Overview:

 Cindy is from Boulder, Colorado where her home and studio are located. She discovered her love of working with wood at an early age. When she was 19 she worked at a player piano factory that was owned by a California lawyer who loved machinery. Much of his woodworking equipment was from the 19^th Century and was steam driven. He also had modern equipment. He encouraged Cindy to learn as much as she could and he was always available to help and provide inspiration. She worked at the factory for five years and during that time built a basic understanding of woodworking, metal machining and manufacturing. She then worked in small cabinet shops until 1992 when she turned to full time self-employment. Woodturning continued to be one of her hobbies. Her first turning was in 1984 when she turned chair spindles. In 1998 woodturning became her full time occupation.

For Cindy life as a self-employed woodturner has not been without difficulties. She continues to experience her strengths and weaknesses and her greatest struggle has been to build her self confidence. This has been aided greatly by her “life-partner,” David Nittmann whose support and encouragement has helped her greatly to grow both as an artist and as a person.

Cindy's work has been chosen for exhibitions around the country and has appeared in several publications. She is an active member of the American Association of Woodturners and has demonstrated at national symposiums and local clubs. Her lidded vessels with delicate finial lids are well known and are described and pictured in the book Beneath the Bark, Twenty-five Years of Woodturning. She has an article, “Finial Design,” in the most current issue of the “American Woodturner” and she will be a demonstrator at the AAW National Symposium in Louisville, Kentucky in June 2006.

Morning Session:

Cindy began her demonstration with a slide show depicting the evolution of her work beginning with finial lidded boxes. She also showed non-lidded pieces with pedestals and open bowls without lids or pedestals. Collaborative pieces with Eli Avisera and her husband David Nittmann were also shown.

The hands-on portion of Cindy's demonstration began with her turning a finial lidded box of European Pear. The finial would be two-thirds of the height and the box portion the remaining one-third. The cylinder used to make the piece had a tenon on each end. The box portion of the cylinder was parted off and put aside. The finial or lid portion was left in the chuck.

The tail stock end of this portion would become the tenon that would fit into the box. The tenon was formed with a square end scraper that has two bevels and is more accurately called a negative rake scraper. Both the edge and the end of the tool can be used to cut. Cindy then hollowed the bottom of the finial with a bowl gouge. A small hole was drilled into the hollowed portion of the lid to accept a small decorative stone (actually a post earring with most of the post removed). Beads were formed around the hole with a small beading tool that resembled a fluted parting tool but with a much deeper flute. The lid portion was then removed from the chuck and the box portion inserted into the chuck. The tailstock end surface of the box was trued to a flat surface. This surface would have a contrasting wood disc placed against it as a friction chuck. The tailstock was brought up with a cone center and the disc turned to the diameter of the base of the lid. A recess was formed in the box body. A tenon was turned on the disc to fit into the recess. The body was then hollowed and the disc fitted into the recess. The disc should be able to be twisted in the recess in order to have a good glue joint.

Thick CA glue was used. The tailstock was brought up to push the disc into place. The center portion of the disc was parted out so that it could be later used as the base or bottom of the box. Thus the ring on the top of the box and the base of the box are from the same piece of wood. Not only do they exactly match but this is a cost effective method, especially with some of the more exotic and pricey woods. The inserted ring had a recess turned to accept the finial top as a jam fit. This enabled the finial to be turned without the use of the tailstock.

However, at this point, the tailstock was brought up in order to rough shape the finial. The tailstock was then removed and the finial piece taped into the box portion. The finial was then turned. Cindy has three rules pertinent to finial turning: 1.) No tailstock; 2.) Turn from the tip of the finial to the base – No back-tracking and 3.) Back up the cut with the index finger of the left hand.  Equal pressure is applied by the tool to the wood as well as opposing fingers behind the wood. This puts minimal stress on the finial while turning. Cindy does not use a skew for finial turning but is not opposed to it. The tool she used was a 3/8 spindle gouge with a 40 degree bevel and severely swept back wings. As each detail is formed it is sanded prior to proceeding to the next detail. She sands the tip portion beginning with 1000 grit, then 2000 and 4000 metal polishing abrasives. Shoe polish is then used to finish the surface. Probably a fourth tip is to use a light touch with the tool – careful aiming of the tool and adequate light. This completed the morning demonstration.

Afternoon Session:

Cindy continued turning the delicate finial. Sanding of the onion shaped portion was done first with 400 grit, then higher ones. The cove element at the base of the finial was formed. The cove was sanded by going up the side of the cove. The finial was removed from the box portions of the piece. V-grooves were cut to form the bead at the joint between the two types of wood at the top of the box. The top curve of the box was sanded. The recess in the box was slightly enlarged so that the finial fit was not as tight and would therefore be easier to remove.

The box was then hollowed with a hollowing tool that looked like a sixty degree hockey stick. The cutting edge was inside the outer edge of the tool which permitted the heavier portion of the tool to be on the tool rest and to give added support and stability while cutting. The lid ledge was first defined. Then the lid thickness was determined. The center portion of the wall thickness was first arrived at – then tapered to the lid thickness and the lower wall thickness giving a relatively even thickness throughout. The outer surface of the box was then shaped after the depth was measured. The outer and inner shapes of the box should be similar but do not have to telegraph each other. The inside was then sanded and finished. Gel poly and then shoe polish would be applied to the interior. The box was removed from the chuck, reversed and jam chucked on a scrap piece. Cindy prefers mahogany as a jam chuck, or other fine-grained kiln dried woods such as soft maple or cherry, The jam chuck should bottom-out where the lid bottoms-out. This permits Cindy to apply the final finish right up to the opening of the box. The bottom of the box was then turned and the small piece originally parted from the disc insert on the box top was placed on the bottom of the box as a small foot piece. This was glued on and shaped with a gouge and a negative rake scraper. It was sanded and small beads placed on the undersurface. Gel poly and shoe polish would then be applied. It was signed using a vibrating engraver. The stone was inserted in the hole previously made inside the lower part of the finial lid. It was simply pushed into the hole. This completed the finial lidded box.

The next part of the demonstration was the turning of a triangular lidded box. Cindy provided a two page detailed handout with diagrams describing the design and layout of the piece. This is a somewhat complicated process and the handout in addition to the DVD of this demo that will be available in the club library will greatly simplify the process for anyone wanting to turn this type of piece. It is of interest that this layout procedure for the triangular box is very similar to the off-center layout for Frank Penta's multi-axis platter base described in the February 2006 demo.

Cindy used a large cardboard box as a replica of the piece to describe the layout as shown in the handout. This was a very unique and helpful training aid that clarified much of her discussion. She also used the drawing board to further pinpoint design layout.

A cone shaped piece was placed between centers with the smaller end on the tailstock. These centers were the true centers of the piece. A tenon was turned down to the pre-determined orange diameter at both ends. The smaller end tenon (bottom of the box) was placed in the chuck. The lid portion was then parted off (one inch – as per diagram). A recess of the appropriate diameter was made in the bottom and the bottom hollowed. The piece was drilled to the proper one and one-half inch depth prior to hollowing. Once hollowed the wall thickness was reduced to produce three windows in the final triangular box. The recess was further defined and the top of the box made flat. It will butt up to the flat surface of the lid. The interior was sanded and finished.

The lid or top of the box was then placed in the chuck. A tenon was made to fit the recess in the bottom. A negative rake scraper was used to true up the tenon to the point that a paper assisted joint is achieved. A lengthy discussion ensued about the type of paper used in the joint and the conclusion was that probably toilet tissue from Arrowmont was the best available! The inside of the lid was shaped with a vortex tool (vortex referring to the shape created by Keith Gottschall using this tool). The tailstock was brought up and the bottom jam chucked into the lid after gluing the two together. The glue was only placed on the outer one-quarter inch of the shoulder. The glue was placed on both sides of the paper. Once the glue was dry Cindy was ready to do the three axis turning. The piece was removed from the chuck and a stebcenter dead center was placed in the headstock, with a live Steb Center in the tailstock. The pre-determined number one centers were used and the piece turned down to the orange diameter. It is essential to rotate the piece by hand prior to turning to clear the tool rest. Even though the piece is grossly out of balance it is important to turn at the fastest speed possible to get a cleaner cut. Cut straight along the tool rest to get a parallel cut on the piece. A small window evolved. The second set of centers was then used and then the third, each producing a window on its own respective side of the triangle.

The larger end tenon was made smaller because it now had three sides to fit into the 4-jaw chuck. The shoulder created by turning down the tenon gives a more secure hold in the chuck. The bottom of the box was undercut with the vortex tool and then sanded. The halves of the piece were separated with the vortex tool at the glue line. The lid was jam fitted into the recess of the jam chuck. The lid top was undercut. A V-groove was cut into the lid. This completed the triangular lidded box. Cindy then discussed tool sharpening and the negative rake scraper which concluded a very detailed and interesting demonstration. Cindy's excellent handouts will be on the CMW Website and the DVD will be available in the club library in April 2006.

Bob Gunther

Cindy's Website

Handouts