Posts Tagged ‘Alan Stratton’


Giant Sanding Disc Offers Options For Woodturning

After seeing a large sanding disc at Dale Larson’s shop here in the Portland area, I decided to get one for myself. They’re not available commercially except as a very expensive stationary tool. So, I decided to make my own. I ordered a piece of 1/4″ thick aluminum 20.25″ square allowing a little bit for […]

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A Segmented Walnut Egg Box

An Australian viewer asked me to make a wood egg shaped box. The main difference is the shape and no base for it to stand on. I decided to not make a typical end grain box but instead take a segmented approach. I glued up twelve rings of eight segments each into two stacks. The […]

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Function Versus Beauty – A Segmented Object Of Art

Last weekend, I was inspired during a visit to the Tacoma Museum of Glass. While I saw all sorts of glass objects, few were functional items. Why do I think a woodturned object must be functional. NOT! As a first step into this brave new world, I decided to make an object similar to one I […]

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My Leather Burnisher Doubles As A Vampire Stake

A viewer suggesting making a leather burnisher. I was excited at the suggestion as it is another idea to exercise the eccentric faceplate system. Many would leave the blade as a cone or flatten it on a sander. To me, however, it was an opportunity to take the eccentric faceplate system for a spin. This […]

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A “Square” Playing Card Box”

During a visit with my brother, we were playing cards and talking about possible woodturning projects. He suggested a box for the playing cards. I said, no problem but it would be round. He insisted that it should be square to properly hold the cards. It was a puzzle but this video is one expression […]

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My DIY Lathe Steady Rest

After using my new steady rest turning the travel mug, many viewer requested more information about the steady rest. So here we go. It’s make from baltic birch plywood with layers glued together as necessary for thickness. The wheels came from a pair of roller blades I purchased at a local thrift store. It works […]

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Travel Beverage Mug

A couple of viewers suggested a video turning a travel mug. I have some leftover oak stair tread cutoffs from a friend and a 16 ounce travel mug insert from Rockler. This will be a segmented cup using stave construction. First, I cut the oak into staves using a sled designed for stave segment cutting. […]

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Easy DIY System For Eccentric Spindle Turning

In this video, I’m going into greater detail on the faceplates and system used in making the doubly eccentric magic wand. The system consists of 2 faceplates, 4 brass pins, and some plastic countertop laminate. With the system, I can exactly index most eccentric spindle turnings that use a tail stock. Although I made these […]

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How To Turn A Double Eccentric Magic Wand

In this video, I’m going another step beyond in eccentric turning. Building on a viewer suggestion to use masking tape to enable power transmission while backing off the pressure between tailstock and headstock. I made a pair of threaded faceplates in which I drilled holes to provide regular offsets. Corresponding holes would then be drilled […]

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How To Turn An Eccentric (Crooked) Magic Wand

After the last video, I decided to go one step further and make an eccentric blade for another wand. By using multiple axes, the blade will be crooked, a special twist to please any wizard. This full sized 17″ long wand is made from walnut and red oak. It is finished with mineral oil and […]

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