Making 300 Walnut Christmas Ornaments

Wesley saves Christmas! A client needed more than 300 solid walnut ornaments in time for Christmas, so that's what they got.
PATREON EXCLUSIVES
If you'd like to help support my channel and get access to exclusive content, visit / wesleytreat .
GIVEAWAY
Congratulations to Terri, Erik and Mike! You will be receiving your ornament shortly. And thanks to everyone who participated in the giveaway!
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TOOLS FEATURED IN THIS VIDEO
▶ Insta-Set CA Glue Accelerator: amzn.to/2PymbLt
▶ 3M Virtua CCS Protective Eyewear: amzn.to/2l5EITE
▶ 3M Half Facepiece Silicone Respirator: amzn.to/2jcqkZk
▶ 3M 6001 Organic Vapor Cartridge & Prefilter Kit: amzn.to/2z7WJWI
▶ Bench Dog Tools Push-Bloc: amzn.to/2pzvf9c
▶ DeWalt DW735X 13-Inch Thickness Planer: amzn.to/2t7Mrqa
▶ DeWalt DWE7480 Compact Job Site Table Saw: amzn.to/2naVDlR
▶ DeWalt 20V Max Drill & Driver Kit: amzn.to/2hLB64q
▶ Ridgid Oscillating Belt/Spindle Sander: amzn.to/2jB3dEB
OTHER NOTES
▶ The design is based on an abstract work of metal by artist William Millsap, who passed away in December of 2017. The whereabouts of the original piece are unknown; only a photo exists. Designer Charlie Pruitt interpreted the piece as a digital topographic rendering, which I adapted to work as a wood carving.
▶ Running two blanks on the robot, yielding 7 ornaments each, took exactly 3 hours to carve.

[@WesleyTreat]

For more information on the design, please see the video description. Thanks!

[@wileecoyoti]

Awesome! I'm sure most people severely underestimate what it takes to make 300 of anything. I trained as a printmaker originally and I remember an instructor telling us that "if you want to make something the right way, try making 100 identical ones." He's right too, really changes your vision of craftsmanship.

[@MakeBrooklyn]

Wow, that was a pretty good sized production run .... you don't generally get to see too much of production process detail since most YT makers are making one off things, this is a nice change of perspective! Cheers!!

[@evilutionltd]

"close and very dear friend Tim Sway..." circles the wrong person. lol.

[@kentnlindsey]

This video is of the quality worthy of an approval from Mr. Rodgers! We thought the ornaments were perfect and we have received so many compliments on how terrific the craftsmanship is!

[@whatdouherewhatdousay4304]

What is it sorry .with not sounding cheeky i carnt see what it is .

[@neilf4128]

The power of Editing... You make everything look so effortless.

[@tayloru8282]

You and your tools deserve a huge round of applause for all of the hard work that went into this!! They're awesome.

[@evren.builds]

Securing work pieces to the CNC surface with two layers of tape and superglue is a brilliant idea! Thanks ^^

[@theboys8692]

What a great presenter you are! Fantastic entertaining and instructive videos. Cheers.

[@edunabie]

Very nice job, but it still broke my heart watching all that beautiful walnut being chopped into small pieces. What i'd give to get my hands on those planks :p

[@MrMoosefire]

You could just give money to a lumber supplier...

[@Tom-hz9oc]

A friend has some walnut trees, so he brings me limbs to work with and nuts to eat.

[@_cb336]

Just discovered your channel and really enjoying everything I’ve watched so far. I love the printed reference for orienting the pieces in the drill press. I have to make those brain fart avoidance pieces myself, too :) Thanks for the great content. Happy New Year.

[@Newfie1956]

What is that design supposed to be?

[@chunk1978]

Happy holidays, Wesley! Another great video. Looking forward to seeing more from you in the new year.

[@steelsunpi]

Latecomer to your channel. Nice to see the steps you take to batch out a large amount of stuff like this. And that it's not just throwing a board on the CNC. I like the holding template you made with the CNC to hold the planks on the CNC.

[@Rouverius]

Thanks for showing you batch process. I always enjoy seeing the "need-a-tool-make-a-tool" solutions as well. Yeah, Happy, um... Saturday!

[@greg4673]

Not really tool, I think you mean 'jig' or jigs. A shop is only as good as it's weakest jig. [I just made that up]

[@MarkATrombley]

A fortune in sawdust.

[@Ziraya0]

If you had the CNC mill a slight indent at the divide between the pieces, you could mount a pin or dowel section on the tablesaw sled so the bar would snap into place for fast repeatable cuts, like with fingerjoints. If the indent is small enough it would be cut out by the saw with no trace. As long as the center point of the indent (assuming circular) is outside the wood, you can just dive in like a drill and it should be pretty quick, hopefully using time where you're working on something else anyway.

[@WesleyTreat]

I considered setting up something like that, but realized I was over-thinking it. After doing a few, I learned it was easy enough to line up the divide between the ornaments with the slot in the sled. It was probably the fastest part of the whole process, except maybe the sanding.

[@theebalz]

Excellent video and learned a lot. Thanks for the post. Wish you were in Colorado.

[@DowneastThunderCreations]

Merry Christmas, Wesley!

[@ChristopherSmith-bh4sz]

Good job, just imagine all the lovely boxes or furniture that could have been made though.

[@WesleyTreat]

I didn't buy up the last walnut in the world.

[@jonhatton4354]

You clearly saved the day! I was commissioned for 3,000 ornaments last year on the laser… and only 14 days to finish and individually package.

[@garagemonkeysan]

Wow that was exciting! Great film! : )

[@imari2305]

Just beautiful!!

[@jdsgotninelives]

Incredibly satisfying with that video editing style of yours. Have a completely Merry Christmas. I await your next masterpiece with a Christmas Bon Bon pop kind of suspense.

[@gatekeeper65]

Your videos always make me want to go make stuff. Thanks.

[@dereishus01]

Editing in this was amazing. Of course the end product is great, too

[@mfeldheim]

The hustle is real oO Good job Santa :)

[@MrBobbyd45]

Enjoy your videos and I really like the cnc router table. Made fast work of the wood carving.

[@sigung01]

I love your process but am bereft of comprehending how this is in any way a Christmas ornament.

[@WesleyTreat]

Video description.

[@R0swell5104]

Glad it wasn't just me.

[@kv501]

Wow, impressive project!! With 64 hours CNC time, probably at least that much in additional labor, programming, walnut stock, bits, saw blades, etc, I sure hope that invoice was well north of $7,500 or you lost money :)

[@Chef_PC]

I was wondering kind of the same thing myself. How much did he charge per unit?

[@clearcut6818]

$5

[@jerrycarroll4581]

Excellent video as always. Keep it up.

[@JohnColgan.]

That was a great production line. Well planned out. Good idea to 0aste paper image for the drilling section, avoids drilling upside down!. I was trying to work out what the image was, expecting a roughing & detail cut, shows my appreciation of "modern art" !!

[@RobinGingerich]

Love it! Was waiting for this to come out... but I have to point out... you missed Tim... 😂 lol

[@chaserwilliams1]

Walnut makes such pretty saw dust.

[@cindywoodel5161]

That was amazing!!

[@MichaelAlm]

Hahaha the Jacob Marley joke got me. Well done Wesley, and I love those time lapses. 9:18 is especially nice.

[@emotisean]

One of the first people to make watching a CNC interesting, rather than only speeding it up and putting music behind it. I love the accidental screw up even if it was on purpose it made CNC watching 100 times more interesting haha

[@nighthawk2k3rsx]

Nice save on the cnc speed haha

[@vcancer]

You must have dreamt making all those ornaments for days after you finished. Reminds me of that program, How Its Made! where you see the process of the product from the beginning to its end.

[@anthony10370]

wow use a hydraulic press to compress those shavings and heat your home for the winter.

[@greg4673]

I'd really like to know what method you used to come up with pricing, ending up with retail/wholesale quantity pricing to the client. The shop stuff is interesting and all, but so much depends on what cost v end-user price exists in order to even attempt these projects. I'm sure I'm not alone in this quandary.

[@shaukeki]

Curious. Of where is the topography?

[@1D10CRACY]

Looks like one of the landscapes in Sim City 2k.

[@Ziraya0]

these look real nice, I like the 3D rendition of the 2D rendition of terrain topography. Seems a bit heavy for an ornament though.

[@WesleyTreat]

They're only about 3 oz. each. My mother has glass ornaments that are heavier.

[@videogalore]

Wow - great project and nice to be able to get someone out of a hole as well! I appreciate that you're using a face mask on the chop saw, but your dust collection bag could be working a lot harder than it is - not sure what's going on there?

[@debishipman2761]

Beautifully done and in my favorite walnut. The only problem I see with it is that it has to be just a display ornament.. it would be too heavy for a tree.

[@WesleyTreat]

Aren't all ornaments display ornaments? Besides, they're not nearly as heavy as they look. They're rather light, actually.

[@momobadilak]

These are really cool - ...soo, where do the walnuts go? ;)

[@TrotterG]

Editing and pacing on this were great! It would have been really easy to get bogged down where we have to suffer through the same monotony you did. 3:12 and 3:30 are good examples of how your cuts that let the audio from the previous clip persist can be pretty unnerving from a safety standpoint. :)

[@freddye.9929]

Yo no entiendo su idioma y no supe cual era la funcion de las piezas.

[@TheEveryMaker]

All that leftover walnut scrap, so many possibilities! You may want to check your circle and hearts, Cammie is an awesome guy, but I think you mean to put that around Tim?

[@WesleyTreat]

No, no, Tim and I are very close. Best of friends.

[@AdityaMehendale]

What made the bugs run at 9:11 ? (look at the floor, left and right of the workbench)

[@WesleyTreat]

The floor was strangely covered with millipedes that day.

[@nancy28352]

What are they?

[@snaplash]

I tried that super glue & blue tape trick. The glue didn't stick to the tape.

[@inspectorsteve2287]

That CNC machine is awesome. Where did you get it?

[@WesleyTreat]

It's an X-Carve from Inventables.

[@bg73]

it looks like topography

[@piercer4882]

I'm pretty sure the main ingredient in the super glue activator that you are using is just isopropyl alcohol. . I use the loctite 427 and that is what the activator for it was.. I bought a spray bottle at a dollar store and it's much cheaper!

[@jsainz]

How many end mills did it take? Also I really enjoyed the video, thank you.

[@WesleyTreat]

Only 4, surprisingly. And one of them broke early in its life.

[@budwoodman1716]

Looks nice, although I don't quite understand what makes this particular design 'Christmasy'?

[@WesleyTreat]

I don't understand how a tree parasite is romantic, but people kiss under it every year.

[@JohnColgan.]

2nd watch through ... You ringed the wrong Tim Sway!! Tim is the one in Carolina baseball cap

[@GibClark]

👍👍👍👍

[@jaboi9900]

What are they supposed to represent??

[@WesleyTreat]

Man's struggle against reading the video description

[@mikethompson9745]

What exactly did you make? I don't see it, is it a puzzle type? 3D relief thing I am looking at 3:34 and I just can't make it out.

[@WesleyTreat]

Video description 👍

[@stoffer108]

0:29 TARDIS!?

[@kiuakakirstine8257]

A W E S O m E !

[@Uncle_S_Word]

I can't figure out what these actually are. They look like random shapes

[@WesleyTreat]

Video description

[@MarcelDiane]

Cool stuff, I have a SqWAYre, do you?

[@WesleyTreat]

Tim and I don't feel a need to be demonstrative.

[@canberradogfarts]

Santa level 72

[@phonotical]

What even is that design?

[@WesleyTreat]

I mention that at the end. It's based on a sculpture by one of the client's founders, who passed away last year.

[@phonotical]

@@WesleyTreat oh no, I heard that part, it's still weird 😅 like, would everyone who sees it get it? Or think the people are really into the ordinance survey map...

[@WesleyTreat]

Everyone who receives an ornament has had a relationship with the client, and each one is sent out with an insert that explains the significance of the design.

[@phonotical]

@@WesleyTreat modern art with a, this way up, indicator 😂

[@phonotical]

@UC3IQy_ybqBhbWnfU-C06TZg 33"

[@JarrodCoombes]

I had to google Jacob Marley. I fail at Xmas.... Great reference/joke though :D

[@phonotical]

Why did it have to be walnut

[@WesleyTreat]

The client wanted a nice dark wood, and walnut machines nicely.

[@phonotical]

@@WesleyTreat I thought that when you were cutting it, no saw marks! Got to get me some trees... And a saw... And any appreciable skill

[@mimeograph6509]

"walnut. why'd it have to be walnut?" -indiana jatoba

[@neillouise7533]

Are you a good little boy or girl/ Or a bad little boy or girl to get a wooden brownie for christmas?

[@Uncle_Buzz]

Wesley, are you a ham? Cheers! Chris (NI7I)

[@WesleyTreat]

A Christmas ham.

[@scottmoe6700]

What is it?

[@WesleyTreat]

Video description 👍

[@scottmoe6700]

@@WesleyTreat en ornament of what? Just looks like random pattern

[@WesleyTreat]

@@scottmoe6700 The explanation is in the video description 👍‍

[@legomaker3105]

Next time you have a project that involves a lot of repetition like this one did, try hitting Ctrl+C on your camera and then Ctrl+P as many times as you need to get all the parts. Hope that helps!

[@Simsy5861]

Shame to see such beautiful big boards cut up to make small "ornaments" like that. Timber like that just isn't available in many parts of the world and is a shrinking resource. Isn't there an alternative?

[@WesleyTreat]

Small pieces of wood come from big pieces of wood. I'm not sure how else one would make 300+ items for a client.

[@brtrimmer132]

We grow walnut trees all the time. not real sure how they're running out or how some wealthy is more important than an ornament cherished by many?

[@beeldhouwerijvanvelzen1533]

More of a shame to think 90% of the receivers will throw this in the bin after Christmas.

[@WesleyTreat]

@@beeldhouwerijvanvelzen1533 Such a ringing endorsement of my work.

[@beeldhouwerijvanvelzen1533]

Yes, that makes it doubly sad. Your work is always high quality.

[@seancrowley7520]

That's a lot of dead, cut up, trees...then further cut up to make things to hang on......dead cut down trees.

[@WesleyTreat]

... he types, on his petroleum-based-plastic device.

[@onefeather2]

Not being mean but I Don't see anything Christmas about them, they look like a bunch of mistakes.

[@WesleyTreat]

The explanation is in the video description. It's a tribute to a deceased colleague of the client.

[@jackhand3429]

dislike

[@WesleyTreat]

don't care