# Is there any way to lay up a blank so that it's a spiral when turned?



## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

I think I know the answer to this, but checking anyway. 

I want to make a turning that looks like a lighthouse. Note the spiral pattern in the attached photo. As you probably know each of those stripes is on continuous stripe from top to bottom. Is there any way to lay up a turning blank so it looks like that when it's done?


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

You can build a jig to do it with a router, but you can't do it with lathe tools.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

I've been thinking about that quite a bit lately. The only thing I can think of is make two like turnings close to the finish size, one out of a light wood and the other out of a dark wood and cut a spiral on them and then dowel and glue the mixed woods together. Once dry put the turning back on the lathe and finish turning it.


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## 9thousandfeet (Dec 28, 2014)

yeah, I think so.

Imagine a lighthouse-shaped blank with vertical black and white stripes instead of spiral ones, and made up of layers in segmented ring fashion.
Then picture what would happen if you rotated the segmented rings on each level a little bit to make the black/white pattern into a spiral.
Then imagine that the components of the segmented rings had ends which were cut at an angle instead of 90 degrees so that the end joints would follow the lines of the spirals on the lighthouse instead of being vertical up and down.

I don't do segmented work, and even thinking about it makes my brain hurt, but something along those lines should be possible, I would think. 

I have to go lie down now.


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## john lucas (Sep 18, 2007)

I couldn't find a tutorial and it's not reallly a true spiral but looks that way. You glue up layers or contrasting wood. Then slice off one end at an angle. The cut the other end at the same angle. When you mount it between centers the colored woods will appear to be at an angle and when you turn the piece it will exaggerate the spiral look.


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## john lucas (Sep 18, 2007)

I found this. 
http://www.hillcountryturners.org/Projects/Laminated_Rolling_Pins.pdf


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

hwebb99 said:


> You can build a jig to do it with a router, but you can't do it with lathe tools.



I misunderstood the question. This wouldn't work. I thought you were going to turn it out of one piece wood. Then cut the spiral, then paint it.


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

This is what thought you were trying to do.


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## Bill Boehme (Feb 9, 2014)

9thousandfeet said:


> ..... I have to go lie down now.


:laughing:

Surely you've seen peppermills with tilted layers. It's a nice effect, but it doesn't look like a spiral.


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## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

hwebb99 said:


> This is what thought you were trying to do.
> View attachment 114985


That spiral is tighter than needed, but that look is the general idea. I wouldn't paint the routed groove, I'd want to put wood in it. Cutting that groove and inlaying wood into it seems like an effort where the end result might not be worth the effort to get there.


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## john lucas (Sep 18, 2007)

It's actually pretty easy to carve a spiral. Get Stewart Mortimer's book and it shows you how. When I do the spiral carving demo I just use a hand saw to cut the depth of the spirals and them carve them using a Nichelson wood rasp followed by sandpaper glued to a dowel. I can do a spiral candlestick in about 30 minutes. 
Sears used to sell a Craftsman Router crafter and it will do the job using a router. YOu can find them on Ebay but they are over priced. There is also plans to build one out of bicycle parts in one of the Router books. I would have to dig through my stuff to find out which one but will do that if your really interested. 
I also noticed that the guy selling the fluting jig is now going to be marketing a spiral jig. Haven't seen any specs or anything yet. Maybe he will be at the Tennessee Symposium in January and I can get a look at it.


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## Improv (Aug 13, 2008)

You could try laminating flat pieces together then try steam bending, but rather than bending the material, twist it. I would imagine it would take lots of 'uumph' to get it to work though.

Regards,
Steve


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## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

Arrgh!, you guys are killing me! I had decided to give up on the idea, now thanks to your wisdom, I'm going to have to un-give-up the idea. My goal is to have red and white stripes. If I can do a decent job of sawing the spiral into a piece of bloodwood, I might be able to bend a piece of maple into the slot after steaming it. Once steamed, maple is pretty compliant. If I succeed, I'll post some photos.


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## Smith Brother (Dec 9, 2012)

VENEER?

Dale in Indy


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## Bill Boehme (Feb 9, 2014)

smithbrother said:


> VENEER?
> 
> Dale in Indy


That's right! No need to saw anything -- just lay two different colors of veneer in a spiral wrap.

Maybe instead of bending the veneer lengthwise along the grain which would still be tough after soaking or steaming, bend it on a bias so that the grain direction is vertical when it is wrapped in a spiral. Another possible variation would be to have the grain direction tilted and have the contrasting wood grain tilted the other direction to give a herringbone effect. I still think that the veneer would need to be soaked or steamed to prevent splitting. Tightly wrap tape around it while the glue dries.

This is sort of getting intriguing. :yes:


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## 9thousandfeet (Dec 28, 2014)

The OP specifically asked about "laying up a turning blank which would look like that (a spiral) when done", which I took to mean making a turning blank which would maintain the spiral pattern during any subsequent turning process,.

It might be possible to turn to the desired form and then veneer (or inlay or whatever) a spiral pattern upon it afterwords, and if the spiral "look" as an end result is what the original poster is seeking, then that may well suffice, but that's not what I thought we were trying to figure out.

Only a solid lay-up of some kind can produce a blank which would maintain a spiral pattern (or any kind of consistent pattern, come to think of it) throughout the turning process.

Is that not correct?


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Take a close look at the segments. It's difficult but you can see how it was done.


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## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

Yes, I did originally ask about laying up a spiral, but I think I knew all along that wasn't likely, so I'm happy for the other suggestions. As I imagine it, if I were to cut, route or carve a spiral shaped channel into a round turning blank and then inlay a contrasting piece of wood into that channel, I could still turn the piece into the final shape as long as the inlaid wood was thick enough. As often happens, you guys thought of something I hadn't considered; that's the power of the forum and the collective genius represented here. I suspect there's no reason I couldn't turn the blank to the intended shape and wrap it in veneer. Especially since in this case, the shape is a straight taper. My original plan had been to use bloodwood and maple, but with the introduction of the veneer idea, I could use dyed veneers and use actual red as an alternative to the bloodwood.


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