Little Tree Tree Ornament

[John K Jordan]

In the spirit of the @Michael Anderson Dec '25 tree challenge, here's an idea for a little recursive holiday ornament.
Can make one in just a few minutes!

I've made a bunch of these - simple shape, quick, easy to turn. Sharpen the skew for a touch of multi-axis snazz!
Small kids LOVE to help, add color with a marker while it's turning slowly on the lathe, proudly take home for mama.
Put a screw eye in the top, add a wire for hanging. (Write the kid's name and year on the bottom!)



I stole this idea a decade ago from a friend, now deemed safe to copy as advised by the international legal consultant firm Soo, Grabbitt, and Runne.

JKJ

 

[Bryon Burks]

Thanks for the inspiration. Was there a method to the grooves in the tree, or random placement? What did you use?

 

[Bill T Tucker]

In the spirit of the @Michael Anderson Dec '25 tree challenge, here's an idea for a little recursive holiday ornament.
Can make one in just a few minutes!

I've made a bunch of these - simple shape, quick, easy to turn. Sharpen the skew for a touch of multi-axis snazz!
Small kids LOVE to help, add color with a marker while it's turning slowly on the lathe, proudly take home for mama.
Put a screw eye in the top, add a wire for hanging. (Write the kid's name and year on the bottom!)

View attachment 82292

I stole this idea a decade ago from a friend, now deemed safe to copy as advised by the international legal consultant firm Soo, Grabbitt, and Runne.

JKJ

well done...good variation

 

[Mike Heinen]

like them!

 

[John K Jordan]

Thanks for the inspiration. Was there a method to the grooves in the tree, or random placement? What did you use?

I think on those I turned the cone, then offset the tailstock a bit in 3 directions from the center point and cut the shallow grooves with the skew, cut so they were were separated a bit.

It's been some years since I made these last and forget the details. I plan to try to make a few more today - if I do I'll take some pictures of the setup and the dimensions and stuff - I'm assuming the details will come back to me as the wood spins! Maybe I can post photos or drawing later today.

JKJ

 

[John K Jordan]

OK, I found some good information!

I called the guy I learned this technique from and he said it learned it from a YouTube video. I found the video! Actually found two. The multi-axis cuts are as I remembered, on 3-axes.

I didn't finishing watching both yet but in skipping through them it looks like they both do things a bit differently - a plus! Should explain everything. I'm going to make some more of these ornaments but now I don't have to rush and do it today!

We think the original idea came from Brad Vietje

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1bpAMEglWY


Also, there's a video from Scotts Mini Workshop

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX1APs9uNqE


JKJ

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

Yep have made a few of those. painted or colored the cuts.

 

[John K Jordan]

Yep have made a few of those. painted or colored the cuts.

Great! I've never tried that but my buddy Jake who showed me the turning technique has colored the cuts(always while still on the lathe). He said he uses acrylic or india ink, then makes a cleanup cut down the surface. I'll have to try that some day. (The marker method on the outside is good for even tiny kids!

JKJ

 

[Jim Reynolds]

In addition to the videos John found in post #6.

OK, I found some good information!

I called the guy I learned this technique from and he said it learned it from a YouTube video. I found the video! Actually found two. The multi-axis cuts are as I remembered, on 3-axes.

I didn't finishing watching both yet but in skipping through them it looks like they both do things a bit differently - a plus! Should explain everything. I'm going to make some more of these ornaments but now I don't have to rush and do it today!

JKJ

The AAW published an article by David Reed Smith:


I have a copy of the article in the AAW Elements of Woodturning book series title Turning Holiday Ornaments. I was unable to access the article on the AAW website. I found the article in the search as you can see above, but when I clicked on the icon I was told that they website wasn't able to provide this content. His technique is the 3 offset centers approach mentioned by others. I don't think it's useful to whine about how miserable this AAW website is, so I won't.

 

[R Henrickson]

In addition to the videos John found in post #6.


The AAW published an article by David Reed Smith:

View attachment 82630
I have a copy of the article in the AAW Elements of Woodturning book series title Turning Holiday Ornaments. I was unable to access the article on the AAW website. I found the article in the search as you can see above, but when I clicked on the icon I was told that they website wasn't able to provide this content. His technique is the 3 offset centers approach mentioned by others. I don't think it's useful to whine about how miserable this AAW website is, so I won't.

David Reed Smith used to have a personal website but it seems to have disappeared. He had a lot of interesting projects and ideas, although the execution was often complicated.

I tried the AAW search function and found the article as you did. Hitting the icon for looking at the article yielded "Oops! Something isn't working as expected." The website for American Woodturner is abominable -- especially the "Explore" function. It may or may not find an article, then may may not display it. Apparently I got lucky earlier today when I wanted another article -- it actually worked. The better bet for searching issues used to be the index, but it hasn't been updated for at least 3 years. IF you can find an article citation, your best bet is to download the full issue -- if you are an AAW member.

 

[John K Jordan]

David Reed Smith used to have a personal website but it seems to have disappeared. He had a lot of interesting projects and ideas, although the execution was often complicated.

Did you try the internet archive? (Wayback Machine)
Unless something has changed, nearly any web page that used to be on the internet can be recovered. Access is as slow as cold molasses though!

I lamented that Steven Russell's web site was defunct but found it on the archive. It took a while but I downloaded all of the html files and the photos and rebuilt the entire website on my computer. A tremendous resource of woodturning-related articles.

It wasn't that difficult, just dime consuming. And making sure I set up the directory tree structure so the main html and every thing under it meshed properly.

JKJ

 

[R Henrickson]

Did you try the internet archive? (Wayback Machine)
Unless something has changed, nearly any web page that used to be on the internet can be recovered. Access is as slow as cold molasses though!
I lamented that Steven Russell's web site was defunct but found it on the archive. It took a while but I downloaded all of the html files and the photos and rebuilt the entire website on my computer. A tremendous resource of woodturning-related articles.
It wasn't that difficult, just dime consuming. And making sure I set up the directory tree structure so the main html and every thing under it meshed properly.
JKJ

I tried the Wayback Machine but couldn't really figure out how to reach content and gave up. I had downloaded most pages from his website that were of interest some time ago, but they are not on my current laptop.

 

[Larry Copas]

I tried one this evening, what a disaster. My offset was too much, I'm thinking about a 1/8" or 3/16" should work. I tried a point tool and had too much tearout. Used the long point on the skew and got burning. Switched to a detail gouge, which didn't work well either. Reground my point tool with a nice burr like on a scraper and got an excellent cut so progress.

Another try tomorrow. Any suggestions on the offset distance?

 

[Jim Reynolds]

David Reed Smith suggested 3/16” offset, to start with, his billet was 1 1/2” square. So, my math has the offset at 1/4 of the radius (3/16 divided by 3/4).

 

[Larry Copas]

Progress....

Used 1/8" offset on the headstock. Next one, I'm going to try the offset on the tailstock.

I just now found the article by David Reed Smith. To get it, I downloaded the entire winter 2008 issue. It's on page 26.

 

[Thomas Wilson]

Progress....
View attachment 82704
Used 1/8" offset on the headstock. Next one, I'm going to try the offset on the tailstock.

I just now found the article by David Reed Smith. To get it, I downloaded the entire winter 2008 issue. It's on page 26.

Looks great. What did you use to color and finish it with?

Tom