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Help: platter rim design method question

C

Chip Sutherland

Joined
Nov 9, 2005
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Location
Frisco, TX
Tried this on another forum....lots of lookers but no comments.

I am going to do a 3 set of platters in mahogany. Size will be 12-13.5" wide in total. The rim will be 1-2". I want to try a textured rim design and wanted some suggestions. I will have some type of rim/cove detail but for the flat part of the rim, I wanted something interesting to touch. I don't have a chatter tool but I've got some $$ to consider a purchase. I don't have a pyro tool but I have a soldering iron with a standard tip. I don't have any carving knives or gouges but some $$ for a few selected ones. So with no experience in texturing but a big dream what types of texturing have you guys tried. And what technique and/or tool did you use.

I'm going to practice a bunch, too.
 
Tried Inlay?

Chip
Based on your shortage of tools I would try an inlay. Cut a groove with a sharp narrow parting tool. I like a combo of three grooves one wide with two narrow. Fill with a medium grit crushed mineral. Turquise and Malichite look good on mahogany. Drip in thin CA. Leave harden about 20 minutes. Remount on lathe and turn off excess, sand. Check for divots and craters in the inlay, fix with thick CA. Sand and finish. Doesn't achieve your 'feel' but adds design to your rim. You can leave the inlay rough but I have struggled to get it evenly rough.

Also Chater Tool only works in end grain. You may want to look for a texture tool.

I like mahogany plates/bowls and they are easy to turn while on the other hand I find mahogany spindle turning or hollowing difficult.

Frank
 
Do you have a wire brush or a wire wheel you can put on the lathe or in a drill press. You can do a really nice texture with this. They only cost $3 to $5 at the hardware. Practice on some scrap. They leave a different texture when cutting across the grain vs with the grain.
If you have a dremel you can do a ton of different textures.
Try using your soldering iron to make small marks. You can poke it in to make an elongated divot, you can poke it in and drag it back slightly to create a different look. You can make little snowflakes by making about 6 short burns opposite each other. You can create little crosses.
With a standard soldering iron it will be hard to make long lines because it isn't designed to have the even heat distribution and recovery times of professional woodburning tools.
 
the hacksaw blade method

Flatten the end of a hacksaw blade by pounding it with a hammer or squishing it with a vise. Then break off a 1/2" long chunk of the hacksaw blade. Hold the blade firmly in a pair of visegrips. Push it into the spinning wood slowly. Usually if you angle one side of the blade into the wood first it makes it a little easier.

The blade will create ridges and grooves. If you do it right you will have evenly spaced ridges. Do a light sanding on the ridges when you are done to remove minor tearout.

And need I mention that all of the above is done while wearing a faceshield?
 
Texture

Chatterwork wouldn't be the best choice for your project. It is usually done on end grain and works best on woods harder than Mahogany. I like John Lucas idea. Another idea is, if you have a dremel or similar tool, you can do texturing with it. Just grind a bunch of divots. The spacing and depth of the divots and shape of cutter will determine the pattern.
 
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Ornamental Turnery!

Chip---

Be very, very careful. 🙂 You may find yourself looking for a Holtzapfel lathe here pretty soon...

If you need yet more fuel for that fire, check out the Society of Ornamental Turners. I don't know the website, but a google search for them should turn it up.

Good luck,

Henry C. Gernhardt, III
 
Thanks for the replies

I forgot all about my Dremel tool!!!! It is/was my very first power tool I used to work on models as a kid....and I still have it! It is literally 30+ years old but it still worked at least it did a year ago. I've got a bunch of bits to try. The hacksaw blade sounds interesting. All I have are fine metal cutting blades. I wonder if jigsaw blades might work better because they are at least twice as thick as a hacksaw so less subject to flex/chatter.

I didn't really want to buy a chatter tool. Thanks folks.
 
rim design

There's a nice rim treatment on a bowl/platter in the book The Art of the Lathe, but I cannot remember the Lady turner's name.

The rim has turned beads in a central panel. These are bleached white to contrast with the rest of the bowl. I tried a variation on the theme and it sold almost before the bleach was dry!

There is also a technique whereby you cut shallow Vs into the rim, but very close so that areas of breakout occur between cuts. This gives an aged appearance to the piece and works very well. I made a matching pair of plate and vase with this detailing and then applied a dark pattinating wax and they looked great and sold very quickly.

Happy turning and good luck with the pieces

Andy
 
Get inventive

Look around the house or your shop; you'ld be surprised what you can find. I actually used a steel bristle dog comb to get some regular spaced groves in a project. Think safety and use EXTRA CAUTION when expermenting with things NOT meant for the lathe.
 
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