my information from the internet. Based on what I've learned online, I made my own design. I believe I made some improvements, but I don't think I've done any thing completly origional. I have no qualms about sharing info, and directing any interested parties in the right direction. Here's a page of links with 2 home made ornamental lathes:

http://www.laymar-crafts.co.uk/links.htm

Here's my thread on WOW which tracks my progress on my project (it is a private website and you must be a member to access this page):

http://www.myfamily.com/isapi.dll?c=content&htx=view&siteid=G6kOAI&contentid=ZZZZZILV&contentclass=NEWS

You can learn alot about ornamental turning just by viewing other people's work. Dale Chase is a big influence. Here's a link to James Harris's site (he's another big influence):

http://www.ornamentalturner.com/

Here's a link to Del Mano gallery, and an exhibit of Dale Chase's work:

http://www.delmano.com/exhibitions/2005/featuredArtists/ChaseMD/artistsWork_01.htmon


I've also gotten tips and advice from other established artists like: Gorst Duplessis (another WOW link):

http://www.myfamily.com/isapi.dll?c=Content&htx=List&SiteID=G6kOAI&ContentClass=PICT&CategoryID=698

As well, I've been *speaking* with John Lea, Randy Rhine, Dave Arnold, Dave Reasons, and some other fellows who have built and/or restored ornamental lathes (hope I haven't forgotten anybody). There are a handful of turners who understand this unique craft, and I've been trying to keep up to date with their advancements. Bouncing ideas off mechanically inclined people also helps. I have many friends who are engineers and a fellow named Max Kennedy (a WOW member) came over last week and I found some of his ideas to be helpful as well.

In a nutshell, if somebody REALLY wants to build their own lathe, the information is availiable. I'm hoping somebody might REALLY want to hire me to write a magazine article or do a demo someday......

One quick note: I started my project on March 9th 2006, and I'm already making stuff with it. Currently, things are on hold because I'm making an indexed eccentric chuck for my lathe. This chuck will allow me to set and lock the work eccentricly. I will also be able to rotate and lock the work in divisions of 96, 72, and 60 (these numbers cover any increments I would want to use for ornamental turning).

Thanks for looking, and I hope there isn't a big problem with all the links on this site!
Henry