A purposeful first undertaking will proceed to remind a turner of the enjoyment of woodturning for a few years. A honey dipper, muddler, or candlestick holder are steadily the objects of first efforts, however one other sensible choice — and one with day by day usefulness — is a toothpick holder.

I had been casting about for a super first undertaking when a fellow turner, Jeff King, confirmed me his toothpick holders. His design met the entire necessities. His toothpick holder is beneficial in at the moment’s properties, little wooden is required, one might be accomplished in an hour, it’s turned between facilities and in a chuck with tailstock assist (lowering the chance of the clean flying off the lathe), and it permits for some design creativity.

Rough the Blank

Toothpick holder drawing
Completed dimensions for the toothpick holder. Note the arrows indicating reducing path for shaping the outside. First reduce from B to A, then B to C, then D to C, at all times from massive diameter to small.

Download a Full-size Drawing.

The undertaking begins with inventory choice. The wooden might be any species of dry wooden or a clean that has been glued up of contrasting colours. The wooden should be seasoned and the clean sq. and true on all 4 sides. I usually begin with a clean of onerous maple or cherry 1-3/4″ (4cm) sq. and 6″ (15cm) lengthy. The Drawing exhibits the size of each the tough clean and the finished kind.

Marking turning blank center
Locate the facilities on every finish of the clean and use an axe or punch to reference every location.

Mark the middle level on every finish of the clean utilizing a middle punch or axe. The indentations make registering the drive and tail middle spurs simpler.

Shaping turning blank into cylinder
Rough out a cylinder between facilities.

Mount the clean on the lathe between facilities and use a spindle-roughing gouge to show the clean spherical. Turn away solely sufficient wooden to create a spherical cylinder. Better that just a few flat spots stay than have a cylinder that’s too small.

Cutting tenon in blank to mount in lathe chuck
Create a tenon on the underside finish to suit your scroll chuck jaws.

Use a parting software to create a tenon at one finish of the cylinder. For a undertaking of this dimension, a smaller chuck will work properly; dimension the tenon to suit your chuck jaws. My chuck jaws are half of″ (13mm) deep. For a strong maintain, the underside of the tenon should not contact the underside of the jaws. The step wall, or shoulder, must be crisp and true for the jaws to have most holding energy.

Toothpick holder blank mounted on lathe
Mount the clean within the scroll chuck, utilizing the tailstock to middle the clean and supply assist whereas turning.

Remove the clean from between facilities and mount it loosely in your chuck. Bring up the tailstock with the reside middle on the marked middle level and end tightening the jaws. This sequence assures that the cylinder runs true. Use the handwheel on the tailstock to cosy the reside middle till it exerts agency — however not extreme — stress on the clean. This supplies extra assist, guaranteeing the clean will proceed to run true when you find yourself shaping the skin.

Drill the Center Hole

Setting up draw bar across toothpick blank
The writer makes use of a drill chuck and drawbar setup to hole the shape.

The middle gap is drilled previous to forming the skin form. Greater mass within the clean makes drilling safer. The gap within the toothpick holder ought to be deep sufficient that the toothpicks stand upright, however not so deep that the toothpicks are hidden. A normal toothpick is 2-half of″ (6cm) lengthy, so a 1-half of″- (38mm-) deep gap fulfills the necessity. I set the lathe to 700 rpm and use a 1″ (25mm) Forstner bit mounted in a drill chuck with a drawbar to drill the middle gap.

Drilling hole in the center of toothpick holder blank
Clear the waste from the outlet steadily to get rid of binding, cut back friction, and produce a clear, centered gap.

After drilling the middle gap, remount the reside middle and produce up the tailstock for added assist.

Form the Body

Cutting center of blank with parting tool and callipers
Use a parting software and caliper to determine the waist of the shape and find the bottom.

The subsequent step is to determine the shape for the toothpick holder. Use the size proven within the Drawing to put out the places of the underside and the widest diameter of the holder. With a caliper set to 1″ and a parting software, I reduce a groove into the clean to the goal depth the place the waist will slender. The completed dimension is 7/8″ (22mm), so 1″ leaves room for perfecting the curve. Wiggling the deal with of the parting software left to proper as I make the reduce supplies clearance for the software because it penetrates deeper into the clean. In the identical method, I set a caliper to 1-half of″ and set up the diameter of the bottom.

Cutting exterior of toothpick holder with gouge
Using a spindle or bowl gouge, form the outside of the shape, utilizing the references established with the parting software for steering.

With the important thing dimensions set on the cylinder, start to kind the toothpick holder’s outdoors form, beginning on the tailstock finish. There are various software choices for shaping the outside. I usually lay out my 1/4″ (6mm) bowl gouge, and three/8″ (9mm) and half of″ spindle gouges. Scraping instruments can be utilized, however I desire bevel-rubbing instruments as a result of they create much less mud and the floor off the software is best.

Rounding outside of toothpick holder blank
Cut from the most important-to-smallest diameters for a clear floor off the software.

Shape the holder, reducing downhill from wider-to-smaller dimensions, utilizing both a small bowl gouge or a spindle gouge. Cutting downhill minimizes catches and slices relatively than tears wooden fibers, leading to a clear reduce.

Smoothing surface of toothpick holder blank
Blend the curves with a slicing reduce.

The goal is to create flowing, related, and constant curves. I reduce from Point B to A, then B to C, then D to C. The closing step is to mix all of the curves along with the sting of the gouge in a slicing reduce. With the physique shaped, I start sanding on the lathe. Sanding mud is a identified well being hazard. I at all times put on a mud masks accepted by OSHA for wooden mud and run my mud assortment system with an consumption simply behind my lathe.

Proper woodturning sanding equipment
The gear wanted for correct sanding goes past a stack of abrasives. Personal safety, together with a mud masks and mud extractor, is vital.

I begin sanding with strips of 180-grit abrasive at a average lathe velocity. Presenting the abrasive strip at an angle to the clean sands away grooves and ridges left by the gouge. I sand rigorously round particulars to keep away from rounding over edges and shedding crisp traces. Over-sanding can take all of the life out of a kind, whereas below-sanding leaves software marks and scratches from the earlier abrasive.

Passing sandpaper strip along toothpick holder blank
Present the abrasive sheet at an angle to effectively mix curves and take away software marks. Proceed by way of the graduated grits, taking care to protect any crisp particulars within the kind.

I work by way of 220-, 320-, 400-, and eventually 600-grit abrasives. With every grit change, I wipe the clean to take away grit from the pores of the wooden. I additionally reverse the path of the lathe with every grit change.

Parting-off

Marking toothpick holder base with parting tool
Slightly undercut the bottom with a parting software.

With sanding full, separate the shape from the clean. Under-cutting the bottom ensures that the toothpick holder will sit solidly on the desk with out wobbling. The parting software makes a peeling reduce, and I current the software with the deal with held low and the bevel rubbing simply behind the leading edge on the axis of rotation. I provoke the reduce by elevating the deal with, then push the tip of the software by way of an arc in direction of the middle of the clean.

Using hand saw to cut toothpick holder from blank
Complete the reduce with a high quality-toothed noticed with the lathe off.

Once the reduce is established, I additionally start to angle the software to undercut the bottom. I gently wiggle the software deal with left to proper. I cease the reduce with a couple of 1/4″-diameter tenon connecting the clean and the shape, and end parting with a small, high quality-toothed noticed with the lathe off.

Sanding off bottom of toothpick holder
Carve or sand away the remaining nub, and sand the bottom with the identical collection of abrasives used on the skin of the shape.

Parting leaves a small nub of wooden on the underside of the shape. The nub might be eliminated with any sharp blade that may attain it—equivalent to a knife, skew chisel, or carving chisel. I desire to grind away the nub with a sanding disk mounted on a holder in my drill press. I begin with a 120-grit disk for speedy wooden elimination after which work by way of the grits, eradicating the nub after which sanding and mixing curves throughout all the base. I’m cautious to keep away from over-sanding the outer fringe of the bottom the place eradicating an excessive amount of materials may trigger the toothpick holder to rock or sit inconsistently.

Apply a Finish

Finish choices for a small utility piece are versatile. I like the best way a coat of tung oil end highlights the grain. After the tung oil cures for 3 days, I apply a topcoat of matte acrylic spray end with UV resistance. The end’s UV resistance appears to retard the colour shift wooden reveals when uncovered to daylight.

Although small in stature, the toothpick holder affords room to discover all kinds of shapes, wooden species, textures, and finishes. This is a wonderful undertaking for exploring your personal creativity as you construct your woodturning abilities and create lasting recollections.

Dennis Belcher retired from a 30+ 12 months profession within the funding world to his lifelong ardour of working with wooden. A member of the Wilmington Area Woodturners Association (North Carolina), Dennis demonstrates for golf equipment and participates in juried artwork exhibits. For extra, contact Dennis at dennis.m.belcher@gmail.com or go to his web site, seabreezewoodworks.com.



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