re: A Screen for our Fireplace

Thanks, guys!

Tom, the rosette top center was turned. I did a flat faceplate turning for it. Get the tools good and sharp, since you’ll be hitting end grain part of the way around. I put a pine scrap onto the faceplate, then yellow glued a piece of paper to the pine and glued the walnut for the rosette to the paper. After turning, I used a chisel to pop the walnut off, and then decided it was too thick, so I hand-resawed it from the 5/8” I’d turned it at to about 5/16” thick.

I had a 1/4 thick MDF template I checked the rosette against as I was turning it, but I’m pretty horrible at turning the same shape twice, even with a template to match, so you may or may not need such a training aid.

If I had to make a couple, I’d turn them. If it was a dozen, I’d buy a rosette bit from Infinity Tools, put it in a chuck in the tailstock and use the lathe like an oversized drill press. I haven’t decided just how many it would take to qualify for the new tool purchase, but it’ll be a lot easier to make them all match that way. Plus, new tool!