Every once in a while it is fun to do a project that is a little out there. The AAW Invited me to participate in the Maple Medley Exhibition in 2010. I pictured a vessel as fluid as maple syrup. To do it required accurately drilling holes in the segments before assembly. The 18-4 plate was used but only 13 of the strips were included in the final assembly. The piece only had 2 internal rings to hold it together and that was not sufficient. It did not survive shipment.
You must have a plan. I took the output from Woodturner Studio and drew a full sized plan. The vessel was to have a ribbon like effect and laying it out exact was the only way.
Each segment was drilled to match the plan. If glued up precicely, turning into the holes will give a very fluid shape. Without the holes, you are turning blind and accuracy cannot be achieved.
The Seg-Easy plate is CNC machined and precisely places the segments in their proper locations. The drilled holes must be exact in the glue-up for this to work.
A rubber band retains the large segments in the plate.
As layers are placed, temporary shims cut at 4 degrees are placed between the segments. They will be cut out later. The shims give the tarball enough strength for turning.
I let the glue dry for an hour or so and sanded each layer flat.
As you can see we are extending beyond the limits of the plate and are doing whatever it takes to get a good glue joint. The Seg-Easy plate still maintains the correct location for each segment.
We proceed with each secessive layer.
I added an MDF block and started turning.
As you can see below, a shape line was added on one set of segments. By following the line as closely as possible guaranteed entry into the drilled holes accurately.
The holes ended up where they were supposed to be.
Not bad.
Making the neck of the vessel presented a great design opportunity.
BOOM!
This looks better anyway.
We now cut out the individual strips.
You can see the line lead us into the holes fairly well and the Seg-Easy plate did it's job placing the segments accurately.
Most of the inside is trimmed away with the bandsaw. A simple jig maintained support at the right angle.
Each strip is numbered right away. The top of the vessel is asymetrical and each strip is different.
The inside of the strips are to be convex and are carved and sanded.
Painting was accomplished with an airbrush and brushes.
Assembly on the internal rings took time and temporary jigs. We made 18 strips and only used 13. This enabled a better look at the wavy line the strips made.