Hey all. I'm Guy, from Phillipsburg, MO (4 miles from the Candy store if you drive through on I-44). I've been turning for about 6 years. More pens than anything else, but some bowls and what not. I joined up here because I was starting work on a chess set and figured to need some help. I have a little cheap mini-latge and a Grizzly 16x42 variable speed. Here's a smattering of my stuff.
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Guy Caley
- Thread starter Guy Caley
- Start date
Welcome to the forums Guy!
Hello Guy. I hope you find this forum helpful - I sure do! No end to the creativity and expertise out there.
I've carved some chess pieces and thought of turning them (maybe some day).
Are you looking for "traditional" chessmen or something way out there?
I know there are books available, I have this one:
Hey, ain't nutt'n wrong with turning on a cheap mini lathe; that plus the grizzly seems like a great combo.
It's nice to see someone else making conductors batons. I've been making them for some time, wood handles and shafts.
I got started on them when a girl I knew when teaching kindergarten called and asked if I could make one she could give to her fiancé as a graduation present. I said "sure" although I'd never made one! Since then I've made a bunch - I find it sometimes tricky to get the balance point right. (and different conductors sometimes want different balance points, length, and weight!) I mostly use exotic woods for the handle and often holly for the shaft.
JKJ
I've carved some chess pieces and thought of turning them (maybe some day).
Are you looking for "traditional" chessmen or something way out there?
I know there are books available, I have this one:
Hey, ain't nutt'n wrong with turning on a cheap mini lathe; that plus the grizzly seems like a great combo.
It's nice to see someone else making conductors batons. I've been making them for some time, wood handles and shafts.
I got started on them when a girl I knew when teaching kindergarten called and asked if I could make one she could give to her fiancé as a graduation present. I said "sure" although I'd never made one! Since then I've made a bunch - I find it sometimes tricky to get the balance point right. (and different conductors sometimes want different balance points, length, and weight!) I mostly use exotic woods for the handle and often holly for the shaft.
JKJ
Attachments
Yeah, I just got that book. My first set is going to be traditional Staunton. But I hope to make a Russian style set someday.
The conductor buttons are fun and pretty easy. I bought a bunch of 1/8" fiberglass rods for the shafts and taper the ends by chucking them in a drill and using a disc sander and then polish by using higher grits in my hand. My girls and I did a bunch for all the band directors in the school district, mainly those ones you see in acrylic of the school colors. After the first concert one of the conductors sought me out to say he had spent literally hundreds of dollars in a baton quest and finally found what he was looking for in one of those acrylic batons. Makes you feel good. I've made some in the Holy Land olive as well.
I know a lot of commercial batons are made with fiberglass rods. I've never tried those but using wood has worked for me.
Someday I hope to write a detailed document on these. If interested, I did put a few words about turning the batons in the document I posted here on about turning thin spindles (Appendix 3, page 25):
I do pass a copy of my own scribbled notes to people who express an interest. I turn the shaft a bit oversized then after gluing it into the handle, shape the handle end of the shaft to blend with the handle shape and thin the rest of the shaft as the spirit moves me.
You're right, it is so satisfying when someone really appreciates one! The last one I made was for a friend's sister, directing a big Easter choral concert. It was a complete surprise.
JKJ
Welcome to the forum. That inlayed collar looks real nice.