# Christmas Tree Multi Axis



## trc65 (Dec 11, 2020)

First off, credit goes to @Tony as the one he made for the challenge is what prompted me to make my forest. If he, or @William Tanner have any comments or suggestions, please chime in.

I didn't have enough good pictures when I made my forest, so went out this afternoon to make one more and document the process better.

I started with a blank somewhere around 2" diameter, about long enough to look proportional for a tree. Didn't measure anything, just grabbed a bunch of spindle blanks from about 1.5 -2". 

Mark centers on both ends and on the headstock end draw a circle and then mark three centers on the circle about 120° apart. I didn't measure them, just eye balled them. Although I used a compass to draw the circle, could just as easy draw it by hand.





Mount it on center, round it and then shape it to a tree shape. I used a stab center to turn these. Leave plenty of room on the tail stock side to complete the tree. Also leave plenty of room on the head stock side for a tree trunk and a little base if you want one. I don't round over the head stock side until later. The reason for that is to prevent me from rounding it too close to the off center axis points (which I did on the first couple I tried). 

After you have the shape you want, draw some lines in multiples of three. I don't measure these either, just eyeball it. On some of the trees that were about 6" tall I used as many as 15, on short trees, as few as 9.





Some tutorials I saw recommended using different colored sharpies for every third line to help keep your place while turning, but I didn't think it was that hard to keep track. On first off axis, cut one lines 1,4,7; second axis is line 2,5,8, etc....

Mount on one of the off center axis points and crank the speed up if you haven't already. *Dont forget to move the toolrest when you go off center*! I turned these at 3000 rpm or more. The speed helps see the lines and, helps with cleaner cuts when you are turning air.





The other thing that helps to see what you are doing is to have a overhead light shining down on the front side. 

I guess I didn't mention it earlier, but you are changing axis points only on the head stock. The piece remains on center on tail stock side.

This picture shows the piece at speed. The lines are still easy to see at high speed.





Now start making you grooves. IMO a skew is the ideal tool for this. Long point down and just a couple of plunge cuts and groove is done. If you've never used a skew before, or are nervous about using it, this is the perfect project to try it out.

If you don't have a skew, a spindle gouge works just fine, although I felt I got a cleaner cut with the skew. 

Make your cuts on the first axis, then move to the second and then third axis. I made the cuts deep enough so that they would overlap just a little bit around the tree.





Although these cuts look pretty deep, remember you are going to re turn the tree after painting to remove paint and lines, so don't make them too shallow or they will disappear.

Now it's time to paint the grooves. I used cheap acrylic paint from the big box store. Neatness in painting does nothing but slow you down, so be as sloppy as you want, you will turn it off later anyway. 

I didn't paint this one, took the paints in the house the other day to keep them from freezing, and was too lazy to walk back to the house and get them.

Continued in next post so I don't run out of room for pics.

Reactions: Like 2


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## trc65 (Dec 11, 2020)

Forgot to mention, if you find the grooves aren't as deep as you'd like them after cutting on all three axis points, just remount and cut them a little deeper.

Oops, got a little bit out of order. After cutting grooves, remount it back on center, and partially cut the trunk and base, and then cut a tenon so you can mount it in a Chuck later. Then paint the grooves.

It's just a matter of work flow, if you are doing a bunch of them, it is faster to turn everything, including the tenon, then paint them off the lathe. The reason is you are switching from turning between centers to turning with a chuck after the paint dries.

On the ones I made, used very short trunks, so used a thin parting tool to shape trunk, base and tenon.





Since I wasn't painting this one, I went ahead and turned off the lines before turning the tenon.

Put it in a chuck, turn off the paint and lines and finish shaping the top of the tree. I also used a skew for this, leaves such a clean surface you dont usually need to sand.





Sand if you need to, then finish shaping the trunk and the base. Undercut the base so it will stand without wobbling. And part it off. That's a collect chuck I used for this one, because it just came in the mail and I wanted to try it out. One the others I made, used standard chuck with small jaws and a 1" tenon.





After parting off, clean up the nub with a chisel, and you are done!





Not a bad look without paint! 

I gave the others a coat of lacquer to seal everything and make them easier to dust as needed.

Hope this is clear to everyone, and be sure to ask if you have questions.

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Way Cool 1 | Informative 1


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## Tony (Dec 11, 2020)

Great tutorial Tim! A couple things that were helpful for me:

When I made the off center marks on the headstock side I numbered them. That way, when I had to go back and make the grooves deeper I knew which center to use. If you are a carbide tool user, a diamond point cutter works really well instead of a skew. I finished mine with Pens Plus, worked pretty good.

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## ripjack13 (Dec 11, 2020)

Nicely done sir.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## William Tanner (Dec 11, 2020)

Great job on the tutorial Tim. The only thing I did different was to cut the tenon right after turning the cylinder and marking axis A, B and C. Really doesn’t make any difference other than I’m using a tiny bit more wood. Going to turn two more straightaway with trunk and base then at least one without. Again, good job Tim and thanks for getting us going Tony.

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## Nature Man (Dec 12, 2020)

Very helpful! Thanks for taking the time to write this up! Chuck

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## duncsuss (Dec 12, 2020)

Excellent, thank you!

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