Rudy Speerschneider

[Rudy Speerschneider]

I'm gonna cut right to the chase here, if that's ok...I'm looking for spheres! Or, more aptly, someone who loves to make spheres! I do personally love to make spheres, but I am a beginner and have a big project in mind and looking for help in amassing a supply. These spheres I seek need to be solid wood (made from local sustainably salvaged wood) and between 8"-16" in diameter.

A bit about myself: I am an artist / illustrator / painter by education and trade and recently discovered that my preferable "canvas" is a 3 dimensional, solid wood surface (with beautiful grains!). I just bought my own lathe (Jet 1221VS 12") and instantly fell in love with woodturning (might be in my genes, as my grandfather worked a lathe), but the thing is, is that it takes a long time to make as many as I'd like and thought I'd try to recruit some help...So, that's why I'm here, for the most part, to be honest. And of course, I'm also here to learn more about woodturning in general.

If this project at all interests you, send me a message and I can explain more...I look forward to getting to know you, the community, and the world of woodturning!

Thank you.
Rudy Speerschneider (no joke, my name has "sphere" in it!)

 

[John Torchick]

Welcome. I'm sure that someone will step up. There are also some fixtures that allow you to turn spheres with minimal effort. Let me check. Carter Products, www.carterproducts.com; www.EZjigs.com/aaw. These are from the AAW magazine.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Rudy,

I have turned hundreds of wooden spheres in various diameters which are used for casing molds in the Pyrotechnics industry. The old school method of turning a sphere is to locate and mark (3) axis center lines on the wood billet and rotate the mounting of the billet between these axis points and slowly bring the sphere into round. As mentioned above using a sphere jig on the lathe speeds the process of bringing the wood into perfect round quickly from (1) axis mounting between centers. Smaller spheres I use solid billets, larger spheres I usually make them hollow to reduce the weight of the billet. There are a number of companies that make sphere cutting jigs for the wood lathe, I have four wood lathes in my shop and made different sized sphere cutting jigs for each machine for cutting different sized spheres. You basically need the sphere cutting tool to match the lathe center axis height, you do most of the rough cutting with your standard lathe tools and use the sphere jig for the final rounding and finish cuts. If you don't use a sphere jig you can use a cloth measuring tape and measure the circumference of the sphere across the different axis of the sphere to check for roundness and symmetry. A round cup or coupling or ring can also be laid on the surface of a sphere to locate out of round surfaces that need more work. You can also make a solid template of various diameters to check for size and roundness if you are shooting for a specific diameter. There are a number of videos on YouTube that cover the various methods used for turning spheres on a wood lathe. I usually mark the axis points on a square billet and then cut the corners off on a table saw and end up with an octagon shaped billet which reduces the amount of wood to be removed and avoid impact on the tool from 4-sides of wood and 4-sides of air. If you can start with a round cylinder billet this will also speed the process of rounding into a sphere. The wood you use will need to be stable and dry. .

 

[Rudy Speerschneider]

Hi Mike! Thanks so much for your reply (and sorry for my delay!)...I got a message from your other post and will respond more at length there.
Rudy