How to turn a Celtic Knot on rolling pin?
#11
I want to make a rolling pin for Christmas for my daughters. I saw a youtube Celtic Knot  where a fellow added a Celtic Knot. He was not very specific in how he cut the blank, what angles and where and how many cuts to make. When he turned the cylinder round, it was quite nice!

Anyone have instructions for the cuts and angles?

I have some really nice Turkish walnut that I plan on using for the handles. Because of this I do not want the pivot shaft to show on the handle ends. I considered using a wooden shaft, with the handles glued on. Then I wondered if wood would last and not gum up with flour?? Probably a 3/8 metal rod, epoxied into the handles?
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#12
There are other videos out there that will be more specific than this guy was. A quick search will result in several results.
Basically you cut and glue one insert. Let dry. Then turn the piece 90 and repeat until you do all 4 sides, each insert intersects the previous one.
The angle is up to you but the one I did was at 45 and it broke under use so I had to re-glue it. There’s a guy over on Lumberjocks that makes these with a very long angle. Probably about 15-30 degrees to the face. I’m betting that would make it stronger.
As an option consider French/bakers rolling pins which do not use a center with handles. They taper to a slightly more narrow cylinder at the ends.
Ray
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#13
Celtic Knots are not very strong.  I made a few 6 in 1 Celtic Knot screwdrivers for presents, at least half of them broke when dropped.  A rolling pin would have a larger glue area so that might be in your favor.  

All of my turning tool handles, but one, have a reinforced Celtic Knot.  The reinforcement was not strong enough for a catch.
"I tried being reasonable..........I didn't like it." Clint Eastwood
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#14
(10-09-2019, 06:45 AM)Bill Holt Wrote: Celtic Knots are not very strong.  I made a few 6 in 1 Celtic Knot screwdrivers for presents, at least half of them broke when dropped.  A rolling pin would have a larger glue area so that might be in your favor.  

All of my turning tool handles, but one, have a reinforced Celtic Knot.  The reinforcement was not strong enough for a catch.

I was going to cut it at 30 degrees.  Maybe 25 degrees? When the square blank is finished, I'll look at it and see how long each will be. I want a classic rolling pin because I have previously made french rolling pins and the classics are preferred.
"We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm"
                                                                                                                        Winston Churchill
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#15
(10-09-2019, 04:21 PM)joemac Wrote: I was going to cut it at 30 degrees.  Maybe 25 degrees? When the square blank is finished, I'll look at it and see how long each will be. I want a classic rolling pin because I have previously made french rolling pins and the classics are preferred.

I cut mine 60 degrees
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#16
The problem is that the glue joints are end grain joints and aren't very strong. I made a tap handle for my brother and it broke after a couple of months of use. My brother drinks a lot of beer but I needed it to last a little longer than that. I'm going to make another one and will probably try epoxy this time instead of wood glue. I think you could get away with a fairly shallow angle on a cutting pin and it should look good.
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#17
(10-10-2019, 12:58 PM)FrankAtl Wrote: The problem is that the glue joints are end grain joints and aren't very strong. I made a tap handle for my brother and it broke after a couple of months of use. My brother drinks a lot of beer but I needed it to last a little longer than that. I'm going to make another one and will probably try epoxy this time instead of wood glue. I think you could get away with a fairly shallow angle on a cutting pin and it should look good.

The end grain joint isn't a problem in pen form because you have the brass tube glued in the blank providing additional support and glue surface. You could accomplish something similar in rolling pin and tap handle form by drilling a hole lengthwise through the center and gluing in a wooden dowel or metal rod...after you glue up your knot of course.
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#18
(10-10-2019, 01:58 PM)MyKidsDad Wrote: The end grain joint isn't a problem in pen form because you have the brass tube glued in the blank providing additional support and glue surface. You could accomplish something similar in rolling pin and tap handle form by drilling a hole lengthwise through the center and gluing in a wooden dowel or metal rod...after you glue up your knot of course.

That's a good point. That should definitely help.
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#19
Or just make two. That’s what I ended up doing.
The Celtic knot one for show and a plain one for use.
Ray
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#20
When you cut for a celtic knot whatever width you put back in the first cut say 3/16. Y ou have to cut out that much on any other cuts or it gets out of whack. I cut some 2x4 and glue and screwed them into an L then put one across the end. I put down wax paper and clamped one of the pieces to the 2x4 long side of the cut to the outside. glue up and I use a lot of glue clamp the rest of the pieces 6 ways from sunday and let dry overnight before the next cut.  I have a good sturdy bar clamp for the end to end. I have the side ones snug and tighten the bar clamp then the rest of the clamps as tight as I can. When you go to make your next cut you have to clean off any glue so you get a true cut where you want it. I picked up an old plane to clean the sides.
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