# Celtic Knot



## kweinert (Mar 1, 2012)

I'm sure that most of you already know how to do this, but it's so much fun to show it to people that don't know how it works and let them try to sort it out.

This is the 2nd one I've done. It's much better than the first but still needs some work.

For this one I wanted to create a Celtic Knot in a bottle stopper. The main wood is Mulberry and I don't know what the filler wood is as it came from my box of random cutoffs. I think I'll be posting up pictures in another thread to try to identify it as I had a bunch of it in there.

[attachment=2371]

The basic premise is that you cut 45 degree slots in the main wood and glue in the filler. If I'd actually been able to use slots it would have turned out closer to perfect. Since my ability to control either the width of the slot or the thickness of the filler was limited, I ended up cutting all the way through. This had a couple of side effects, ones i'll point out later.

This is the first cut and glue:

[attachment=2372]

After that dried, I trimmed the excess board to the size of the blank. Then the blank was turned 180 degrees and the next 45 angle was cut in. By turning the blank 180 degrees this second cut will cross the first one at a right angle.

[attachment=2373]

This is then repeated on the two uncut sides and you'll end up with a blank that looks similar to this one:

[attachment=2374]

I created one issue by cutting all the way through: one of the joints doesn't match up as perfectly as it should. It might not be real apparent in this photo, but it'll be very clear in the finished knot. The other issue that's not real visible here is that by using a palm sander to try to reduce the thickness to fit the slot left by the table saw blade I ended up with an inconsistent thickness along the length of the board. This is more significant that might come to mind at first.

Turned bottle stopper:

[attachment=2375]

You can see the mismatch from the joint slipping towards the upper right. You can also see that the thickness of the embedded pieces don't seem to be consistent.

Using a slot instead of cutting all the way through would eliminate the slipping issue. If you do have to cut all the way through, throw in an extra processing step that will help you out - smooth the sides of the main wood. The ones I have are sort of rough cut and that increases the difficulty of ensuring everything lines up like it should.

So, I don't consider this to be a sellable piece, but I learned from it and the next one will be better.


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## BassBlaster (Mar 1, 2012)

Looks good!!!

Ive been playing around with celtic knots as well just on a bit smaller scale. At first I was using my bandsaw so I didnt have to cut all the way through the blank but I didnt like the knots I was getting. I was limited to the thickness of the bandsaw blade and it was too thin for my likeing. I then started playing around with my chop saw which has a thin kerf blade. It gave me better results but is just a tad much for a pen. I also agree that glue up is a nightmare when you cut all the way through the blank. I'm working on a glue up jig that will keep everything nicely aligned and stop the slippage. When I have one that works, I'll post it so you can use it your self.

Heres my latest celtic knot. Its only the second one I made that didnt find its way to the trash can. I think the thickness is a bit much for a pen but it sold and I'm getting requests for more...

http://i964.Rule #2/albums/ae127/BassBlaster29/Pen15.jpg


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## DKMD (Mar 1, 2012)

Thanks for tjhe tutorial! Looks like the inlay wood you used is wenge… Pretty stuff!


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## JMC (Mar 1, 2012)

Nice peice and thanks for the info.


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## CodyS (Mar 2, 2012)

Very nice! Thanks for that.


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## jfoh5914 (Mar 13, 2012)

If you do not cut all the way through the wood you do not get the slippage. Just leave a thin strip. Make your insert the same thickness as your saw blade kerf. I make it about .005-.010 thicker to give me a little extra to sand down to a perfect fit so the glue line does not show. 

Another trick that I do is drill the center X point and insert a dowel. It can be a contrasting or matching dowel color to the main blank. You can do this in the same size as the insert wood or larger as a accent. The larger dowel will hide small imperfections if you cut through and have slippage.


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## kweinert (Mar 13, 2012)

jfoh5914 said:


> If you do not cut all the way through the wood you do not get the slippage. Just leave a thin strip. Make your insert the same thickness as your saw blade kerf. I make it about .005-.010 thicker to give me a little extra to sand down to a perfect fit so the glue line does not show.
> 
> Another trick that I do is drill the center X point and insert a dowel. It can be a contrasting or matching dowel color to the main blank. You can do this in the same size as the insert wood or larger as a accent. The larger dowel will hide small imperfections if you cut through and have slippage.



Both good ideas. At the time I did this I didn't have all my tools available so I ended up cutting through because I couldn't cut the filler to the size of the kerf. Now, of course, I know that was a problem all in itself :)

I appreciate the advice. That's one of the _*great*_ things about this site - everyone is willing to help and to pass along the things they've learned.


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## MikeMeredith (Jun 3, 2012)

kweinert said:


> I'm sure that most of you already know how to do this, but it's so much fun to show it to people that don't know how it works and let them try to sort it out.
> 
> This is the 2nd one I've done. It's much better than the first but still needs some work.
> 
> ...


I made a jig for my chop saw. With the blade set at 45 degrees to position the jig, it is clamped to the saw. The box has a 1 inch internal diameter and all blanks are cut to 1 inch using a standard block. I also have on fro 3/4 and 1.5 inch blanks for stoppers. the hole in the end is for a screw insert to position the blank. Make the cut, remove the parts and glue in the insert. I make 3/16 inch inserts for my 3/16 inch blade so the length never changes. to glue the insert, clamp it into the clamping stock (in all dimensions) and hold in place till the Titeboand 1 dries. If the insert is oversized, sand it down before making the second cut. And so on till all four inserts are glued in. I make about 5 blanks at a time. When the last one is cut the first on is ready for the second cut. Pretty much bullet-proof process.


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## MikeMeredith (Jun 3, 2012)

MikeMeredith said:


> kweinert said:
> 
> 
> > I'm sure that most of you already know how to do this, but it's so much fun to show it to people that don't know how it works and let them try to sort it out.
> ...


The only one i had to take a picture of was the first one I made, Big Leaf Maple with Rosewood.  Terrible picture but you get the idea.


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## Mr.Hunt (Jun 3, 2012)

pretty cool. deff. wenge!


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