# Fruit WIP



## Richard Findley (11 Jan 2010)

Hi guys,

I recently posted a picture of a bowl of fruit I made for a customer. When I posted it someone asked for more info on making fruit and I offered to do a WIP as I had a follow up order to make.... so here it is - with LOTS of pictures!!!

For Apples pick a blank that is a cube. 3" x 3" x 3" is great but 2 1/2" cube works well too. Much smaller and we're into the realms of crab apples!! Mount between centres and turn a spigot for the chuck:







Once mounted in the chuck mark 30mm from the chuck (on a 3" blank) this will be the widest part and show us a divide between the top and bottom of the apple.






It is now being held by the top of the apple and we can now shape the bottom and drill a hole to suit your screw chuck (in my case 4mm is perfect)






Finish shaping, sand....






and polish the bottom of the apple:






If you are making a Pear, the process is the same just a different shape:






This is my shop made screw chuck, made with a 6mm coach screw:






Mount the blank onto the screw chuck with a bit of paper towel as padding between the chuck and the finished bottom:






Turn the shape of the top. It is the tops that let many wooden apples down in my opinion, people often don't go deep enough. I use a 3/8 and then a 1/4 spindle gouge in the same cut you would use to hollow a box or goblet out to shear scrape and shape the core area of the apple:






Once you are happy sand and polish as before:






I then drill for the stalk. I use an electric drill with a 3.5mm or 4mm bit at an angle to make the hole:






For the stalks there are a million and one ways to make them but this is mine. Cut a blank of about 10mm by 100mm (3/8 x 4") or you can use dowel, in any wood, this is beech:






The angled top was done on the disc sander but you can saw this by hand or on a bandsaw.






I mount this in a Jacobs chuck in the MT of the headstock. This is safe if you follow a couple of simple steps. First, give the JC a tap with a mallet (I use a Deadblow) to make sure the MT seats properly and then note the position of the tool rest. *IF* the JC decides to come out it can come no further than the tool rest and so is nice and safe. If you have a set of mini jaws for your chuck then all the better!!






Shape with the lathe running fast and supporting the stalk with you fingers. I cut a long gentle cove and then a tapered glue spoigot:






No need to sand, I just stain them with some Tudor Oak stain which is a dark green colour which I think suits nicely:






I fit a Clove in the bottom but you could easily turn a little button or similar:






Then glue in the stalk and thats your apple:






I hope you have enjoyed this WIP. I also hope it is clear and makes sence to you. If you have any comments or questions please post them up here.

Richard


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## BMac (11 Jan 2010)

This is super Richard, thank you very much.

Brendan


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## Bodrighy (12 Jan 2010)

Thanks Richard, I have tried these before and just ended up with large light pulls. You make it seem easy but I'll try a gain and see if I can make some.

Pete


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## Paul.J (12 Jan 2010)

Great WIP piccys Richard  
This is something else i have been meaning to do for ages.The fruit that is  
Did you just screw your screw through the wood or have you glued it in as well :?:


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## loz (12 Jan 2010)

Briiliant '!


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## The Shark (12 Jan 2010)

Hi Richard,
Thanks for going to the trouble of taking and posting the pictures - it makes perfect sense now!
Something else to have a go at.

Malc


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## OldWood (12 Jan 2010)

Many thanks Richard - the original pictures and wood guessing game whetted the interest and these pictures answer all but one of my questions !

You mount the half turned fruit on the screw chuck to turn the stem end - do you just leave the screw hole unfilled when the fruit is finished ?

I'm sure you must have investigated this but from my keyboard seat there would seem to be some logic in turning the fruit the other way round so that the stem fills the screw chuck hole ?

Many thanks for the WIP pictures and guidance.

OW


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## jpt (12 Jan 2010)

Nice WIP Richard.

OW, if you look at the 2nd from last picture it shows the base of the apple that was on the screw chuck. Richard has filled the hole by putting a clove in it to simulate the base of the fruit.

john


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## Paul.J (12 Jan 2010)

*Oldwood wrote*


> You mount the half turned fruit on the screw chuck to turn the stem end - do you just leave the screw hole unfilled when the fruit is finished ?


I see what you mean that by having the larger hole for the turned stem to fit into would be better,and the smaller hole for the clove :?: 
Or is it because the stem hole is drilled at an angle to give the stem better effect:?:


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## OldWood (12 Jan 2010)

Oops - helps if you read the captions and not just look at the pretty pictures!! Sorry about that, and smart thinking to use a clove - all we need to do now is to bake it and we have baked apple with a clove in it!!

OW


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## Dave Huxley (12 Jan 2010)

Thanks for the refresher Richard, I first saw you do this as a demo at the Shropshire club. I had never turned an apple before the demo but I am really pleased with the results I am getting now, but I need to bore a bit more out where the stalk fits after seing your wip.
As you say there are lots of ways to make the stalks, I get my family to save all their pear stalks for my apples, I find them great once they are dried out . Thanks for showing us again.
Dave


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## paul-c (12 Jan 2010)

thanks Richard


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## Richard Findley (12 Jan 2010)

Hi guys,

Glad you enjoyed the WIP and thanks for your comments.

OW, I must admit that I too am guilty of only looking at pictures and not reading the words on many posts   

Paul, the screw chuck is made with a 6mm coach screw which is then epoxy-ed into the wooden body.

The hole is fixed into the bottom as it is straight but also because it would neet to be very long to get a good secure fixig into the top of the apple. Also, if there was any slight bruising from the screw chuck, it would be very obvious on the top of the apple. 

Pete, these make a nice little project and seem to sell well. My best tip for getting the "perfect apple" is to buy one and take measurements off of it and generally study it. I found it helps no end!!

Cheers,

Richard


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## jpt (12 Jan 2010)

Richard I forgot to mention that when putting it on the screw chuck I use a piece of leather between the apple and the wood of the chuck. One side of the leather is usually finished and shiny but the other side is usually soft and a bit fluffy. I find this cushions it much better and since using it I havent had one marked.

If you go to DFS or similar and ask for some old samples you can usually get a few.

john


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## Richard Findley (12 Jan 2010)

Good "Top Tip" John, thanks!!

Richard


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## hog&amp;bodge (13 Jan 2010)

Fantastic am on my way out to the shed to have a go...now. :lol: 
Have to have a go at the pear...


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## jasdon79 (13 Jan 2010)

great, great. iam of to have a go now thanks


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## hog&amp;bodge (14 Jan 2010)

Pear was a flop lol...but I did finish a spalted pot.
Will give the apple and pear another go later on today.
Thanks for the pic tutorial.


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## Bodrighy (14 Jan 2010)

hog&bodge":1ahrqec5 said:


> Pear was a flop lol...but I did finish a spalted pot.
> Will give the apple and pear another go later on today.
> Thanks for the pic tutorial.



People like Richard always make these things look easy but it isn't is it? I have yet to make a recognisable one.

Pete


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## OldWood (14 Jan 2010)

I've got as far as the top end of the apple and it's looking OK !! It will be typical though of all too many of my turnings - ruined by the last cut!!

Has any one tried Bobham's offset handle scoop - that is going to be an interesting challenge - all too many phases in the turning of that to get through without a failure.

OW


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## stevebuk (14 Jan 2010)

i hope Richard is going to do a demo of this at the Brum bash. :lol: :lol:


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## Bob Chapman (14 Jan 2010)

Hi Richard,

It's always interesting to see how others do things and it's almost always different to the way I do them myself ('cos, obviously, I must do it wrong most of the time :lol: ), BUT I am stunned and amazed to find that I make apples exactly the same way you do  ! 

Super set of pictures - very nicely done.

Bob


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## richburrow (14 Jan 2010)

Hello all
I spoke to Rich on PM the other evening and cleared this with him first.

Printed out the WIP and gave it to my best turning student, year 10 
(the one whos dad bought him a lathe on ebay after doing a mirror in school.)
He brought this into school to show me today.












Top lad, fairplay he surprised me with this one, it is mint!!!   

Thanks Rich, your WIP is fantastic and that apple above would not have happened without it.


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## CHJ (14 Jan 2010)

Move over Rich :lol: :lol: 

Pass on my congrats on the Apple.


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## stevebuk (14 Jan 2010)

brilliant Rich, i bet you were chuffed to bits, well done to the lad..


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## Paul.J (14 Jan 2010)

*Steveb wrote*


> i hope Richard is going to do a demo of this at the Brum bash


We can only ask Steve,but it would be good to see been done  

Great apple Rich.You must feel proud yourself


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## Bodrighy (14 Jan 2010)

I hate kids 

Not really...that's several hundred percent nbetter than the feeble attempts I've had a go at. Looks like you have a student with the knack there Rich

Pete


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## Richard Findley (14 Jan 2010)

Thanks all for your comments and feed back. I has really made it worth it to see so many people want to go and have a go just because I posted a few pictures.

Bob, this must be the right way to do it then :lol: :wink: !!!!

I am open to requests for demos at the Brum Bash. Looks like apples are a deffinate first demo!!

Rich, your pupil looks to show some good promise, he's got a realy good finish on it and looks like he took on board my comment about the depth of the stalk hole (that's a technical term :wink: )

Cheers,

Richard


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## OldWood (18 Jan 2010)

I'm very much a newbie at this game, but Richard your guidance was wonderful and despite lots of nerves I succeeded in producing something that certainly pleases my eye. Thanks.

Interestingly the most challenging new technique was turning the stalk - turning a spindle as thin as this was something very new.

One question - the screw chuck. I drilled the suitable shaped block to 4mm and, lacking a 6mm coach bolt, I screwed through a long 6mm wood screw. But it didn't come out straight; tried again and the same result. In the end I just straightened it by eye with a steel tube which seemed good enough, but that really isn't too clever.

What's the technique - or is it because I used a screw rather than the bolt ?

Thanks
Rob


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## wizer (18 Jan 2010)

Missed this one. Well done both Rich's, I'm sure this isn't as easy as it looks.

Now, who can do fruit cake ? :-k


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## big soft moose (18 Jan 2010)

hog&bodge":10mf9yeb said:


> Have to have a go at the pear...



yep you cant beat a nice pear in my book 







hey someone had to say it :lol:


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## Richard Findley (19 Jan 2010)

OldWood":3cry3toa said:


> I'm very much a newbie at this game, but Richard your guidance was wonderful and despite lots of nerves I succeeded in producing something that certainly pleases my eye. Thanks.
> 
> Interestingly the most challenging new technique was turning the stalk - turning a spindle as thin as this was something very new.
> 
> ...



Hi Rob,

This is something I struggled with for ages!!! The secret is, once the screw has been set into the wooden "chuck" is to hold it by the screw lightly in the Jacobs chuck, just like the stalk, and *GENTLY* skim the wooden body to true it to the screw.

HTH

Richard


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## OldWood (19 Jan 2010)

Richard
That of course is a good example of lateral thinking !! Thanks. Some careful cutting on the front face is going to be called for !! The back, apart from the dovetail area, doesn't matter.

What other options did you try before you got to that - thoughts are of drilling through the 4mm and then either the front or the back to 6mm to act as a guide ?

Rob


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## Richard Findley (19 Jan 2010)

Hi Rob,

I tried everything from pilot boring, drilling over sized and using another bit of wood like a nut (and bolt) (if that makes sense?), drilling on the lathe, from tail end, from headstock end, in a chuck, out of a chuck, on a pillar drill..... everything I could think of and every time you get a wobble. 

Using the method I suggest, cut your wooden body and fix your screw, lightly true the body as I described but leave a gap between the Jacobs chuck and the wooden body of the screw chuck, that way you are only lining up the screw and the wooden body of the chuck. You can true the face of the screw chuck once the screw is running true.

HTH

Richard


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## OldWood (19 Jan 2010)

Thanks again Richard,

Having had a look through your website, I can see that there really isn't any point in me exploring the subject further, and that you must have found the best way of doing it !! Impressed.

Cheers
Rob


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## Paul.J (22 Jan 2010)

Well after seeing Richards _how to _i finally got round to having a go at an Apple.Something i have been meaning to do for ages.
So here it is my very first attempt.
This was quickly made just from memory but when it was finished it wasn't far off one from the fruit bowl  
Next one will have the stem at an angle and with a deeper dimple on the top.But i'm pleased with it.


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## stevebuk (22 Jan 2010)

well paul looks like you will be giving a demo yourself at your own bash, it looks brilliant, cant wait to have a go.


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## alexf (22 Jan 2010)

I make quite a lot of fruit. I enjoy it because you don't need to get them all exactly the same. I have made a few different sized screw chucks for this but I hollow them out so that the fruit sits inside the hollow. It is much easier to get it straight this way.


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## Paul.J (23 Jan 2010)

*Stevebuk wrote*


> well paul looks like you will be giving a demo yourself at your own bash, it looks brilliant, cant wait to have a go.


Glad you like it Steve.I was surprised how well it turned out meself,but was good to do.Just take your time with the shape.
I will leave the demo to Richard.It will be a lot quicker :lol:


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