Clever Jig Makes Wood Spiral Tree Ornaments

[@JohnHeisz]

Very neat mechanism. When you first started using it, I thought why bother with the bevel gears to drive the sweep when a simple lever would do, but then you connected it to the lathe to cut the spiral and it all clicked into place. I can well imagine the time you put into designing it.

[@krtwood]

Thanks, John.

[@hobiesmith9370]

best part of this video is showing us the trials during this process and what you learned. thank you for that. so many maker's videos go through the process so fast as if there was no mistake by the maker or nothing learned during their process of making

[@krtwood]

It's tough to explain things because people skip ahead when you do and then the video doesn't perform well and then the people who would like to see the explanations never see the video at all because it never gets recommended.

[@hobiesmith9370]

@@krtwood totally understand. well thank you for taking the countless hours of video production to share your talent with us people who can't do this stuff but enjoy watching you do it :)

[@styleprofit]

I'd go as far as to say that you are a modern master. After all the vids, knowledge and trial and error you've been through. Everything you do is a teaching tool. Thanks for making me wait for your next video!

[@krtwood]

Thanks, Ian!

[@josephwise485]

Nice. Looks like you have a jig for everything, great inventiveness.

[@clydedecker765]

Totally awesome work making all those jigs to do such intricate work and the outcome - Magnificent. Again, my hats off to you. A jig just to drill a hole for the trunk and then the ornament's hanger hole jig ... .. and the Texturizer 3000 for the trunk with a jig to hold it while cutting with a miter saw.......way out there

[@krtwood]

Thank you, Clyde!

[@jayp4083]

I like seeing all of the production jigs

[@boblasley5640]

As one who sometimes puts more effort into the jigs and tooling than the actual build, I always enjoy your jigs and fixtures Kevin! Thanks for also showing and talking about the approaches that didn't work. Hope you have a great holiday season.

[@krtwood]

Thanks, Bob!

[@mkbman45]

Why would 14 people give this guy a Thumbs Down? I honestly don't understand people these days...

[@woodwaterhome]

Probably because videos with no narration are boring and in most of these types of video the creator explains how to build the jigs, rather than just saying, "see what I can make?"

[@krtwood]

Thanks for your perspective.

[@jimlee4649]

A tour de force in woodworking jigging. Nicely done!

[@krtwood]

Thank you!

[@FishersShop]

Fantastic job! Love those jigs you’ve made! So clever

[@krtwood]

Thanks!

[@allenwoods790]

I also love that jig. I don't do much lathe work, but that type of thing would get me making more on it.

[@Hatchmade]

You are the absolute king of jigs! I wish my mind worked like yours

[@cliffart7398]

I love your work and your creativity. I can see use such a jig for a lot of spiral work on the lathe. you definitely think outside the box.

[@reforzar]

This is quite clever. I’m glad you showed so much of it.

[@krtwood]

Thanks, Brian!

[@moominadam84]

What a wonderfully satisfying jig you've made. Love the complexity of calculation and yet the simplistic design.

[@rroe5718]

Ran into your video while looking for a faster way to cut Russian type Onion Shapped domes for some Christmas ornaments I want to do. The Twist is the trick. Could cut them by hand but oh so time consuming. I like your method with the gears, but as with making most jigs, it also eats up a lot of time and is not worth the efforts unless your making hundreds. Love you gear combination jig though......best idea I've ever seen, but I know you definitely have many hours into this. Just figuring out the gear combinations must have been a challenge. Love the idea though. Would love to study this more and think about making one, but this would take a lot of pre-thought.......HA. Nice Job!!!

[@rack11]

These are very cool! Well done. The spiral-cutting jig alone is amazing.

[@LostWhits]

I like this a lot. Takes me back to the first time I read the book "Router Magic" by Bill Hylton. Very clever design

[@jbb5470]

WOW, you are on another level with your creativity and jig making! Absolutely amazing products and ingenuity! THANK You for posting, very interesting!

[@krtwood]

Thank you very much!

[@kookyflukes9749]

The concept and delivery of ideas is superb. Hope you sell all your stock. They are beautiful.

[@Coomanboo]

That is the coolest thing I have seen in a long time. Your mind is wow! I could have never thought something like this up. That is next next level stuff right there!!

[@krtwood]

Thanks!

[@billrogers6256]

Here I was thinking how something could work this way. GENIOUS!

[@randycosgrove3608]

Very nicely done. Great concept, problem solving and execution. Love the way your mind works.

[@krtwood]

Thank you, Randy!

[@paulkelly1702]

You are a very patient man. And talented

[@krtwood]

Thanks!

[@jeffreyvaniderstine9768]

Wow. Nice job. Love the jigs. Brilliant.

[@lv_woodturner3899]

An impressive jig. I can imagine the time to make the jig. Likely a few iterations on some or most of the parts. I would have hogged out most of the material before using the router jig to make the sweep. You mentioned the tailstock is now hard to move in and out. It sounds like the thread on the quill and/or the screw is swaged. This happened to a member of my local turning club. I had to machine a new screw then use the new screw to re-swag the quill internal thread. I may be able to fix this for you if you just need a new screw. Machining external left hand thread is not a problem. I would need you to send me the quill and screw for inspection and potential repair. Dave.

[@krtwood]

That's an amazing offer. I think I may end up making these once a year so I'm afraid I would just keep damaging it again if I can't get away without using the extension. I thought about buying all the parts for the tailstock to have another good one and swap the bad one in just for this but the cost is about half that of the whole lathe. I find that removing the bulk of the material with the router goes pretty fast. It's on the last few shallow passes where it starts acting like a climb cut and wants to take off so I have to slow down and keep control over it.

[@glg3945]

You never cease to amaze!!!!! Awesome 👌! Love your work. Peace and good fortune and good health to you and your family.

[@krtwood]

Thanks!

[@sapelesteve]

Incredible work & that gig that you made is really over the top! 👏👏👍👍😉😉

[@krtwood]

Thanks!

[@woodfather]

Wow, I'm sure you spent time on the maths and knew it would clear, but the spinney metal router bit comes so close to the spinney metal lathe! Must have been scary the first time you used it! 😮 End result is lovely, brilliant thinking on all the jigs man, great stuff!

[@krtwood]

Thanks! I just went as far as I could with it.

[@LarryMcEvoy-he8pr]

Hi Kevin. Wonderful craftsmanship. Do you have a video of making the Jig used in this video please. Thank you. Keep up the great work.

[@Jevandtieriel]

I love your jigs. You might find turning a step into the spigot so it doesn’t bottom out in the chuck - pushing the step against the face of the chuck jaws - will give you better alignment and do without your spacer, and be easier on your tailstock 🤔😀

[@krtwood]

Good suggestion, thanks!

[@dtork47]

Very creative, fun to watch. So nicely done....

[@MrJdorrington]

I'm also banging out hand crafted items for the Xmas market. I recognise the glazed look in your eyes. Hang in there. Great jig!

[@HGD70]

You’re amazing and I’m looking forward to the arrival of my new ornament.

[@krtwood]

Thank you, Heather! Should be shipping Wed.

[@donfillenworth1721]

Interesting jig designs. Thanks for sharing.

[@IEnjoyCreatingVideos]

Great work Kevin! Thanks for sharing the video with us!💖👌👍😎JP

[@krtwood]

Thanks 👍

[@IEnjoyCreatingVideos]

Your very welcome Kevin! Have a great week!😎

[@stevebarker1302]

I mean, it’s really clever, and they look cool, I applaud your ingenuity and skill , but you could charge the same for a ‘standard’ Xmas tree ornament and make double the amount in the time it takes to make these. Especially factoring all the the time to figure out and make the jigs, new live centres and repairing your tail stock😉

[@krtwood]

That's just not how I roll.

[@danceswithaardvarks3284]

very cool. great that you provide an explanation too.

[@Nadirleso]

Amazing job, i love the way you came out to make such a nice ornament..so clever use of gears! Bravo!

[@krtwood]

Thank you!

[@DCDLaserCNC]

Very clever design!

[@kathymoser9750]

Great tree and great jigs. By now canyon make a tree in 20 mins? 10 mins?

[@carolynchatham6338]

Fabulous work

[@darryllspalding5211]

Wow turning trees into trees

[@Gunnahan]

at first i thought: "what kind of overengineered %&$% is that?" but it became clearer and clearer with every step that it is quite ingenious.. love it! and it reminded me of one of the reasosn i subscribed to the channel: the ideas you come up with for "mass"-production.. :-) thanks for sharing, as always!

[@krtwood]

Thank you!

[@raydriver7300]

You are so talented and have more patience than a hospital full of doctors

[@scottsimpey2965]

Very innovative setup, very creative idea. I would be interested in a video n how you built that.

[@samuelmellars7855]

Just as an idea, why not bandsaw it into a pyramid instead of just a wedge at first? To speed up the initial turning (less to remove)

[@jenniejernigan3688]

Fascinating.

[@loucinci3922]

creative. I like the process.

[@shaunbarrickman6339]

Very interesting setup!

[@krtwood]

Thanks, Shaun!

[@ratheanach5545]

Pure genius.

[@JoseSilveira-newhandleforYT]

That's a very clever jig! Loved it :-)

[@barend4803]

Thank you

[@tjacksonwoodworker3726]

Nice job Kevin!

[@krtwood]

Thanks!

[@daveparker839]

After I picked my chin up off the floor...I subscribed!

[@pettigrewwoodworks]

Well dang, that's just awesome!

[@sajadwoodwork]

Really nice and soooo technical

[@avoidtheherd7066]

Excellent from start to finish. Curious what you might be making out of the band saw cut-offs.

[@krtwood]

What makes you so sure I have them all kept in a box instead of throwing them out like a sensible person?

[@angelinaklineburgess5286]

Love these! Will visit the shop online !

[@themountainraven]

that texturizer 3000 is epic.

[@jamiekrautkremer7936]

Ok 5000 ... that’d be a lot to make. Hah. Very cool though. Really love seeing all the jigs you make, especially the dowel texturized 3000. I’ve only got the 2000 mk1 so maybe I gotta upgrade now 🤣

[@ronnakeil9848]

Love your channel.

[@krtwood]

Thank you!

[@charlesdowrick2075]

I think your determination is admirable. That being said, that was a beautiful setup.

[@gabrielvaldez6877]

Excelente mecanismo, muy ingenioso. Me encanta tu trabajo.

[@krtwood]

Gracias!

[@dmurray36]

Dowel Texturizer 3000 !!👍😂😂

[@ferko6]

Clever indeed 👍👍

[@jerryrigsit5400]

Pretty clever.

[@MrBuyerman]

Amazing precision, but I have to wonder at the point of all this. Looks like it took longer to make all the jigs than the time saved by actually making them.

[@guitarchitectural]

It's about learning and scale. What you learn can be applied to the next piece you design, and doing the jigs mean you can scale your work to as many orders as you get... This year, next year, the year after that... Personally I would probably try to find a way to do it with CNC

[@aaronparmeter8329]

Like your mechanism, not sure the router is needed for the first part of tree, I see the router being very useful on the groove. But overall, VERY NIce.

[@timothymcrae77]

Great work sir! Do you have a video and or plans available on how you made the jig?

[@lokitus242]

genius !!! you are !!!

[@jeremycatches9766]

Great Video, Thanks. The spiral part at the end was pretty cool, but I could start with a rectangle piece and get to the christmas tree shape useing just a chisel and lathe. Maybe I would use the band saw to make my block. But I really want to know the name of that saw you used it the opening shot. It looks like it would be a good saw to cut pieces for segmented projects in a small shop.

[@krtwood]

The miter saw? It's a Bosch Glide 10"

[@custos3249]

Curious why you didn't try (or at least didn't mention) making two at once mirrored on the lathe. Could be wrong, but I'd wager it'd at least help with a number of complications (with a little added complexity), especially with stability. Plus it'd make it so you could more easily remove bulk stock with a second bandsaw cut for the wings (or whatever you wanna call them) rather than having to turn them off on the lathe.

[@krtwood]

It never occurred to me. I came at it from the thought of a more typical spiral jig that runs parallel to the lathe but putting it an angle and then realized I could make it simpler by having it pivot through an arc. You'd use a lot more wood as you wouldn't be able to nest the points together. For the potential 5000 ornament job that would be many thousands of dollars. I'm not sure if the gear can turn that far before the router runs into the right angle gear. You'd also have to remount the one on the tailstock end in the chuck and it's hard to get something mounted so that it runs perfectly true so that part. I'm not sure you'd gain enough time to make up for the extra wood, if it's possible.

[@benbirdsill4709]

Geez, I just got the Dowel Texturizer 2000 paid off and it's already obsolete!

[@krtwood]

Planned obsolescence.

[@888Laurence]

Beautiful!

[@krtwood]

Thank you!

[@havelockvetinari9395]

Awesome.

[@steveroberts4762]

What kind of wood do you like to use for these?

[@krtwood]

Hard maple. I tried soft maple but it fuzzed a lot more cutting the spiral, though the bit was already dull by that point.

[@BrooksMoses]

I'm amused that your jig for drilling the hole in the base looks quite a lot like the jig the Christmas tree farm I go to uses to drill a hole in the bottom of the tree for attaching to the base -- the only difference is theirs is upside down compared to yours.

[@charlesdowrick2075]

I made one of those, only I drilled the proper size hole in a apiece of steel and filed teeth in it.

[@thomastieffenbacherdocsava1549]

As John H says "I can well imagine the time you put in to designing it." !!!!!!! Couldn't you have cut the piece with tail stock intact then trim when finished? Nice work K man

[@davidwilcox5916]

Ingenious design and work... but as a journeyman machinist for 25 years, watching your long sleeves dance less than an inch from a spinning chuck I am cringing for the inevitable wrap up of your entire arm before you can find the off button!

[@diyjapanwoodworkingfunitur9746]

muy bien!

[@AcHNoT]

Amazing. Your best video to date. I learn so much about doing small series with somewhat simple tool. So the 5000 deal didn't work out. How many did you sell?

[@krtwood]

I held off finishing any of them until now, so so far one.

[@AcHNoT]

@@krtwood auch. I really hope your hard work gets paid in the end. I'm a self employed woodworker myself and know how important it is to keep the money flowing in. If you were in Europe I would definitely buy a couple of trees to support you. Best regards. Rasmus from Denmark

[@ndothan]

I don't understand. Each pass is taking off the same amount of wood that a regular woodturning chisel would remove. This looks like a super complicated way of doing a fairly simple job

[@ndothan]

*THEN* I get to the spiral part and understand lol.

[@guitarchitectural]

Out of curiosity, could a 4th axis on a CNC do the same thing?

[@krtwood]

Not exactly, because the spindle can't rotate to follow the curve when doing the spiral. It would be better to do a straight taper.

[@guitarchitectural]

@@krtwood I see what you mean - it couldn't do the curving "sweeping" motion that keeps the bit perpendicular to the curve - but it could definitely move up the curve while the 4th axis is rotating (rotate the whole thing 90 degrees). probably wouldn't be as clean though, since the whole profile would be cut be the leading edge of the mill/spiral bit

[@1mxtreme]

Respect !!!

[@InAirWing]

Wow!

[@RealRuler2112]

Very, very very slick! =)

[@krtwood]

Thanks!

[@RoyBlumenthal]

I can't believe those ornaments only cost US$8000 each!

[@rossfudd256]

Did you see the runout in your tail stock, when you started the router cut?

[@krtwood]

It's from the tail stock extension and the piece not being perfectly centered to where the divot from turning between centers vs being in the chuck.

[@MikeAG333]

I'm pretty sure your tailstock shouldn't be wobbling about like that.

[@purpleidea]

I was about to buy one, but the uncertainty of how much it will cost in duties to ship to Canada (as per your Etsy page) makes this unknown possibly out of my budget. If you can fix that, lmk. Sorry!

[@krtwood]

I put the listing up late last night with just US shipping available. Just added shipping to Canada for $8. There won't be any brokerage fees but you may have some tax.

[@camilobravo6035]

Awesome

[@krtwood]

Thanks!

[@TheBookDoctor]

My skeptical-eyebrow goes up when somebody titles their own thing as "clever", but in this case it's well justified. Very cool.

[@CharlesKiblinger]

Just ordered one! I might place another order later for 5000; that ok? :)

[@krtwood]

Thank you, Charles. You can order as many as you like as long as the check clears and you don't mind waiting a year!

[@michaeljones6832]

hate to bump the power on the lathe by accident

[@stevebettany8778]

Will you be doing any deals on the dowel texturiser for Black Friday?

[@krtwood]

Get four Dowel Texturizer 3000s for only one extra payment!

[@Everfalling]

can you break down how you got 20 minutes per item for 5000 items? cause if my figuring is right it would take you a little over 200 8-hour days to do that.

[@krtwood]

20 minutes just on the lathe to get it totally completed in 30 minutes. I'm also not a robot so if it takes exactly 30 minutes start to finish if everything goes right then I'm always going to fall behind.

[@Everfalling]

@@krtwood so was my math correct though? did you budget basically an entire year of doing nothing but making these?

[@krtwood]

Yup. Money would have been far better than anything else I've ever done.

[@Cesardoc1]

Since you’re only using a small area of your lathe could you make 2 at a time? |]>

[@krtwood]

I gave a longer reply to someone else on this, but short version: I/m not sure but it would use a lot more wood.

[@crackerjack3359]

Nice. There is an engineer in their somewhere.