Segmented Turning with Aspire

[TReischl]

A while ago I posted that I would be integrating Aspire with segmented turning and promised to post some results. Here we go. . .

This vase is about 10 inches tall and about 9 in diameter. There are 11 segmented rings, the top and bottom are solid pieces. Each ring has 16 pieces. If you are interested in doing this type of thing, make sure to look up Jerry Bennett on YouTube. He has a sled design that will produce perfect wedges every time. No kidding. No fooling around. No test fitting. No waste. The woods on this are walnut, maple and cherry.

I used Aspire to mill the pockets in the feature ring segments and then used it to mill out the inserts. Perfect fit!

When doing this the rings are polygons that are a bit oversized so they can be turned. When I built the rotary axis for my machine I made sure I used the same spindle threads as on my lathe. Once this was all glued up and mounted on a face plate I put it on the rotary axis and rough machined the outside shape to within 1/16 of final size. Then it went on the lathe for some light cuts. The inside was hollowed on the lathe as I built it up. That saves a lot of guesswork. I would have finished machined the outside on the rotary but no matter how careful one is, there is always some slight runout when moving between machines.

These are a lot of fun to make because of the sled Jerry designed. Takes all the fiddling around out of it. Oh, btw, the reason the segments look "patchy" is because of something called "chatoyance" ( a fancy word for how light reflects off a surface). It is particularly pronounced in a lot of woods.

[Mike-S]

Wow, came out great.

[martin54]

Wow, that is brilliant Ted, I really like segmented stuff just a shame it takes so long to make anything

anyway, Video watched, sled drawn up in Aspire

Might get as far as actually cutting the sled but that is as far as I will probably ever get Already got more things to do than I seem to have time for lol, & I don't really have a decent table saw so even with an accurate jig it's a bit hit & miss

Thanks for sharing, keep the projects coming

[dwilli9013]

Wow that is some awesome work. Thanks for sharing. Got to get the rotary thing going for my cnc. Been thinking about it just havent acted upon it yet.

[LittleGreyMan]

Very impressive Ted.

[jarm2]

Beautiful work. I made the sled a while back and cut one set of pieces. I didn't get the angle just right without the template so they weren't dead on, but still looked pretty neat. I will be trying it again one of these days. I would like to make something as creative as your vase. Thanks for posting it.

[Fleming]

Beautiful work Inspires me to try that technique.

[martin54]

Beautiful work Inspires me to try that technique.

I would like to say the same, it is inspiring I had a go at segmented work a couple of years ago & it didn't turn out great, apart from my lack of finishing skills the segments weren't cut accurately enough. This at least sorts out one of the problems I had, already got the jig drawn & toolpathed. Will add it back on my list of things to try & may hopefully get round to it one day

If you watch the videos by Gerry Bennett that Ted kindly referenced you will see that there are all kinds of segmented patterns you can create

[Jbwjim]

Any body have a file for making the Wedgie Sled. I use VCarve pro. Any help would be appreciated
JIM

[TReischl]

Sorry, I do not keep those sort of files around since they are trivial to design.

A piece of material for the base, two holes drilled for carriage bolts on the bottom and two radiused slots. Two bars drilled to match the distance between the drilled holes and the arcs. Not much to it.

What you SHOULD do first is make your wedgies. Then you will know how far apart to put the bars and where the holes go. If you build the fixture first then you have to design the wedgies to fit which can be a pain. Also the design depends on how wide the wood is you might use. If you get the bars too close together it will limit the width of wood you can put in it.

[Phil]

Beautiful!

Phil

[mtylerfl]

I’m glad this older thread was resurrected! I hadn’t seen the vase before. Beautiful work, Ted!

[bravesoul]

Any body have a file for making the Wedgie Sled. I use VCarve pro. Any help would be appreciated
JIM

Here is a copy of it.

Segment Jig.crv

(1.03 MiB) Downloaded 237 times

[Jbwjim]

Thank you sooooo much for the file. I noticed that you didn't do a toolpath for the lettering. Also, how do I get into the toolpath menu to see what tools you are using? Thanks again
Jim

[bravesoul]

Jim,

Double click the toolpath and the toolpath operation will come up showing the operation including the size of the bit. If it doesn't the here is the list:

Wedgie System Drill - 3.16"
Wedgie System Inside Profile 3/16 - 3/16"
Wedgie System Pocket 3/16 - 3/16"
Pocket 3/16 - 3/16"
Wedgie System Final Profile 1/4 - 1/4"

For my own use, I always try to put the bit in the name so when I pick the toolpath to cut I know what bit I should be using.

Joe