Here is my Woodturning!
by Marshall Knox
Roanoke, VA
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Spectra Ply Box
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Note: Click any picture to see a larger version.
I started woodworking when I was about 13, working in a screened porch on a picnic
table. I have been a woodworker ever since. I have a love of old tools. My shop is a hybrid
mixture of antique tools and modern machinery. I purchased my first lathe when I was 27. It
was a Craftsman Lathe as well as chisels, which I still have and use. My current lathe is a Delta Midi.
Since I retired I spend a lot of time in my workshop located in my garage in Roanoke, Virginia. I
enjoy working on my lathe, making a variety of things in my shop, and restoring/repairing old
furniture. My shop operates under the name Unique Pens N Woodwork. Pinterest and Etsy are
wonderful sources for ideas. I have turned a variety of items including ornaments, bowls, a lot
of pens and essentially anything that I like that I can make on a lathe. I have recently begun to
turn missing parts for furniture that I am repairing or restoring.
I enjoy talking to people about woodworking. When the opportunity arises, I enjoy teaching
people how to use the antique tools in my shop.
The pen below was made from Bethlehem Olive Wood. I used a
Kreg Router Table
with a 1/16th inch upcut router bit to cut the grooves for the cross inlay. These were cut
approximately 3/16 of an inch deep while the blank was still square. The cross inlay was made
by re-sawing a piece of Holly into a piece of veneer that I then cut into a strip and fitted into the
grooves. I cut the upright part of the cross and inlaid the Holly, then cut the horizontal part of
the cross and inlaid the Holly. That insured that the inlay had no gaps. Hot hide glue was used
to secure the holly inlay in place. Once the glue had completely cured, I carefully leveled the
Holly inlay with the surface of the blank using a Paring Chisel. The pen was turned using a 7mm
Slimline Pen Kit
. I shaped the blank by eye, feeling for a shape that felt pleasing in my hand.
The color was obtained by using a honey amber
Transtint Dye
. I applied the dye full strength
using a paper towel followed by a paper towel saturated with denatured alcohol to even and
tone the color. The top coat was a
CA Glue
seal, which I applied while the lathe was turning.
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This is a pen I turned from live wood. I inlaid a cross using
holly. I finished it with a transtint dye and sealed it with
CA glue.
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I made the pen box below from African Mahogany. I started by sawing the blank the full thickness of the
box plus an allowance for planing and sawing the box into 2 sections after cutting the grooves
for the pen. I went back to the router table to cut the grooves using a ¾ inch core box bit,
making several passes to reach the full depth of the finished groove. The box was then sawn in
half, and the edges beveled to allow space for the box to pivot on the hinges to open. The
hinges were made using the same wood, glued to the bottom of the box. A pilot hole was
drilled in the lower rear of the top edge of the hinge to allow a small pin to be inserted. The
cross on the top of the box was made from a piece of Holly veneer. I used a scroll saw to cut
the shape. I attached it to the top of the box with hot hide glue and used a wood burning chisel
to letter the cross. Shellac was added as a topcoat with color added to the shellac using transtint
dyes
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The pen box was made from African Mahogany using a
Kreg Router Table.
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The cross on the pen box was made from holly.
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Curly Maple Pen
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Goblet turned from Ash
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Ornament turned from Hollowed Maple
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Blue Ridge Mountain's Pen and Box
made of Walnut and Holly
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You can email Marshall at
mbknox@hotmail.com.
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Submit your own woodturnings or woodturning shop to this column! Simply
SEND US PHOTOS
of your woodturning
projects or shop along with captions and a brief history and description of your woodturning. (Email photos
at 800x600 resolution.) Receive a $50 store credit if we show your turning in a future issue!
