Bernie Weishapl
Member
- Messages
- 4,834
- Location
- Goodland, Kansas
Well my grandson and granddaughter saw a bell made by a friend of mine Curt Fuller and thought they would like to have one. So found some scrap 3/4" thick by 3" wide cherry and a scrap piece of 1/8" purple heart. I sandwiched the purple heart between two 14" pieces of cherry. I made my cuts at 30 degrees like a pie wedge. The six pieces are glued 1/2 or 3 pieces at a time. Then the halves are glued. Once dry then turn the bell. Used a 4" belt sander to make sure I had a tight fit when gluing the halves together. Not as good as Curt's but I am satisfied with it. The cutting has to be pretty precise. I have a half dozen more glued up and will pick the best for them. Hopefully my glue joints will be a little better on the next batch. It is sanded to 320 grit and finished with 7 light coats of GF Woodturners finish. It took about 45 minutes to apply the 7 coats. I cheated and used a hair dryer which each coat took about 5 minutes or so applied with a piece of old T-shirt. Turned this morning and finish on by lunch.