The candy machine fits well on the smaller top specified in the Material List But you might prefer to make the larger top instead and use this Pedestal Stand to display a big house plant or other object. Either way, let’s get started making it!

Milling and Gluing

Notice in the Exploded View Drawing that while the small top is an edge-glued panel, the stand’s discs, base and large top are each made up of four sections miter-cut into 45°-45°- 90° triangles that are glued together into blanks to hide the end grain.

I settled on walnut for my project. At the table saw, I started by ripping enough of it and crosscutting it into sections (outlined in the Material List) to make each of the discs and the stand’s base. The two 6″ discs need material ripped to 3″ wide; the 7″ disc needs 3-1/2″-wide stock and the 8″ disc requires 4″-wide stock. Do the same for the stand’s base sections and the larger top, if that’s the top you’ve chosen for your project.

From here, I took all the sections to my miter saw, swiveled it to exactly 45 degrees and miter-cut each section into a triangle. Keep in mind that the “top” of each triangle should be oriented at the edge of the workpiece and centered on the section’s length. The tops of the triangles form a square corner. You may want to test your saw setup on scrap wood first to make sure four triangles will fit together without creating gaps.

Once all those are cut, it’s time to glue together blanks for the discs and base (and large top, if you’re making one). A strap clamp is ideal for this job. Apply a liberal amount of glue to all joints before assembling each group of four triangles, and make sure you don’t overtighten the clamp that co uld push the joints out of alignment! When the blanks dry, scrape off any glue and sand their faces flat. My random orbit sander with 80-grit sandpaper made quick work of that task.

Routing Round Discs

I used Rockler’s Circle Cutting Jig for Compact Routers to turn my square blanks into four discs. To use this jig, first drill a 9/32″ center hole to register the jig’s pivot pin and then set it for each disc’s radius. With a 1/4″ straight bit installed and my compact router mounted on the jig, three progressively deeper passes in a clockwise direction cut through the stock. Secure each disc blank temporarily to a sacrificial board before routing it round. Next, I eased the top and bottom edges of the discs, as well as the flat edges of the base, with a 3/8″ roundover bit. Sand these parts up through the grits to 220 and apply a finish of your choice. I chose hard wax oil.

Off to the Lathe!

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Mount a square blank for the pedestal between lathe centers and turn it into a round cylinder. A spindle roughing-out gouge, like the one shown here, is the best tool for this task.	After marking off the major transitions on the pedestal with a pencil, use a parting tool to bring those areas to correct diameter.

It’s time to turn the pedestal! Start by cutting yours to length, marking the centers of the ends and dimpling those centers with an awl. Mount it on the lathe. I reached for a spindle roughing- out gouge to turn the pedestal blank into a cylinder. Take care to maintain a consistent diameter. Then, I referenced the Pedestal Detail Drawing and used a caliper and parting tool to establish final diameters at all of the key locations on the workpiece.

Check your sizing periodically with a caliper.	Turn the long tapered areas of the pedestal to shape using a spindle roughing-out gouge or a skew chisel. Try to keep the tapers as flat as possible

From there, I used various traditional and carbide-insert lathe tools to turn the pedestal to final shape. While tapering the long top and bottom “straight” areas of the spindle, I found it helpful to reference against a long rule to identify any high or low spots that needed attention. Make these tapers as straight as you can.

A long rule will reveal any high or low spots of your taper cuts.	Here, a spindle gouge shapes a concave recess into the center of each of the spindle’s three middle rings. A round carbide-insert tool is another good option for this shaping step.

The narrow center “ring” details have a slight undercut on each of their top and bottom faces. This creates the illusion that they’re floating. A diamond-shaped carbide-insert tool excelled at reaching into these tight places for me.

The author found a diamond-shaped carbide-insert tool helpful for working inside of the narrow areas between the rings when forming their slight top and bottom undercuts.	Hard wax oil or a shellac-based friction polish applied on the lathe are two quick finish options for this project’s pedestal. Or wait until after final assembly and spray it with an aerosol finish instead.

When the turning is done, sand the pedestal up to 220-grit and apply finish while it’s still mounted on the lathe. If you’re making the small top for this project, glue up a blank for it, cut it to final shape and sand and finish it. I rounded the corners of mine to 1-1/4″ radii at the bandsaw.

Putting the Pieces Together

Install rubber feet on the base, then attach the base and bottom discs to the pedestal with a 4″ lag screw. Counterbore the screwhead.	Install the top two discs on the pedestal with another 4″ lag screw, just as you did for the base and bottom discs.

That brings us to final assembly. I attached screw-on rubber feet to the base to protect the floor and create a shadow line there. Now use two #14 x 4″ lag screws to attach each stack of discs and the base to the pedestal. Be sure to first drill a pilot hole and a counterbore to recess the lag screw heads before driving the fasteners home. I grabbed several long #8 wood screws to attach the base of the candy machine and the top panel to the top disc.

The author mounted the candy machine’s metal base and top panel to the stand’s top disc by driving #8 x 1″ screws down through the parts.	If the top surface of your pedestal stand’s top will be visible, drive #8 x 1-1/2” screws through the upper discs from below to install it in order to hide the screwheads.

Once that was done, I could finally check this project off the to-do list! Now we’ve got a proper wooden stand for our family’s candy machine, and my new benchtop lathe tackled its first big turning job with flying colors!

Click Here to Download the Drawings and Materials List.

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Several years ago, my teacher, Eric Tan, designed a jig to hold a router on the lathe, and I have been intrigued ever since I made my first groove on a turned box. Since then, I have been trying to find new ways to incorporate the router with the lathe as part of the turning process and as a way to have more design possibilities.

It turns out it is not too complicated to form grooves, create a pattern, or add inlays to a turned workpiece. Here is how I built the jig and how I achieved various results using different setups and their applications.

The Router Jig

The jig I made is meant to be mounted in the lathe’s banjo. You can adjust the path of the router bit by moving the banjo and/or rotating the support.

With a square base, the router can move in two different directions: along the length of the workpiece and towards the workpiece. When you combine these options, you will have several ways to create patterns and have many design possibilities.

Jig Components

The router holder slides in a lipped track, which is mounted in the lathe banjo.	The track is mounted on a support post that mounts in the lathe banjo. A metal support offers better stability.

This jig comprises three main parts: the router holder, the track, and the support that fits into the lathe banjo.

If you make a support from wood, be sure it has a large area of contact under the track to avoid wobbling.	In this case, the diameter of the turned wood support is as wide as the track.

The photos show dimensions for my setup; you might need to adjust the size of the jig components, depending on the size of the workpiece and/ or your router.

Setup Concepts

The track can be oriented to allow the router to slide either along or towards the lathe’s axis. Ultimately, it can also be set at any angle in between.	And since the router holder has a square base, you can also rotate the router holder 90 degrees in the track, altering the orientation of the bit.

As noted, there are two fundamental ways to set the jig at the lathe. But depending on how the jig is presented to the workpiece, the results will vary. Even though the jig could be arranged at various heights for different cuts, I set the bit at center height (the height of the lathe spindle). Here, I have organized the setups in three different groups to show the different outcomes. Note that I always follow all the same safety rules that I would follow for using a router on a flat work.

Here, the author has set the track along the angled profile of the workpiece.	She uses a straight router bit to form grooves for inlays.

When setting the jig so that the router moves along the length of the workpiece, you can produce grooves on spindles. When you use the lathe’s indexing system, you can ensure even spacing between the grooves. This setup also can be used on the exterior of a bowl or vessel to make grooves for inlays or for texturing to create a visual rhythm — whether it’s a few grooves or a series of them.

Here, the track is set perpendicular to the lathe’s axis, and the router holder is rotated 90 degrees so that the router bit faces the workpiece.	She uses a straight router bit to form grooves for inlays.

Sometimes I set the jig so that the router moves at an angle to the axis of the lathe. This setting is usually for a plate or for the top of the vessel. Besides creating the grooves, this setup also can add some geometric low relief to the surface.

Holes bored straight into a sphere in random locations are filled with whimsical inserts.	Holes bored straight into a vessel in evenly spaced locations, with the help of the lathe’s indexing system, result in a patterned effect.

To create shallow holes or indents in the workpiece, set the jig so that the router moves directly towards, or into, the wood. This approach is unlike the other two setups, which employ a more linear action, and can be used freehand or incorporated with the lathe’s indexing system.

Another idea is to rotate the workpiece by hand after the router contacts the workpiece. In this way, you can create partial or continuous grooves around the circumference of the work.

Router Bits

You can also expand the variations when you use different router bits. Some of the results can be seen as texturing and some can be used for inlay. I use masking tape to prevent tearout. If the router bit burns the wood, I will either sand away the burn marks or take it as an embellishment opportunity and add color, pyrography, or texturing. As for inlay inserts, they can be ready-to-use wood strips from a store or custom-turned on the lathe. Here are some examples.

Straight Bit

When using a straight bit to create grooves for inlays, the visual effects can be varied greatly just by changing the size of the bit. The left photo shows a series of inlays of the same width, while the right shows inlays of varied widths. You can also arrange the inlays in unexpected configurations. When I use ready-to-use wood strips from a store, I check their dimensions to make sure the ones I want are available.

A straight bit is also used to bore shallow holes, as noted above.

Round Nose Bit

A round nose bit is used to form rounded grooves for the legs of this suspended box. The track angle indicates the angle of the inserts.	In this case, the three legs remain perpendicular to the table and are not parallel to the box’s taper.

When you make grooves with a round nose router bit, the inlay insert can be turned on the lathe. In this way, you can fit different turned pieces together.

When using a round nose bit for other setups, you can achieve different creative results. This shows the overlapping of indents made with a round nose router bit.

V-groove Bit

A V-groove router bit can create pointed grooves or angled indents. I used a V-groove bit to accent the edges of some tulip petals. You can also use this bit to add texture to the wood surface.

Plan Your Spacing

Before you turn on the router, you should know how many grooves/ holes you want to make, how big the inserts are going to be, and whether they are going to fit around your turned piece. Take the piece in Photo 11 as an example. I planned to cut thirty-six grooves, so I calculated the circumference by multiplying the diameter by pi, or 3.14. The bottom (smaller) diameter is 5-1/2″ (14cm), so the circumference is found by using this equation:

5.5″ × 3.14 = 17.27″ (44cm)

I then divided 17.27″ by 36 (my desired number of grooves/inlays) to reach 0.48″ (12mm) even spacing. I used wooden inlay strips that were 1/8″, or 0.125″ (3mm), wide. That left me with spacing of 0.355″ (9mm) between inlays, which I felt was a good proportion for this piece.

My lathe router jig helps me add more designs to my turned pieces, and I am sure there are lots of possibilities waiting to be explored. I hope this conceptual introduction will serve as a starting point for you to come up with your own designs by incorporating the use of a router at the lathe with the techniques you already use in your turning.

Cindy Pei-Si Young lives and teaches woodturning in Taiwan. She is a member of the AAW. For more, visit cindypeisiyoung.com or follow Cindy on Instagram, @young_woodturner.

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This interior shutter project has a lot going for it, including excellent light transmission that doesn’t compromise privacy and simple modular construction. You can use almost any wood for these shutters, but typically it’s best to either match or complement your existing woodwork. I used vertical-grain pine that has a naturally attractive ribbon pattern and a medium ivory color. It’s also easy to work and relatively inexpensive. A translucent shoji-style fiberglass material works well for the screen, but there are a number of other materials you can use, such as rice paper and plastic-coated paper.

Keep in mind that this is a millwork project, so it doesn’t require quite the high level of workman-ship you might devote to a furniture project. The thickness and width of the parts work for most window sizes, so you only need to adjust the length. For very large windows, you might want to scale up the size of the parts or add more lattice strips to the grid. The variations on this project are almost infinite, so you’ll likely want to add your own special touches.

Measure, Mill, Join Frames

You’ll need to start by measuring your window casing and checking it for square. Measure the exact opening, then subtract about a quarter inch from the sides and top/bottom to allow a little room for swing clearance and space for the hinges. (Most carpentry isn’t as precise as your woodworking, so you may need to make some adjustments after you assemble the frames.) For large windows or ganged windows, consider making bifold or multiple shutters to span the area.

Because this project lends itself to mass production, it’s best to mill the frame parts for all the windows you intend to cover before doing any joinery, to ensure consistency. (Read on to learn more about making the lattice strips.) A jointer and planer are almost a necessity to achieve straight, square and uniform stock. You might want to sand the parts lightly before you start the joinery.

There’s a lot of flexibility when it comes to joinery. I used a Festool Domino to make floating mortise-and-tenon joints. This tool can quickly make strong, precise joints. However, a biscuit joiner is just as fast and makes acceptably strong joints. You can also attain very good results with dowels or pocket-hole screws.

Once you’ve glued and clamped the frames, you can sand them with 150-grit paper. Be sure to ease the edges enough so they won’t splinter, but don’t round them too much. If your shutters are a matching pair like this project, mark the top edges with arrows that point to the front and inside stile edges. This will serve to keep the shutters paired and correctly oriented. Check the bare frames in the window casing to be sure they fit with some room to spare and make necessary adjustments. If the fit is too tight, trim the inside stile edges that form the closure between the shutters.

Now is as good a time as any to cut the translucent screen material. This should be done before fastening any lattice parts inside the frame because the bare frame serves as a pattern. The easiest way is to lay the frame on top of the screen material and trace around the inside with a pencil; then use a metal straightedge and a utility knife to cut the material.

Make Lattice Strips and Router Jig

If there’s a fussy part of this project, it’s making the lattice. The 3/8″ x 3/8″ lattice strips must be uniform, and the half-lap joints that form the grid must be precisely made. There are a number of ways to make the strips, but I’ve found that using a band saw and a planer is efficient and it keeps waste and dust to a minimum.

First, rip wide pieces from 3″ or 4″ stock roughly 7/16″ thick. Next, rip 7/16″-square strips from these pieces. Now you need to remove the saw marks and mill the strips to exactly 3/8″ square. Run the strips through your planer, making four total passes: the first two on perpendicular sides of the strips to remove about 1/32″ and then a third and fourth pass on the opposite sides for the final 3/8″ dimension. The strips might not be perfectly square, but the deviation with pieces this small will be insignificant — try making a few practice pieces first. (If your planer won’t adjust down to 3/8″, you can make a subbase out of particleboard or MDF to fit under the planer’s cutterhead.) Make more pieces than you’ll need because you’ll unavoidably have some ruined pieces.

You can use a table saw to make the half-lap joints, but I think a router jig is more accurate and makes cleaner joints. The half-lap routing jig is simple and easy to make with MDF or particleboard and a few bits of hardware. There are two basic parts: the base and the router carriage. The base has a thin hardboard fence attached to it to align to workpieces so they’re perpendicular to the router carriage. The router carriage is adjustable for different stock thickness with the carriage bolts and should be made to fit your router (or at least the guide rails positioned for your router’s base). Adhere sandpaper or self-adhesive abrasive strips to the carriage bottom to prevent stock from shifting. To ensure that the jig makes accurate cuts, all the parts should be square, the carriage bolt holes should align perfectly in the base and router carriage, and the fence on the base should be perpendicular to the slot in the router carriage. The fence should be the last piece you install because it’s dependent on how the base and router carriage are aligned. Finally, run the router into the fence with a 3/8″ bit to create an alignment mark.

Cut Half-lap Joints

There are several tips that can increase your success in cutting the half-lap joints. You should cut all the strips to the exact length before you cut the joints. Use the shutter frames to determine the fit, and you might want to make dedicated sets of strips for each frame in case there are slight dimensional differences.

Once you cut the strips, use masking tape to gang them together with the ends perfectly flush. Mark the joint locations in pencil, and then scribe the joint lines with a utility knife. This will help prevent any chipping or tearout from the router. When you place the ganged strips in the jig, be sure they’re abutting the fence, that the joint lines correspond with the router alignment mark on the fence and that the carriage bolts are securely tightened. Also, place an extra piece of lattice to the outside of the ganged pieces to help balance the height of the router carriage.

Rout the joints with a 3/8″ straight bit and make the cuts in two passes while keeping the router pressed against the guide rails. Work carefully and don’t force the router through the cut. Use dust collection if your router has it. It will enable you to see the start and stop of the cut much more easily.

Assemble the Lattice

You’ll assemble the front lattice in the frame and the rear lattice as a standalone unit. The rear lattice acts as a retainer for the screen material and provides visual balance when the shutters are open.

Begin by marking the 1/8″ setback guidelines for the front lattice inset with a combination square and pencil. Before you start, make a dry run to ensure the grid strips fit properly in the frame. The strips don’t need to be glued; pin nails provide all the needed fastening.

The holes made by the nails are so small they’re almost invisible, and don’t need to be filled. Attach the vertical lattice strips to the stiles then the horizontal ones to the rails. Now you can add the inside vertical strips with a little glue in the joints followed by the horizontal strips.

The rear lattice goes together the same way with glue in all the joints, but it’s not permanently attached to the frame. You just need to check that it fits flush over the front grid and isn’t too large (or small) for the frame. To fasten the front and rear grids together, you need to bore screw holes and countersinks for #4 x 5/8″ brass screws through the rear grid into the four inside grid intersections. Install the screws to cut the threads before you finish and assemble the shutters.

With the grids completed, now is a good time to set the hinge positions. The shutter hinges have removable pins so they work on the left or right side. Unless your shutters are very large or heavy, stick with two hinges on each side. Three or more hinges can cause binding and complicate installation. It’s important that the screw holes are perfectly centered to keep the hinges aligned. I used a self-centering Insty-Drive bit for this purpose. Remove the hinges before finishing.

Finish, Assemble, Install Shutters

Sand the assemblies with 150-grit paper and be sure to ease all sharp edges. There’s no need to sand too much or with a finer grit paper — the finish will hide many imperfections. Thoroughly clean off all the dust before applying finish.

Because the shutters are next to windows, they’re exposed to more light and temperature variations than other woodwork in your home. A film finish will help reduce seasonal wood movement and protect the wood from wear and tear. I brushed on two coats of a clear waterborne interior finish and opted not to stain because the natural color of the wood was appealing without alteration. For a smooth finish, sand lightly with 320-grit paper between coats to remove dust nibs.

Once the finish has cured, install the screen material. The fiberglass shoji that I used is stiff enough so that no glue, tape or staples were needed to retain it in the frame. But you might need to fasten thin paper screen to the back of the front grid if it doesn’t stay put. Install the rear grid over the screen and install the brass screws; then reinstall the hinges.

Installing the shutters isn’t difficult, but there are a few steps you can take to reduce any possible frustration. Use a thin spacer between the window casing and the shutter to eliminate the possibility of binding. The hinges also have a slotted hole to allow for vertical adjustment, so use only this hole until you’ve installed the opposing shutter and can align the pair. If the shutters are a little twisted in the frame, you can try moving one of the hinges slightly out to compensate. And if the gap where the shutters meet isn’t even, use a shim behind the hinge leaf. When the shutters seem reasonably well-aligned, install the rest of the screws. I installed a magnetic touch latch to retain the shutters. It eliminates the need for knobs to open and close the shutters to maintain a clean appearance.

If you’re like me, once you’ve built a few of these shutters, you’ll want to make more sets for other rooms in your home. They’ll help keep your rooms light and airy even on the most dreary days.

Click Here to Download the Drawings and Materials List.

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Theoretically, you can make a track as long as you like by joining shorter tracks together. Most tracks have square ends that are suitable for joining, but it pays to double-check. Whenever joining tracks, use a reliable straightedge to ensure that they join straight and true before tightening down the connectors.

For most track saw cuts you need to go all the way through the material, which means anything underneath is also going to get cut. To protect workbenches and floors (and prevent serious damage to blades on concrete), get a sheet of rigid foam insulation. It acts as a solid, sturdy sacrificial base you can use repeatedly with no damage to your bench or blades.

Track saws already deliver arguably the cleanest cuts around. But some materials, such as laminate countertops or plywood with paper-thin veneer, are still prone to tearout and splintering. To help prevent this, before making a full-depth cut in the workpiece, do a shallow scoring cut about 1/16″ deep. Then, lower the blade to make the full cut.

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These systems, like the Kreg Accu-Cut kit, use an adapter plate matched to the supplied tracks. The adjustable plate accepts your circular saw and holds it onto the plate with a series of small adjustable clamps. Once mounted, your saw slides smoothly on the track just the same as a “real” track saw.

As long as we’re talking adapters, there also are adapters that extend the usefulness of a track saw system to routers and jigsaws. Some track saw brands offer adapters (Festool, for example, has track adapters for their own routers and jigsaws), but you’ll find plenty available from third-party sources.

Router adapters are the easiest to find, with many made specifically for particular router makes and models and compatible with the most popular tracks. Setup couldn’t be easier and requires only that you remove the existing baseplate and replace it with the adapter plate. Once secured, the router rides the track smoothly and in a perfectly straight line.

Jigsaw adapters aren’t quite as numerous, but it’s very easy to make your own. If your jigsaw is equipped with a removable plastic shoe, simply purchase an extra shoe to use in combination with an easier-to-find router adapter. A generic router adapter that’s flat and not shaped for a specific router brand works best.

You can see how I’ve tricked out my DeWALT jigsaw. I lined up the extra DeWALT shoe and just glued it in place atop the router adapter. Any glue or plastics will work fine for this task.

As with the router (and track saw, of course), the cut is perfectly straight every time.

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Again, this could be done on the table saw with smaller workpieces. But when the stock becomes exceptionally long or wide, it’s better for the work to be stationary and fully supported on a workbench or other surface. A regular circular saw used with a clamped guide is a possibility, but a track saw’s plunge action speeds the operation up considerably and delivers better cuts with less splintering.

The key is to set up an easy jig. Here, I’ve simply pin-nailed a pair of 3/4″-thick guides to a sheet of ply, spaced so my 3/4″-thick workpiece can slide smoothly between them, while the track has a nice, wide surface for support. With the workpiece lined up to the edge of the jig guide, I made a starting cut near the workpiece end that extends slightly across both guide pieces. This becomes the registration cut.

Now, without moving the workpiece in the jig, reset the track for the second cut at the desired spacing between the kerf cuts, ensuring that it’s parallel to that first cut. Make the second cut and let the saw spin down. Slide the workpiece forward until the new cut lines up with the registration cut and make another pass. Continue the cut/slide/ cut/slide process until the workpiece kerfs are complete.

The finished workpiece bends with little effort, and the outside surface of the curve is nice and smooth. Keep in mind that a tighter bend radius requires narrower spacing between the kerfs, while a larger radius can get away with wider kerf spacing.

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Sometimes when making a hollow vessel, like an urn, a lid with threads is desirable. However, threading a large vessel can be challenging, especially if the wood is light or porous.

Also, if you make a mistake while threading the vessel or lid, it may be ruined. A solution to these problems is to make a separate threaded insert and glue it into the base and lid.

An insert consists of two rings, one with interior threads (a “mortise” ring) and one with exterior threads (a “tenon” ring). The two rings are threaded and sized to fit into recesses in the vessel and the lid. Once installed, the threaded inserts allow the two parts to be screwed together.

The process involves sizing the rings, threading the mortise insert, parting off the mortise ring, and then turning and threading the tenon insert to fit. The mortise insert will be glued into the lid of the vessel, and the tenon insert will be glued into the vessel opening.

Threading Options

The threading process can be accomplished with either a threading jig, where the threads are cut by a rotating cutter mounted on the lathe spindle, or hand-chasing tools, where the threads are cut by manually engaging specialized tools into the spinning wood.

I used cherry for the threaded inserts shown in this article because it is more visible in the photos. But a general rule about wood choice is, the harder the wood, the better the threads. I use mostly African blackwood for my threaded inserts, whether they are hand-chased or made with a jig.

Conceptually, the steps for making the threads are the same for both methods, but the mechanical threading jigs make the outcomes more predictable. Handchasing tools tend to be associated with more traditional woodturning skills. Both methods have their advantages and disadvantages. The threading jigs will cut threads in soft woods like cherry or maple with better results than will hand-chasing tools. The disadvantage is that they require precise setup and alignment with the lathe.

Advantages of hand-chasing tools are that they require little setup, are less expensive, and are equally effective as the jigs on tight-grained woods like boxwood or African blackwood. However, learning to use thread-chasing tools can be compared to learning to ride a bike: you probably took a few falls before you succeeded. Hand-chasing does require technique and practice, but it is an attainable skill.

The threading jig shown in this article is manufactured by ChefwareKits, but most threading jigs work in a similar manner. A rotating cutter is secured in the headstock spindle of your lathe and turned at 2500 to 3000 rpm by the lathe motor. The workpiece to be threaded is held in a chuck mounted on the threading jig, which mounts in the lathe’s banjo and feeds the workpiece into the cutter from the tailstock end.

Size the Blank

When designing threaded inserts, there are two main considerations. The first is the size of the opening in the vessel that will contain the threaded tenon insert. As noted, the threads on the tenon are on the outside surface. This is to keep material being put into the vessel from getting into the threads.

There will be an opening down through the tenon into the vessel, so the desired outside diameter (OD) of the tenon helps to determine the size of the vessel opening. The mortise ring that fits into the lid and screws over the tenon ring must be larger than the tenon, so the blank size for the threaded insert must be at least the diameter of the lid mortise ring.

I turn the mortise ring for the lid (internal threads) first because it is easier to adjust the size of the tenon ring to fit the mortise ring than to fit the mortise to the tenon. Use a caliper to gauge the required OD of the mortise ring for the lid and the inside diameter (ID) of the vessel opening for the tenon ring. In this case, the OD of the tenon is 1/4″ (6mm) larger than the opening of the vessel.

Turn the blank for the threaded inserts to the ID of the recess in the lid and face off the front. The wood is mounted in spindle orientation, with the grain running parallel with the lathe bed. I prefer this orientation because the wood is less likely to move and become oval over time. Using a Vernier caliper, mark what will become the inside diameter of the mortise ring with respect to the desired OD of the tenon ring.

Cut threads – mortise ring

The threads made by most threading jigs are either 10 or 16 threads per inch (tpi). The depth of the 10-tpi threads is approximately .065″, or 1.6mm, and the depth of the 16-tpi threads is approximately .04″, or 1mm. Here, I’m threading 16 tpi, so I turn a recess into the end of the blank about 1/2″ (13mm) deep and about 1/8″ (3mm) smaller than the desired OD of the tenon ring. It is important that the inside wall be parallel to the lathe bed so that the threads will be evenly deep when cut. There is a tendency to taper the inside wall when hollowing. I use a skew, presented flat on the toolrest and aligned parallel with the lathe bed, and feed it straight in along the inside edge of the recess.

The chuck with the hollowed blank is now moved to the threading jig, and the jig is squared to the lathe following the manufacturer’s instructions. This step may differ with different jigs, so I won’t go into detail about setting up the jig, but it is important that the object to be threaded be parallel with the lathe bed.

Align the cutter with the inner edge of the recess in the mortise ring. As noted, the 16-tpi thread is only .04″, or 1mm, deep. The instructions with the jig say to turn the depth handle one-half turn for 16-tpi threads to achieve the correct depth. Set the lathe speed of the cutter to 2500 to 3000 rpm and advance the lead screw on the jig to move the workpiece into the cutter. I keep a hand on the chuck to further steady it while advancing the wood into the cutter.

There need only be four or five threads in the mortise ring, and I try to get them done in one pass. Don’t back the piece out while the cutter is spinning, but disengage the cutter from the wood and examine the quality of the threads. On relatively soft woods like cherry, there might be some tearout. One option to mitigate tearout is to saturate the wood with thin cyanoacrylate (CA) glue prior to cutting the threads. Be sure to let the glue harden completely before cutting. After threading, I brush out the sawdust with a soft toothbrush and remove the chuck from the threading jig.

I now remove the jig from the lathe and reinstall the toolrest for the next step, to part off the mortise ring. Use a parting tool to cut off the mortise ring just past the last thread. The mortise ring will now be used to size the tenon for threading.

Cut threads – Tenon Ring

Turn the tenon ring from the remainder of the blank still mounted in the chuck. A rabbet about 1/8″ wide is cut on the end of the blank so that the threaded mortise ring just fits over it. Allan Batty called this the “witness diameter.”

The drawing illustrates how the ID of the threaded mortise ring is equal to the witness diameter. The shoulder just behind the witness diameter is where the tenon threads will be cut, and for 16-tpi threads that diameter will be about 2mm larger than the witness diameter.

Although a Vernier caliper can be set to 2mm larger than the witness diameter, it is such a small dimension that it would be hard to turn to it exactly. So I estimate the diameter to be close but a bit larger than 2mm because the tenon threads can be cut deeper if necessary.

Reinstall the threading jig, and realign the jig with the lathe bed. Adjust the jig until the cutter touches the outside of the witness diameter on the tenon blank. When the lead screw is advanced, the cutter will cut the threads in the raised part just behind the witness edge. After cutting, use a soft toothbrush to remove any sawdust and to clean up the threads.

The finished threads look good, and it is time to see if everything fits. Most often, the two parts will screw together, but the fit may be tight. A slight bit of sanding with 600-grit sandpaper on the outside of the tenon threads will generally improve the smoothness of the fit.

Alternative: Threaded Brass Inserts

If you don’t want to turn threaded inserts in wood, there is a commercially available option—threaded brass inserts available from several woodturning suppliers.

The same construction concepts apply, and you are guaranteed a good fit of the threads.

This vessel, made by Matthew Deighton and Emily Ford, makes use of a 2″- (5cm-) diameter brass insert.

Final Steps

The next step is to hollow the inside of the tenon ring, which will ultimately become the mouth of the vessel. Part off the witness diameter section and extra threads.

Keep just four or five threads for actual use. Then part off the tenon ring from the blank.

Holding the tenon ring in spigot jaws in expansion mode, I thread the mortise ring over the tenon threads, pare away extra wood so that they will both sit flat, and clean up the surfaces.

Finally, the insert rings are ready to be glued into the vessel and lid. After gluing them in, I apply paste wax to the surface of the threads with a soft toothbrush as a final finishing step.

Walt Wager has been a member of the North Florida Woodturners and the AAW since 2004. He taught woodturning at Camelot’s Woodworking Studio in Tallahassee, Florida, and demonstrates regionally and nationally, in-person and remotely. Contact Walt through his website, waltwager.com.

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This way, you can slide the support in or out to suit the size of the plywood you need to cut. He has used this adjustable support to handle 4 x 8 sheets in his commercial shop for years, which is a better way than trying to find and place roller supports on the side of the table saw.

– Charles Mak
Calgary, Alberta

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Once again, it’s easier to take the saw to the work, and while you could cut 45-degree joints with a circular saw, the accuracy of a track saw makes it the perfect tool for the job. We’ll demonstrate the process with a smaller workpiece here, but the same process works with almost any length workpiece.

Measure and mark the workpiece where you want the joint edge, and line up the track. As with all narrow track cuts, clamping the track is a good idea. Tilt the blade to make a 45-degree cut and cut across the workpiece on your marks.

Remove the workpiece from under the track and set it aside. Then, take the new offcut piece you just created, flip it around and arrange the track exactly along the angled edge you just cut. There was a thin, unavoidable kerf created by the first cut, but with the track lined up carefully against the angle of the original cut, the kerf at the joint isn’t enlarged, allowing for the closest grain match possible. You can see in the bottom left photo how the spalted grain continues from one piece to the other.

Once the two mitered pieces are mated, the waterfall effect can be stunning.

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– Bruce Kieffer
Edina, Minnesota

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