# Globe Christmas Ornaments



## trc65 (Dec 4, 2022)

These are some quick and relatively easy ornaments to make, and the best part is you can use plain wood and decorate them how you please.

I'm posting this not because the process is difficult, but rather as something I can refer to in the future if/when I forget to write the process down for myself.  

These are made from 2" square stock 4" long. Since I was making 20 plus of them, these were batch cut to size and roughed to round with a tenon. That way when I had a few minutes I could grab a blank and finish turn one in a few minutes.

Since these were square cut on the table saw, just chuck these up square, rough them round and cut a 3/4" tenon on one end.





I use the small tenon for chucking in a collet chuck. I prefer the collet chuck as it gives me more room to work on small projects and is safer to use when your hands are in all kinds of positions when cutting finials and other details.





Always use the tailstock for support which allows you to make aggressive cuts when rough shaping.





Switch to a spindle gouge for final shaping of the body and sand.





At this point, you could add texture, grooves to define colored areas, or any other feature you like. These are all going to have a "basket weave" design, so I'm cutting 1/8" beads.

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## trc65 (Dec 4, 2022)

Next I'm using trammel points to draw a repeating design on the ornament. My lathe has 24 index stops on the spindle lock, so that makes it easy. This particular design needs opposite arcs so I'm drawing them from both sides of the bed.





Here you can see all the lines drawn.





Next, start working on the little finial. At this point you could also part of the excess and bore a mortise if you plan to make a separate finial.





While working on these little finials, I've found a negative rake scraper works well for final shaping.





Next, start working on your top finial or knob and then part off the ornament.

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## trc65 (Dec 4, 2022)

To finish the top and for sanding, I switch to a piece of PVC that is about the interior diameter of the ornament. The sides have slits cut in them to allow some flex with slightly larger diameter pieces.









The beads register very well on the edges, so no need to fiddle with centering it. Although I didn't with these, you can use hose clamps to get a better hold, particularly if you need to do much more than sanding. You can also bring the tail stock up for more support.

Sand and shape as needed and it's ready for embellishments. In my case it will be burning and coloring.





Here are a few that have already been decorated.





A couple of notes, you don't need a collet chuck to do these, you could do them just as easily with any small jaws you might have or just leave the square end chucked up in larger jaws.

I would highly recommend though that you make your own set of PVC collet "jaws" to use, they come in handy on a variety of small projects. The jaws don't even need to be PVC, I've got several I've made from wood in a variety of sizes.

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## Peter White (Dec 4, 2022)

Very helpful tips. Thankyou

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## T. Ben (Dec 4, 2022)

Very cool,thanks tim.

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## Nature Man (Dec 4, 2022)

Excellent tutorial! Regarding the trammel points, how specifically are they used? I understand the concept, but not the application. Did you hand paint the colors on? That’s a tedious job, it would seem. Chuck

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## JonathanH (Dec 4, 2022)

Great tutorial and beautiful ornaments, Tim!

Documenting the steps with pictures and details is a huge plus for those new to the turning community.

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## trc65 (Dec 4, 2022)

Nature Man said:


> Excellent tutorial! Regarding the trammel points, how specifically are they used? I understand the concept, but not the application. Did you hand paint the colors on? That’s a tedious job, it would seem. Chuck


That's really a poor picture that I showed for the trammel points. I'll shoot some more this afternoon to better show how they are used. Really it's just a compass that uses a small piece of wood to hold the points and set the distance. I put a piece of wood in the tool rest that acts as the pivot point for the compass. By moving the tool rest around you change the shape of the arc that is drawn.


After turning, I use a burning tip to add the vertical "bead" lines. There is no burning between the rows, that's just shadows you see. For coloring I use Copic original ink markers with a superfine tip. I shape the superfine tip with sanding to create a flat spear point so that I can color individual beads without it bleeding into adjacent beads.

On these ornaments it's been taking me 45 to 90 minutes to burn and color each one.

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## William Tanner (Dec 4, 2022)

Thanks Tim. Your tutorial serves as a real motivator. Might try one tomorrow if my back allows.

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## larry C (Dec 4, 2022)

Really interesting process, a good way to make some "quick" last minute gifts!

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## Jonkou (Dec 4, 2022)

Nicely done Tim, hadn’t seen a trammel used in that way before.

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## trc65 (Dec 4, 2022)

@barry richardson gets credit for giving me the idea using the trammel/beam Compass. He showed using it to draw the arcs on his carved hollow form. It really opens up a lot of design possibilities.

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## Maverick (Dec 4, 2022)

Nicely done Tim. Bookmarking for future use.

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## trc65 (Dec 4, 2022)

Nature Man said:


> Excellent tutorial! Regarding the trammel points, how specifically are they used? I understand the concept, but not the application. Did you hand paint the colors on? That’s a tedious job, it would seem. Chuck


Chuck, here are a couple pictures that hopefully show the use a little better.

First I turned a piece of wood to fit in the tool rest to act as a pivot point. 





Here are the two points mounted on a "beam". Really it's just a compass using a piece of wood to set the radius of the arc. Pivot on the metal point and draw with the other.





In use, just play around with the position of the tool rest and the distance between points to get the arc you want to draw. You could also just use a simple compass to draw the arcs as long as it locks well enough to hold the points at a fixed distance.





Here is a short video.






- YouTube


Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.




youtube.com





The real utility of the beam compass is using a very long piece of wood to hold the points and draw arcs on for furniture, doorways, etc. I bought these for drawing arcs on a bookcase I made several years ago. I think that radius was several feet in length.

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## Gdurfey (Dec 4, 2022)

trc65 said:


> That's really a poor picture that I showed for the trammel points. I'll shoot some more this afternoon to better show how they are used. Really it's just a compass that uses a small piece of wood to hold the points and set the distance. I put a piece of wood in the tool rest that acts as the pivot point for the compass. By moving the tool rest around you change the shape of the arc that is drawn.
> 
> 
> After turning, I use a burning tip to add the vertical "bead" lines. There is no burning between the rows, that's just shadows you see. For coloring I use Copic original ink markers with a superfine tip. I shape the superfine tip with sanding to create a flat spear point so that I can color individual beads without it bleeding into adjacent beads.
> ...


Tim, I just watched a Carl Jacobson video and he swears by a different pen for coloring wood. Forgotten name, I will try to go back and get it. It is unrelated to the video he did, his latest on doin Christmas Trees from firewood; it was towards the end and he was doing a question and answer session and someone asked him about colori a basket weave project he had done.

Just wanted to give you info……not saying Copic is wrong, just thought of you and others when I saw him refer to these other markers.

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## Gdurfey (Dec 4, 2022)

By the way, thanks for the tutorial and the beam compass. I remember Barry talking about the travel points. Now I get it. Not that he didn’t explain it well, it just takes me a while!!!

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## trc65 (Dec 4, 2022)

Gdurfey said:


> Tim, I just watched a Carl Jacobson video and he swears by a different pen for coloring wood. Forgotten name, I will try to go back and get it. It is unrelated to the video he did, his latest on doin Christmas Trees from firewood; it was towards the end and he was doing a question and answer session and someone asked him about colori a basket weave project he had done.
> 
> Just wanted to give you info……not saying Copic is wrong, just thought of you and others when I saw him refer to these other markers.


Be curious to know what he is using if you can find it. My guess he is using Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pens. It seems that most are using either those or the Copic.

Never tried the Faber Castell, but I think @Steve in VA uses those??

I picked the Copic as those are what Bill Boehm (on the AAW Forum) was using and recommended for his basket illusion pieces. For me, I chose them for three reasons. 1. They are refillable so you aren't buying more pens. 2. They have replaceable very fine nibs that you can shape to suit your needs and color all the way down the side of a bead without coloring adjacent beads, and 3. They are dual ended with a large tip on one end that can be used when coloring multiple adjacent beads.

I don't know that one is better than the other, I picked the Copic as Bill had been using them for several years and liked their performance for that use.

The one downside is this model of Copic pens (Copic Original) is not carried in most hobby stores. This doesn't matter much to me as Dick Blick carries them, and their headquarters (and retail store) is only 15 miles away. 

Nevertheless, I've always planned on picking up some Faber Castell pens to try, just never got around to it.

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## trc65 (Dec 5, 2022)

A couple more pictures for those who might be interested. 

Here is the tip I use to burn the beads. 1/8" diameter.





And here is an ornament that has the lines burned and pencil lines erased, ready for coloring.





Finally a picture of the marker tip. Hard to see it's so small, but I use sandpaper to shape the tip from cylindrical to more of a spear point or chisel point to color down the sides of the beads.

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## William Tanner (Dec 5, 2022)

trc65 said:


> A couple more pictures for those who might be interested.
> 
> Here is the tip I use to burn the beads. 1/8" diameter.
> 
> ...


Not seen a burn tip like that before but never looked for one until now.

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## trc65 (Dec 5, 2022)

That tip is the one made specifically for the D Way cutters by PJL Enterprises. http://www.carvertools.com/

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## William Tanner (Dec 5, 2022)

Thanks Tim, I think I need one of those tips. Just recently got the set of beading tools from a deceased buddy’s tool sale. I also came away with these Copic markers. They didn’t sell and I was asked if I wanted them. I said no and the gent heading up the sale said to just take them. Turns out I do need them.

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## Gdurfey (Dec 5, 2022)

trc65 said:


> Be curious to know what he is using if you can find it. My guess he is using Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pens. It seems that most are using either those or the Copic.
> 
> Never tried the Faber Castell, but I think @Steve in VA uses those??
> 
> ...


Yes, Faber Castell, he showed the package but I had trouble getting it to focus on my tablet. I had a few Copics for another, non-woodworking project so I could see the similarities in his description. Just thought of you and Steve, should have tagged him as well, so will now: @Steve in VA .

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