Candle stick resto.

[mark yundt]

I got these candlesticks in on Friday. The priest said he needed them ASAP. I took that to mean Sunday. I have restored/repaired many of these for him before,,and had one in the shop to do,but he called with more. I like the work but I feel bad charging him again and again as they seem to keep damaging them. So I made a design change and made heavier bases and more substantial feet for them.
As you can see they are quite old..I guess that's why they don't replace them ( it's a beautiful true Gothic style church) done in Oak. So I turned new bases,,made the feet on the lathe as well all in a Saturday afternoon.
I know it's not carving as such,,but with the recent questions about lathe work and a couple of other posts I thought I'd include these as well.
Doing this type of work is really fun and a nice change of pace. Can't argue with the $ either.

[big dave]

those are nice, i would like to see the tops

[mark yundt]

Here you go Dave. They aren't spectacular,,just old and neat.Simple in design and execution. The tops are missing,,the church kept them as I didn't need them or care to loose them.

These are the only shots I have so I can't offer more as they were delivered at 6 o'clock this evening.

This wasn't a biggie. Just fun and profitable.

The stains by the way were three colors of Minwax overlaid each other for adjustments...then finished with laquer.

[fpace]

Wow .. they are mighty rough on those holders to break them like that or either the wood was cracked to start with! Nice job on the resto anyway Mark!

[cannuckcarver]

That's good work Mark.
It is a nice change of pace.
Thanks for sharring.

[mdallensr]

Mark, nice work and a neat change of pace. Do they use those for jack-stands? How do you break something as robust as those candlesticks? You didn't miss the Eagles win, did you? Mike

[mark yundt]

Yeah,,they're rough on 'em. I've done quite well off someones butterfingers. But now I made some changes that should eliminate that. It was fun initially until it started getting ridiculous.I had to do something for them as I was starting to feel guilty.
Hey Mike,,,I know the Eagles won,,and I'll know this sounds un-American,,but I'm not a football fan.
As I said,,this isn't any sort of neat carving,,or fancy pants turnings,,but if some of you out there looking to make a nice piece of change without too much fuss jobs like this don't take much time or skill.
If you don't have a lathe,,only one or two of these jobs will buy you one free and clear. Or if you so choose,,as I saw in the paper an ad for a week in Rome,,flight and hotel,,,well ,,two of these will pay for it all.

Yes,,,really.

[ajf0001]

Instead of one thick piece for the base, try laminating two thinner pieces with the grain running at 90 deg to each other. That should add significant strength.

[mark yundt]

You can do that and try and create a type of ply,,and it would have strength but,,in these situations I've seen wood move too much and split the joint. Been there ,done that. The top layer expands and contracts one direction,,,and the bottom layer goes the opposite direction. I always try and have the grain always in the same direction.
What I believe contributed to the problem is #1 age,,,# 2 dropped on a marble floor and the grain orientation in the original ones only added to the ability to crack and #3..someone drove 4 nails through the bottom to try and secure it and probably didn't drill pilot holes and forced the wood apart.
If you look at them,,the disc is only 5 inches across,,,and to make matters worse there is an inch and a half hole in the center,,,that doesn't leave much wood left to hold the thing together in the event of a drop on either side of the hole. That leaves what...an inch and three quarters of wood ,,with the grain running the wrong way? Flat sawn would help,,but not quartered or rift cut. It's gonna break. I used quater sawn,,but my pieces are thicker,,and I oriented the grain in the legs with the top,,,as well as extended the legs across the bottom for more support. And the others I fixed,,the legs were done separately,,and the grain was opposite each other,,,that brings me back to my original thoughts about gluing up wood with grain running the opposite directions. It works initially,,but bound to fail at some point.

[RUssL.]

What the heck are you doing up at the computer at 2:28AM?!
That just ain't right, pal! :-)


Russ