Curly maple goblet

[Jeff Scott]

I have been asked to make a chalice/goblet. It will be 8" tall with a stem of about 4". I'm thinking about making it out of curly maple, but I'm concerned that the nature of curly maple would cause the stem to be weak. I'm thinking the stem, at its thinnest point, would be roughly 1/2" - 5/8".
I'm looking for advice.
Thanks
Jeff Scott

 

[Gabriel Hoff]

Hi Jeff. I think you may want to move this to the main discussion forum. It is not really a tech support question. As for the goblet, I think if it is 1/2" or 5/8" it would be fine. That is still relatively thick, but I would support it with you hand as you turn it thinner, so the bottom doesn't whip the stem and break it while is is turning. Definitely use hard maple, it does make a difference when it comes to strength and cleanliness of cut....

 

[Bill Boehme]

The tech support forum is for reporting forum software issues. I will move this thread to the Woodturning Discussion Forum and will leave a redirect to the new location for one week.

 

[hockenbery]

I'm thinking the stem, at its thinnest point, would be roughly 1/2" - 5/8".

It will be hard to intentionally break a 1/2” spindle of curly maple turned in line with the grain unless it has a defect in the wood.

One important design for any stemmed vessel it to keep the pith out of the stem- stems with the pith are very weak.