Déjà vu
by Devin on June 9, 2010
Like a big, sticky wedding cake, the proto-mandrel for the chimney.
Today I laminated up my fourth mandrel for the chimney piece. The first died of poor construction – made on a flimsy lathe of a single piece of moist wood, it was warped before it was finished. The second died of neglect – it sat unused in a closet for almost a year and slowly went out of true. The third, and last, died of misuse – too much heat applied to release a part melted the glue holding it together. Because of shape of the chimney, it’s impossible to rework the mandrel without changing the dimensions of the part.
Despite all the cursing I aim at the ephemeral, wooden mandrels, I find the material in many ways more pleasurable to work with than metal. The sweet smell of sawn maple beats the pants off of the dry, bitter scent of aluminum or steel.
Tagged as:
cottage manufacturing,
metal spinning,
wood turning
[ 6 comments… read them below or add one ]
Wow. It takes a lot of work before you can get to work.
True that! I am back to spinning now, though. Should have a post up by the end of the day.
Devin, Do you need any help?
Do you have any more photos lying around that you could post?
Wow- I love seeing this process. To know what has gone in to making these stoves will make it so much more enjoyable every time I use it. Wonderful! Thanks Devin- I feel like a part of this journey!
Thanks all. And Johnny: I looks like I did need help, I was just to stubborn to admit it. Now I have and things are rolling.
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