Walnut Candle Holder

[mattfc]

A nice candle holder (well I think so any way) for my mothers Christmas present:-

Tools:-

• Festool PS300 Jigsaw
• CMS mounting module for the jigsaw
• Rotex 150
• C12

Method:-

• I ran a plank of walnut through the thicknesser, planned down to 20mm, and then glued together to form block 40mm thick, approx A4 (paper) size.
• Then I stuck the template I printed on A4 onto the block with glue.
• Using the CMS mounted PS300, jut the block as per the template.
• Clamped the pieces and sanded with the RO150, and finished by hand
• Drilled the holes for the bolt and rounded each of the "wings" using the jigsaw first and then sanded.

Feel free to use the template

 

[Notorious T.O.D.]

Very cool and very nicely done.  I'm sure your mom will love it.
As a critical comment just one thing stood out to me... the screwhead.
Being shiny and looking like a screw detracts a bit from the overall look of the piece.
Perhaps you could file or grind the head of the screw so that it is just a flat piece with no
slots for the screwdriver blade.  Then if you could do something to make it a dark color like the
color of a black allen head screw so that it would blend into the piece rather than stick out.

Just a suggestion that might make your great work even better...

Best,
Todd

 

[mattfc]

agreed re the screwhead, ran short on time and it was all they had at the builders store (stupidly had drilled the M8 holes already so was further limited in fixing choice)
I forgot to mention that I used washers between each "branch". It useful to have something whereby you can finger tighten it to stop the branches moving, I wanted something along these lines

still.. for next time

 

[RogerF]

Very nice Mattfc. Thanks for posting. Two more candle holders and you would have a highly prized Menorah!
I have a suggestion. Before you cut out the pattern you could run the end across a router table with a round over bit to produce a uniform curve at the end of all the parts.
By the way, isn't your mum a new grand mother now?
Merry Christmas,
Roger

 

[mattfc]

Yes.. thought about using the roundover bit post having done it manually, the pro is that you would get a much better finish, the con is that it would be a little harder to get the entry cut in the right position (this was easy with a sqaure end, as the paper butted right up to the edge), although in retrospect, would opt for your suggestion every time.

Good memory re new arrival, yes, baby daughter (1st child) was born at the end of October so have been busy with other things, not enough garage time! Just started working on shelving and drawers for her (walnut again, bought 1m3 pallet load of waney edge board on eBay). I wanted to make it such that you could see through the drawer fronts, so prototyped the method:-

• Cut some thin strips (TS55 in CMS mod as a table saw, superb finish from cut)
• Motice the sockets using the Domino
• Round the strip edges to match Domino profile at the ends
• Pop the "slats" into a vegetable steamer(as in cook them on the hob for 5 minutes
• Weave the slats into the frame, inserting the ends into the domino sockets

I am going to enjoy building this.. will make sure I get some progress shots and update as I go.
Merry Chrstmas to you all also.

Matt