Woodturning Segmented Candle Stands

[@wouldntyaliktono]

If you've got a hole down the center, I bet you could put a keyway into it on each layer. If you rotate the location of the keyway by a fixed amount, then you can run a post with a spline up through the hole, and all the layers will rotate to accommodate. The angle of the offset determines how much twist you see in the final product.

[@shannonvans]

I wish my projects that didn't turn out like I wanted looked as good as yours! Thank you for all you've shared this year, it's always a joy to watch what you are marking. Can't wait to see what 2024 brings!

[@chadleathers8475]

Frank, I've been a subscriber for like 10 years this cinematography is UNBELIEVABLE!

[@mbraun2537]

The pattern didn’t line up because of the turning and making the diameter smaller, not because of slipping. The pattern was probably pretty close before the turn, but because you essentially make each disk a different size, the pattern no longer lines up with the disk it’s next to, because it also has a different dimension than it’s neighboring disk. Not sure how you solve for that. Possible to clamp together during turning without glue (threaded rod down middle?) and then rotate and clamp once turning is done so the stripe aligns? Looks great tho! Fantastic work as always, Frank!

[@imaxinsertnounherex]

Merry Christmas! I hope Your family makes it through 2024 ok!

[@MakewithMatt]

Merry Christmas and happy holidays Frank. Thanks for everything in 2023 and all the best in 2024! Cheers

[@BudionoSukses]

happy holiday

[@onefeather2]

Love love purple heart, one of my favorite wood.🎄🎅🤶🎄

[@sgsax]

I always look forward to your holiday projects. In spite of not getting the strip to align perfectly, which I think is a matter of geometry and not necessarily lack of perfect disk alignment, these candle sticks still look lovely. Hope you have a lovely holiday season with your family. Thanks for sharing!

[@danfromnorth52]

It’s officially Christmas. Thanks Frank

[@terminalpsychosis8022]

An attempt was made. Marry Christmas anyway. Looking forward to 2024 projects. 🙂

[@robertcotrell9810]

I was expecting a shot with the skinny candles too! Those looked good despite the pattern "malfunction"

[@sydneymcconnaughhay5947]

Thank you for your excellent videos ,, Merry Christmas to you and your family,,,. From a very happy viewer.

[@gjack2008]

I love the real life implications… Frank, those are cool. Yeah, thanks they are from that tree I cut down.

[@williamrice2683]

Thanks for all the entertainment this year. Always enjoy. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 🎉

[@SmallHoleInTheForest]

Have you thought about using either the CNC or a jig on the drill press to put 2 or even 3 holes in the rings, close enough to the center to not show in the final turning, but then you could stack the rings on dowels that would clock the rings to each other and align the pattern. I would've said to leave one purpleheart segment proud of the top of the ring by say 1/8" so they interlock, but with the angled cuts you might end up with a tiny void in each one. Merry Christmas to you and yours Frank, thanks for another year of entertaining and inspiring videos.

[@arnhemseptember2009]

All the best for 2024 from Holland!

[@warrenwerks]

One of my favorite parts of Christmas is your ornament video, thank you for all the amazing work and inspiration! And a Merry Christmas to you and your family as well!

[@SnappyWasHere]

It’s like an old dot matrix printer. I kinda like the blocky look of it!

[@hebierob]

Aw Frank, nice job and Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and yours, from Texas!!

[@mgbeck98]

I think the fact that they didn't turn out perfect speaks to their perfection...

[@frankmakes]

True 😍

[@awnassowey]

Maybe you could have lined up each segment with a notch or groove that was hidden inside. The segments would be locked together. Could probably be all mapped out on CNC. Thanks for letting us in the shop! Happy Holidays!

[@MASI_forging]

It became a work of art 😊😊

[@thebobloblawshow8832]

I think they look really cool.

[@dien2no423]

Hello Frank - two ideas for you to align the segments and to ensure they are flat and parallel: I use a waste block on the headstock (mounted with faceplate or chuck) and begin mounting/gluing ring by ring. On the tailstock end I use a Nova Cole jaw chuck to hold the piece I want to mount to the headstock piece, building and flattening each piece as I go. The Cole jaw enables me to center and align subsequent pieces. The tail stock end will require a live center mount so you can rotate the piece to align perfectly, while the glue is still workable. Once you have glued the piece you can use a flat board, with a 60 or 80 grit sanding belt (4X24 belt I think) glued to it, to flatten and make parallel. I use a drum sander for all of my segment discs to do most of the flattening and thicknessing, and rarely need to sand once glued, but it doesn't hurt to check flatness with a straight edge before gluing the next piece. I learned most of my segmented tricks and methods from two primary sources: The Art of Segmented Woodturning by Malcolm Tibbetts (a master segmented wood turner) and KZbinr, Earl's Small Segment Shop., another master. Earl has answers (and video) that better explain what I tried to say above - kzbin.info/www/bejne/hYW7qKyDqKtooNU in one of his teaching examples. If you want pictures of my pieces mounted on my lathe let me know and I will gladly send em along. AND thank you for your wonderful and inspiring work.

[@idkmachining6892]

RE: lining up the helical pattern. If you first made a cylinder of the primary wood, you could then cut the helical grooves, glue in the accent wood and then turn to final shape. To cut the helix you could use a 4th axis on the cnc, or some type of jig on a table saw or router. Just a thought, cool project and enjoy your videos. Cheers!

[@christopherblevins1968]

Merry Christmas to you and yours, as well!!

[@loucinci3922]

Merry Christmas! Enjoyed the video. Thanks for sharing

[@2HME]

I have several different size centering cones I made to go in my tail stock in a live drill chuck to self center rings on my lathe. I build my turning on the lathe. It takes a bit longer, but my rings center up every time.

[@durandanne-john6621]

Best wishes from France of merry Xmas and happy new year 2024

[@normalhome]

Merry Christmas, and thank you for another year of instructional entertainment...

[@iheartmops]

Hi, Frank, gorgeous pieces as always. Maybe someone else has said this already, but for the alignment of the strips, you were attempting a literally impossible task. In order for the segments to line up after turning away an arbitrary amount of the material, the internal shape would need to have a twist to it, like, say, a piece of rotini pasta. Such a shape is a continuous curve, not made up of planar polygonal segments. So by making it out of planar segments, and aligning them at the outer diameter, you were guaranteeing that they wouldn't align at any inner (turned) diameter. This is because the inside will always end up having a different twist than the outside. I like the idea of staggering the pieces so that they just don't need to line up with each other.

[@dcolinmorgan]

less CNC FTW!! love your work & happy holidays🎄

[@virtualfather4117]

Thank you for all the videos this year

[@JoshBayerWoodturning]

Thanks Frank. Merry Christmas

[@rascarcapac19]

Joyeux Noël et bonne année à vous et tous vos proches.

[@Hey_Its_That_Guy]

Merry Christmas, Frank! Wishing you and yours, the very best!

[@Acgallen]

Merry Christmas and have a great safe new year Frank. Thank you for the inspiring content you put out.

[@buff_panda]

It will take a lot of math to get it correct because the diameter varies in each segment, and your purple heart alignment will be different as well. My suggestion is: 1) to turn a plain candle holder first, 2) use your CNC to cut slots, 3) cut the candle holder into segments. this way it's easier to study the correct offsets.

[@Bob_Adkins]

Hi Frank. Merry Christmas to you and your family! Because the candle holder is different diameters at different points along the length, the alignment is super critical. Maybe you could mill a spiral slot with the CNC spindle and stuff the slot with contrasting wood. A bonus is, it may be an opportunity to add a CNC rotary chuck to your tool inventory! :)

[@RobertEchten]

I think he already has one...

[@Louis-e8n]

I guess this is late but merry Christmas to you and your family and happy new year.

[@ShadowzGSD]

did something a bit like this in school a few decades ago. i can't remember the exact details but i do remember using a dowel with the spiral marked on it and lining it up by threading each section on the dowel and lining it up with the spiral on the dowel. the dowel also stopped anything slipping when glued up.

[@blacksiddha]

Merry Christmas from New Zealand. Thank you for another great year of interesting content.

[@glennmacneil7957]

Hi Frank, I love your work. I had a similar project I had in mind, but I haven’t started yet because of the alignment problem you mentioned. I want to make large candy canes out of paduk and maple, with a torus at the top to twist the “cane”. Ill try all one color first… anyway, try making the “stripe” piece a little thicker than the maine piece and you will create a “gear effect” with each layer. Then you can align each layer with a pin in your plywood clamping blocks. Setup will take time, but glue up should be faster… the only other thing could be using your lathe for glueup, and putting a chuck on each end and turning the index a specific turn to make the offset the same with each layer

[@AndreiBadoiu]

The best of wishes for you and your family! Thank you for all the wonderful projects you share!

[@plainnpretty]

Merry Christmas Frank to you & your family

[@cmdraftbrn]

it gives it character

[@johnmay3266]

Merry Christmas Frank and to your family.

[@alistersshop5787]

I hope tour kids are doing fine, it's wierd to don't see them in your Christmas video :) Happy holidays !!

[@MontanaBrandTools]

Nice countersink! 😎

[@Rovinman]

You could always use the technique of the concrete cooling tower ! These use straight reinforcement, but slanted ! The way to achieve this is to make the Top and bottom discs different sizes. Smaller at the top , larger at the bottom ! If the same number of small slots are drilled to the circumference edge of the top and bottom plates, and the discs are separated by thin wooden dowels, {like chopsticks}, cut to the length required, then when the plates are rotated in opposite directions, and the drilled slots in the plates are ""Sloppy"" enough to allow this , then a HYPERBOLOID shape will appear, Necking in proportion to the sizes of the discs. This can be in the different colour of wood, and if enough discs are used, and thin flat sheet used as ribs, then a similar object to the Candle-Stick can be made, and turned as required. ! Good luck !

[@brianpoi5117]

You have a fourth axis for your CNC ... would take some trial and error, but I'd turn a solid maple candle in the shape you want, then program the CNC to cut grooves strips you then fill in with steamed purple heart. You'd essentially be cutting a very low TPI screw thread.

[@AdamEarl2]

When you get your segments glued into the flat slices, you could put those up on the cnc, mill out a hole in the exact middle and an orientation hole in one of the purple heart slices. Then use a small dowel to line up the slices as you build each layer

[@charlesnichols1215]

Merry Christmas to you and your family as well. I really enjoy your insights from outside of the woodturning box.

[@BrailsfordWoodworks]

You had a hole in the center of all of them. I would have glued them all at once on my glue up jig (which is just a piece of plywood with a 3/8" threaded rod out of the center). Then stack them and line them up. Or I would have offset them by the width of the colored piece. I think putting them all on a rod would have helped to keep them all lined up better. But your work is amazing anyway. Merry Christmas!

[@LemmingGoBoom]

Frank seeing as you've got the CNC, you could make a keyed jig out of something like UHMW that the wood glue won't adhere to, and create the rings with the stripes slightly proud on one side and slightly recessed on the other. Then when you go to assemble the rings into the bigger hole they'd actually key together and alight perfectly.

[@Hmoigkaen]

Align it as a square cube first. So make the shape you want inside of a block, then carve down to the final shapes. Use the cube sides for correct angle placement when glueing

[@ceasewatercolorarts]

This are beautiful. I love the "slightly" offset purple heart I think better anyway. Makes it look like it's hand made. Not gonna lie, it's not christmas without a half hearted "Merry Christmas" from Claire and Calvin.

[@petruzzovichi]

Beautiful job. I'm envious!!! Well done.

[@arcrad]

Use the CNC to cut two or three alignment holes in each layer. Use pins to register each layer correctly to the preceeding one.

[@sdspivey]

There is a hole in the middle of each ring, so run a threaded rod through all the rings, with a block on each end, to glue all of them together. You can adjust each ring's rotation as you tighten nuts on the rod. I would rotate each so that the stripe was just beyond the previous, a saw-step sort of. Then it wouldn't matter if they "line up" because it is obvious they're not supposed to.

[@MarshallLoveday]

Merry Christmas to you and your family, Frank. And thank you for all the marvelous videos throughout the year.

[@andresilva8444]

Maybe when glueing up, if the purpleheart was a couple of mils up from the maple, it would key into the next. But the glue clean up would have been massive. Good job anyway.

[@James.......]

Merry Christmas

[@leonardoguardia8313]

You’re awesome! From Brasil 🇧🇷

[@jakesazer-hopf8211]

You might be able to make the purple heart pieces slightly shorter than the maple ones, this would leave grooves going up the work pieces which you could slot in flexible strips to index them all together. You would still be able to use your hose clamps and it would ensure the pieces line up

[@frankmakes]

I like this. I could even use the hose clamps again while gluing the rings to each other. the Hose clamp could hold a small scrap piece in those slots that are left by the small size of the purple heart.

[@EPgeek]

A good way to get a twist pattern to line up is to turn one ring, then glue on the next ring so the pattern aligns. It's pretty tedious with a lot of rings, but the result is about as perfect as is achievable. Happy Christmas.

[@robstrong3177]

Glue it up with a water-soluble glue; turn it; soak out the glue and realign the seams.

[@royunderwood7514]

Great video. Always enjoy seeing your building process.

[@sapelesteve]

Terrific candle stands Frank! Happy Holidays to you & your family! 🌲🌲💥💥

[@TheReloadingable]

Merry Christmas! An idea popped up as for how to align the pattern: In this specific case, you could offset the red stripes for each segment in the Z-Axis, so that they slide into each other aligned. The protruding red stripes from one segment would slide into the respective created grooves by the below segment. Definitely would cause its own difficulties.

[@russellhaddock494]

I had the same thought. You could also cut them with a step, so the outside is still flush but the inside is offset.

[@mikedean2004]

I had the same thought. It would complicate the camp up process though. the red segments would need to be offset a consistent distance on each layer. This could be done with a spacer, cut would need to modify the sandwich glue up to accommodate the protrusions.

[@TheWangbolizhong]

Merry Christmas🎄

[@mandyleeson1]

Happy Christmas to you and your family Frank. I'm not sure if this would be a good solution, but you could drill a hole in the middle of each segment and make a 'dowel stand' to mount the segments onto, hopefully giving you a bit more control over the alignment? I think I'd have to try it out to see if it made a difference....

[@RobbieBeswick]

You could glue up a segmented ring without the purple wood, then using the lathe attachment on the CNC cut a channel, rotate, cut another channel etc then glue a strip of wood down that slot, that way you don’t have to line up anything

[@frankmakes]

I've been thinking if one wants a straight stripe along the vertical axis of the piece, this might be the only way to do it. I was wondering about maybe even a jig for the table saw that holds the cylinder as a dado is cut along the length at an angle.

[@alifetomake]

I think you need the centers and the exteriors of the rings to be the same. So a jig with a central rod, and a border, that would keep both in place would be my idea.

[@steveschriefer2733]

Great project, as always. I was thinking you could cut one set of the purple heart 1/4" longer than the rest. You'd use it in the first glue up ring and then each subsequent ring would slot into the layer below. This would also require construction of one layer stacked on the one below.

[@judemartynski1556]

Merry Christmas Frank, thank you as always for the videos.

[@daviddickmeyer5231]

Merry Christmas Frank. Nice video as always.

[@AlexMusayev]

Merry Christmas, Frank, and happy holidays! Thank you for the video. Your Christmas specials are always a treat ✨ Here is an idea for aligning the slices inside a candle stand or any turned object: (1) Turn the solid workpiece using one type of tree. (2) Slice in with a band saw. Aligning a turned object for a band saw cut could be tricky, but you can use CNC to make some sacrificial fixture elements. (3) Glue the slices back together, alternating each slice with a thin panel of the second type of tree. (4) Turn the assembly again to remove the excess material. Removing some of the material on the band saw before turning is worth it. This approach should guarantee the perfect pattern alignment since the traverse lines are solid wood parts.

[@wecarver68]

Merry Christmas, Frank and your family. That candle stand would give me better idea since I got the lathe.

[@frankmakes]

Yay!

[@SamWestrick]

About the misalignment: your final candleholder has many different radiuses along its length, and it seems like the misalignment is most significant at the smallest radiuses (near the top of the holder, before the flare). I think the alignment of the pattern depends on the radius. You began by aligning the pattern at a large radius (when the rings were uncut), and then removed material, exposing a different pattern at a smaller radius. It's possible that you could fix this by using a different shape for the purple wafers. Yours had parallel sides, but perhaps you could try a wedge shape. Alternatively, crazy idea: use hotglue to hold the rings together while you turn them, and then afterwards, separate the rings and twist them to align the pattern. So, the final glue-up of the rings would be after finishing all the turning. Would this work?

[@skbell821]

Merry Christmas, Frank! It is always interesting to see your Christmas ornament turnings. For alignment, could you turn the maple first (without the purpleheart segments) and get that shaped the way you want it. Then route a spiral groove to hold the purple heart. It would require precise and synchronized turning of the wood and advancement of the router to create the "barber pole" effect. Craftsman used to make a device call a Router Crafter than did this (CNC would do this now). Then a thin strip of steam-softened purpleheart could be inlayed into the groove. Then, turn the piece again for final smoothing. I realize this may move away from the "segmented" concept for the project, but the spiral would be pretty much dead on.

[@DearHenryA]

What about just using the CNC to cut curved slots and inlay the different wood? I know it isn't segmented but it would not have the staggering effect from the layers.

[@phase1geo]

Merry Christmas, Frank!

[@minutemark]

Merry Christmas, Frank

[@ericdalbert133]

Maybe if you put wood pins during the glue up ? for alignement ?

[@DanStone1025]

Nice work, as with all of your projects. How about making your blank with angled purple heart, then cut slices off and then glue it back in the segmented line that you want. Seems like it would have at least been faster and less tedious.

[@runrin_]

i'm not a woodworker, but i had a few ideas for lining up the segments: there might be a way to use the cnc (and math) to make holes for small alignment dowels or pins in each segment. not sure how you would mount them accurately on the cnc, but im sure it could be done. another idea would be to sandwich a thin layer of veneer of the darker wood between every layer. that would hide the offsets pretty well (like those optical illusions), but would significantly change the design...

[@frankmakes]

Your first idea with the alignment pins could work but it would be a lot of work. Perhaps once a system was set up it wouldn't be too bad. I like your second idea of hiding the problem in plain sight.

[@RafaelPesso]

The coloring reminds of a candy cane

[@tedapke6519]

Merry Christmas Frank.

[@Ranko_o3o]

To align the rings better, having the thin strips be longer (radially) and thus poking out would allow to clamp them together at a continuous spiraling angle with the ones from above and below during the gluedown.

[@Zogg1281]

I'm not overly sure how you could line the segments up, but I do have an idea for how to get nice lines for your strips. Cut and glue everything without the coloured wood. Once you have the plane section glued together, turn it roughly to shape. You could then mount it in your laithe CNC 5th axis and use that to cut your spiral channels. Now you can glue the coloured wood segments into those channels. Not 100% if it would work the way it does in my mind or not. If it does, you could also do things like multiple spirals at different angles as well as in different directions 🤔 Hope you and your family have a great Christmas 😊👍👍👍👍

[@frankmakes]

If one wants perfectly straight stripes, I think this is the way to do it. It could even be a jig on the table saw I think just to cut slots in the round cylinder of the piece.

[@Smokkedandslammed]

Use your CNC and make some aligner doo-dads that line each layer up and make repeatable holes in the disks

[@briantaylor9266]

I have made similar segmented build-ups, but much simplified. Just 4 segments with contrasting strips in between, and no bevel. That means everything is 90 degrees which makes the glue up easy. I make it in a long stick, then slice it up into pucks. The pucks then get glued back together with each segment rotationally offset by a fixed amount. To ensure the pucks don't slide around I use a dowel up the center. I think with a varying diameter that it is not possible to get the strip to line up throughout the piece, regardless of the bevel angle. I may be wrong about that. I'll need to give it some more thought. Regardless, your candlesticks look very cool.

[@PrimalEdge]

what about building the standout of solid maple, then running the stand through the table say at an angle, as if you were cutting a tapered leg. Instead cut it into 2 pieces. Glue in the contrasting wood, let it dry, rinse and repeat for however many segments you need. I have no idea if this will work - I am totally spit-balling here. just feels right in my jellies.

[@kostazateasealot3245]

Beautiful!!! One taller, one smaller next?

[@emuller5591]

Hey Frank, what about putting a threated rod through the holes inside of the rings before turning? Then using Nuts and washers to clamp the lose segments tight together. Then turning them to the final shape, align the inlays and glue them together??

[@cemx86]

About the column glue up of the individual rings in pairs. If you had drilled a hole in the middle of each ring, and inserted a matching threaded rod, could you have glued the entire column in one go? This may have prevented the issue with the irregular purpleheart stripes. Maybe.

[@jeffkeen6943]

Merry Christmas Frank...!!!

[@rossandersen942]

Nice work as always. It’s always difficult to get those segments to lineup, especially when the radius is changing like your candleholders are. You might try using the cut offs from the base to fabricate a couple of salt cellars. Merry Christmas.

[@frankmakes]

I was wondering what to do with the cutoffs I made.

[@williamellis8993]

Really nice, Frank. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family. Bill