Wood Turned Xmas Tree

Categories Christmas Decoration, Lathe, Project

Still with xmas on its way I wanted to make another practice object on the lathe and had an idea for an xmas tree decoration.

I had some holly from a work colleague which I had been seasoning in the shed for 6 months or so and had hoped this would turn better than the usual cheap timber.

The piece was cut down to size on my mitre saw and then mounted on a 4 screw chuck so it would be nice and secure and this was supported by a live centre on the tailstock. The tailstock could be removed later for painting.

I roughed down the piece of holly with my new roughing gouge and this was a joy to turn leaving pleasing light wood chips and strips.

I then used a pencil to mark where I wanted the tree to start and the pot to be and used a skew chisel to rough the main shape making sure it was smooth.

I then used my parting tool to detail the trunk a bit further and create some concentric rings down the trunk to finish the tree.

I then gave it a light sand just so it wouldn’t cause splinters rather than any attempt to finish properly.

Green, brown and black kids acrylic paint was then used to give it some colour and the piece was done as a trial.

I noticed a small crack around one of the knots but didn’t think much of it however over the space of just a day where the paint dried a large crack appeared in the side and a week later this had grown.

I believe the piece was not fully seasoned so need to start reading up on wood checking and cracking and how to best season the wood or avoid cracks. I suspect the reason it turned so well was that it was still a bit green and the way my cuts went down to the core of the wood probably weakened the piece so maybe next time I will try drying the wood first before turning.

A great piece to learn from however and even with the cracks looks good!

I still hadn’t made anything on the lathe other than sawdust and round bits of wood so I needed to make my first thing. As it was xmas, a snowman seemed ideal.

I used a piece of 2×2 construction pine and set about rounding the stock with my roughing gouge. I had previously been using an old spindle gouge which came with the lathe and not very sharp so my new roughing gouge from axminster was a pleasant change and cut the wood as it were butter.

I then smoothed the wood with a skew chisel and used the skew to curve two sections for the snowmans body and head.

I then used the parting tool to create a top hat (no snowman is complete without a hat) and some 180 grit sand paper to smooth things out. If I were not just practicing I might have moved up the grits and done some proper finishing but this was satisfactory.

A coat of tung oil/methylated spirit mix was added and another light sanding before adding another coat of tung/meth mix and this was left to dry overnight.

If I were not just practicing I might have moved up the grits and done some proper finishing but this was satisfactory.

A small wooden dowel that had been tapered down to a cone was inserted and glued into a small hole in the head for a nose and this was painted orange with my daughters acrylic paint. Unintentionally it was marred a little by the pliers I used but this actually made it look even more carrot like!

Very small holes so the wood wasn’t split were created for eyes and buttons and somenails were added which looked great.

The mouth was carved with my flexcut knife but this looked a little creepy if I’m honest. Carving is something I need to practice and perhaps I might have done better if I drew on a template first.

The hat was painted black with my acrylic paint although much care was needed to do this without it bleeding onto the head. If I were making lots of these I’d consider a template to go around the collar so I could paint quicker.

Once another night had passed the snowman was dry and I presented him to my daughter who fell in love!

This was a great prototype and while I didn’t have time this year, I think next year I should be making a run of these to sell.