- Based off WALT WAGER’s Bird Cage Ornament
- Walts Bird Cage Ornament
- 2 1/4 X 2 ¼
- 3/8 Inch Center for Finials and Top
1 3/8 Inch Forstner Bit - Tim’s Cross Drilled Ornament
- 1 ¾ X 1 ¾
- 3/8 Inch for Finials and Top
1 1/8 For Cross Drilled Ornament
Or
1 1/4 For Hollow Ornament
When I first started turning a few years ago my wife wanted me to make some turned ornaments for our upcoming craft show. After searching the internet, as most self-taught wood turners do, I stumbled across quite a few great designs. Plagiarism is evil… LOL…But in wood turning when you take someone else’s technique and put your own flair to it you can come up with some interesting ideas.
The concept was taken from combining Walt Wagers Bird Cage Ornament and Darren Throop Bay Lake Wood Turners October 19, 2019, with the Snowflake inset in it. I didn’t want to spend the extra money to glue multiple snowflakes together to get an ornament that gave that window effect to it so I decided to try to put a pillar in the center of the ornament to give myself something to glue the snowflakes to, so I did not just turn them away.
To get the pillar I measured the size of the object I was going to place on the pillar and drilled the appropriate hole to match the object. Sizing the Hole is very important as you don’t want to have too much empty space around the centered object, and you want to make sure the object will fit when you go to assemble the ornament. (Ask me how I know…LOL) When drilling I start like Walt does, 3/8 Inch in the End Grain for the Finial and Toper. Then I work on the 4 Side Grain sections. I drill until the shoulder of the Forstner bit I am using is even with the wood this gives me a location to put the Snowflake or other object inside the ornament after I apply my finish to it. I do not drill all the way through the ornament as Walt does in his Bird Cage Ornament for my Cross Drilled Ornaments.
Both Cross Drilled and Hollow Ornaments are drilled then turned between centers using a Jam Chuck and a 60 Degree Cone Live Center. Finials and Toppers are cut with a 3/8 Inch Tennon to fit both styles of ornaments. Have fun.. Turn as fast as you feel is safe it is your shop using light cuts. However please use a Face Shield and stay out of the line of Fire as these can occasionally come apart while turning.
I want to Thank both Walt and Darren for the excellent YouTube Demonstrations they are greatly accomplished wood turners. I had the Great Honor of meeting Walt and watching his demonstration on the Bird Cage Ornament this year at SWAT.
I hope I do him justice by presenting my demonstration tonight, I am not anywhere close to being the Wood Turner Walt is.
Below are links to both YouTube videos that I got my inspiration from.