# Christmas Ideas ?



## santiniuk (26 Oct 2007)

All,

I'm hoping sometime prior to Christmas my turning skills will have improved enough to let me make something more exciting than a Tea Light holder. :lol: 

I'm interested in any ideas you have used previously for the festive season.

Any pictures of previous work you would like to share ?

Thanks,

Shaun


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## oddsocks (26 Oct 2007)

Try snowmen and Christmas trees - they can be polished or painted. Beech (spalted or normal) is best but pine is ok too (if painted). Just put on a screw chuck and turn. make the hats different for variety. Drill a hole and put a 3mm square rod nose and then sand trim to shape.

The trees are like lego trees so simple cone and parting tool. 

best size 50x50 x 110 mm for snowmen, 60-70 mm x 100-130mm for trees. but you can go bigger!

You can get carried away..... mantelpiece, cotton wool, low voltage fairy lights and 30 painted snowmen. Great for the children to paint as well - just use poster paints (the sort that you buy for about £1 per bottle in many colours in art shops)
Our first 20 have names on the bottom that reflects family and friends - good party game to see who gets it right!







any early batch from 2004,,,





I've just submitted a magazine article on how to make these in detail..


you can extend the idea - festive light pulls, hollowed snowman box for earrings etc. the polished ones look good on display all year


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## Woodmagnet (26 Oct 2007)

Love the snowmen and trees, Dave. :wink:


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## santiniuk (27 Oct 2007)

Dave, what a great idea !

My girls would love one of those. And hopefully I can make them without too much grief 

Just need to find some wood now.....

Thanks very much for posting, It's amazing how good the look.

Cheers

Shaun


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## Stu in Tokyo (27 Oct 2007)

The snowmen are great, I think I'll make some, paint them white, then let my kids paint them, and give them as gifts!

Thanks!


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## oddsocks (27 Oct 2007)

Stu in Tokyo":3lgxk16v said:


> The snowmen are great, I think I'll make some, paint them white, then let my kids paint them, and give them as gifts!
> 
> Thanks!



Thanks for all the positive comments - I must have made over 300 of these since the first sets in pine in 2004. Most have been made for presents and they are now normally at the request of relatives and friends for them to give. Sets of 5 snowmen and 2 trees look best

My wife was a childminder a few years ago and every year painted these with the children she minded (age 2-4) - they make great 'heirloom' decorations - much like the baby handprints. If doing them for children to paint it is best to make them a bit chunkier and as Stu suggested do the base coat first - they get bored painting white 

For the trees, I have green spirit dye and just dip them, by far the easiest way then paint the lower trunk and pot.

Post some photos when completed please


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## oddsocks (27 Oct 2007)

another photo to show the caped snowman - the shape lends itself to creative painting.


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## oddsocks (27 Oct 2007)

last picture from me..... I found the snowman earring box I made






I was feeling brave that Christmas so wrapped it in a cardboard tube and gave to my wife - I put up with her 'fake' gratitude and mother in law stares for all of 2 mins before telling her to twist the lid (the box had cotton wool to stop any rattle). Peace and true gratitude restored )


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## Anonymous (27 Oct 2007)

Nice work Dave... both the products *and* the novel Xmas present :wink: 

I do similar items in miniature and find it best to colour the tree pot... usually in red...

I have a friend who makes them with contrasting dark wood for the hat and ash/yew etc for the body; a piece of tinsel for a scarf completes the xmassy look... it's an alternative if you don't want to get into painting :wink:


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## oddsocks (27 Oct 2007)

oldsoke":3dr4wc0m said:


> Nice work Dave... both the products *and* the novel Xmas present :wink:
> 
> I do similar items in miniature and find it best to colour the tree pot... usually in red...



Thanks - actually the ones that were painted last year did have red pots! My wife (who does the painting) must have a policy of continuous improvement


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## Stu in Tokyo (28 Oct 2007)

OK, I banged these out today, I guess my snowmen were on a diet compared to your snowmen  






The noses are not glued in, I figure to leave them out until the last, and paint them separately, easier to do.

I've got to go get some more wood tomorrow, I have nearly zero turning stock that is not bowl blanks, so some slabs will be bought.

Cheers!


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## Anonymous (28 Oct 2007)

The little fellah has character :wink:


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## Paul.J (28 Oct 2007)

Nice work Dave/Stu  Something else to have a go at.This list is getting longer and longer and longer........................ 
Paul.J.


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## Bodrighy (28 Oct 2007)

Thank you thank you thank you, you have solved my problem of what to do for my grandkids. For a number of reasons cash is short this year but I have plenty of bits of wood that I can use to do these. 

Pete


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## colin macdiarmid (28 Oct 2007)

Lovely ideas, like the snowman box


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## Stu in Tokyo (28 Oct 2007)

Yeah, the idea of "Snowman Boxes" is really neat, I'll have to get some better wood to do them in, but yeah, cool idea for sure.

Thanks again for sharing this idea Dave!


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## oddsocks (28 Oct 2007)

Stu in Tokyo":2cmhxfrp said:


> OK, I banged these out today, I guess my snowmen were on a diet compared to your snowmen
> 
> Cheers!



Nice shapes- a suggestion, visualise the head going into the hat - it's too easy to turn 'too much' of the head before it goes into the hat. My figured ones illustrate this best.

I don't turn the noses, I make a 3/3 or 4x4 strip, use a craft knife then round the end (that goes in the hole) and the use a chisel to cut of about 15mm. Superglue it in the (in my case) use a proxxon sander to roughly shape it.

My wife's impressed its gone global


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## santiniuk (28 Oct 2007)

Well what a great thread this has turned into.  

I just hope it doesn't get toooooo long. :wink: 

Since seeing the ideas Dave posted my girls have been hounding me to make them one. So with nothing better to do I escaped to the garage and hunted through my ebay wood collection. A couple of bits of olive ash and a piece of utile did the trick.

My learnings to date have been mainly faceplate work, bowls and platters are cluttering the house. So this was the chance to try some between centres work.

I'm scared stiff of the Skew chisel but thought this would be ideal to practice with after roughing the blanks round.

The first little fella didnt go too well. I ended up with his hat too far from the head. It was a real Frankenstein !
So rather than waste the body I cut the head from the body and cut a slight angle on the head so the hat was angled. Crazy I know but it was better than the bin 

The Second one turned out better is a complete turning. (I managed to keep the hat near the head). He's about 170mm tall

The nose is a piece of utile turned and glued into a pocket.

The tree was a disaster ! This was the 1st piece, I used my parting chisel but I think its too wide for the effect I want. I abandoned this piece but the kids saved it.....

But after seeing Stu's brilliant work (Love the variations Stu), I realise how much more practise I need.

Still a great idea and ideal pieces for me to learn on.

Thanks

Shaun


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## Stu in Tokyo (28 Oct 2007)

Good work Shaun!

Dave, nice to hear you wife is impressed!  

I know my hats are a little floating, looks odd, and I realized that, so on the small one, I got better at it, but not quite there yet.

Biggest problem is my skew is a bit on the large side, and I'm only learning how to handle the Bedan (it will be good for this, but I'm still learning how to make a bloody egg with that tool!) and my spindle gouges are a bit too big, I need to get some new ones, and a few detail gouges as well (does it ever end??? :shock: )

Well, I'm for bed, off in the morning for some new wood! \/


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## oddsocks (28 Oct 2007)

santiniuk":1duwli0r said:


> Well what a great thread this has turned into.
> 
> Still a great idea and ideal pieces for me to learn on.
> 
> Shaun



Shaun - I love the wonky hat and the 'tree' - interpretation is everything  . Never throw anything that's completed away - they act as memories . I started turning these as a 'simple' shape to learn to use the tools with - whenever I end up with a snowman in a bobble hat it's because a tool has dug in or the hats rim has given up to the skew. I quickly realised that they are also not so simple!

Stu - good luck if you can justify those new tools to turn snowmen 


PS - are there any other ideas for Christmas????.... skittles set for instance. If you want to buy mechanisms then there's salt and pepper grinders , pens, bottle openers etc etc


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## colin macdiarmid (28 Oct 2007)

I think they all look great, never seen a snowman built twice the same way, so hats off to everybody for trying


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## Bodrighy (28 Oct 2007)

Have a look at this site, loads of different ideas including ornaments and some simple toys that can perhaps be adapted or taken as read.

Pete


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## NickWelford (29 Oct 2007)

I posted these a while ago











A search of my posts will find how to make them, or give me a shout for a description


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## Stu in Tokyo (29 Oct 2007)

OK Nick...... what the heck are those ornaments made from :shock: 

Oh, I got some Hard Maple today, and I turned this little fella from it.........





I think the form is getting better, no nose on this little guy yet.

Cheers!


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## PowerTool (29 Oct 2007)

Stu in Tokyo":rj7ht7jh said:


> OK Nick...... what the heck are those ornaments made from :shock:



Banksia nuts - the devil's gift to woodturning... :wink: 

Andrew (who tried one once,and thought that once was enough)


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## Stu in Tokyo (29 Oct 2007)

PowerTool":1t7gt43w said:


> Stu in Tokyo":1t7gt43w said:
> 
> 
> > OK Nick...... what the heck are those ornaments made from :shock:
> ...



Oh jeez those are those things from down under that they can't sell to no one, so they sell them to the Yanks........... :wink:  

Just funning :lol: 

I've heard they are NOT FUN to turn.

I'll stick to Maple for now! :ho2


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## GCR (29 Oct 2007)

Brilliant idea - love the snowmen, both painted and plain, as well as the box. I am tempted to put some wood into my metal machining lathe and have a go!

Bob


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## Paul.J (29 Oct 2007)

I made this wooden soldier about 2 years ago now.Based on the Nutcracker ones that you can get.
As you can tell i wasn't really into turning then so it is not that good.
It was going to be painted but just never got round to it as usual :roll: 
His hats got damaged now too so i will have to have another go at making one.His arms move back and forth.
Stands about 20" tall.All made from scraps of Pine.
Just another idea :shock: 

Click on image to enlarge.









Paul.J.


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## Bodrighy (29 Oct 2007)

With that lathe you've now got Paul you could have a go at making a lifesize one. :mrgreen: 

That's cute by the way 

Pete


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## jpt (29 Oct 2007)

A variation on the tree theme










They are made out of pine or any other scraps I have around, I turn them and the wife decorates them.

Some work some dont. 

For some other ideas try here

john


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## Stu in Tokyo (29 Oct 2007)

Well, I tired a box tonight............















Worked OK, but I got the dimensions a bit out of whack :roll: 

Too much hat, not enough head, oh well, it was fun working out the mechanics of it anyway.

BOY does that Maple turn nice, I mean MAN what a pleasure to turn it! :lol:


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## PowerTool (29 Oct 2007)

Like the idea,Stu - and yes,maple is a dream to turn  

Andrew


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## santiniuk (29 Oct 2007)

Great to see more ideas and links posted. 

Those nuts look incredible. (I googled to see what they look like before turned and they are damn ugly). I bet they are tricky turnings. Sure look well on the tree.

Paul, thats another idea for a friend's kid. I remember seeing one of those Nutcracker men all painted in bright colours and it did look well.

John, I need to hide those tree pics. As soon as the kids see anything pink it will be.. Dad..... Will you make us one 

Stu, that Maple has certainly got a nice finish. The box is another great idea and is probably beyond my skills at the moment but. One day! 

Cheers

Shaun


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## Stu in Tokyo (30 Oct 2007)

Shaun, I think that is the 3rd or 4th box I've made, once you figure out the mechanics of making one, they are not that hard, and they are fun!

Lots of ideas!


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## NickWelford (30 Oct 2007)

The Banksia nuts are a real pig to turn - sharp bits fly off all over the place, and there's a layer of red fluffy stuff under the shell that itches like crazy. Then when you think you are winning, the whole thing just disintegrates. But the finished article is worth the effort.....


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## Stu in Tokyo (30 Oct 2007)

OK next one.......  













A double box snowman.

I think the bottom needs more work, I did not quite get the base where I want it, but, these are all WIP.

Cheers!


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## Bodrighy (30 Oct 2007)

OK Stu, now you are just showing off :lol: 


Clever idea, looking good. Would you paint them or leave them as wood?
Pete


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## Stu in Tokyo (30 Oct 2007)

Actually Pete, I'm having a blast with this  

This one was actually a save, I made the hat WAY off the head :x so I took, the opportunity to make a better box! :wink: 

These are all going to get painted, I've not done anything more than just sand to #400, no sealer etc, they should paint up fine. I might put some wax on the collars of the boxes, mainly to keep the paint off o them, but not much more.

Cheers!


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## santiniuk (30 Oct 2007)

Thats one thing I have learnt now. Even if you make a right old bodge with some imagination it can still be a good result.

Another great show Stu, should look really good with paint on.

The three piece idea is spot on. I need to read my Keith Rowleys book darn'd quick to get these skills before Christmas 

Cheers


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## Stu in Tokyo (30 Oct 2007)

Yeah, Keith's book is tops, first turning book I ever bought, and really the only one I've gone back to a lot for reference, he got the basics down tight in that book!  

Cheers!


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## oddsocks (30 Oct 2007)

Stu in Tokyo":28hemaju said:


> OK next one.......



Stu - I take my hat off to you  I said they get addictive and it looks like you've got the bug - since posting the original pictures I've had to turn 2 more sets (total 10 men and 4 trees) as another visiting relative saw them on display. I did a couple with the hat design you use.

I like the double layer box - ideal for necklace and earring type gifts


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## TEP (30 Oct 2007)

I take my hat off to you *Stu*, a very novel idea with the double box. Pun intended :lol: , but I'm barred from the garage just now but hope to get back in before xmas and I'll give these a go. Although by the sounds of it you can get a bit busy once other people see them. You could end up doing a production run. :lol:

Thanks for bringing this idea to out to us before xmas *Dave*.


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## oddsocks (30 Oct 2007)

TEP":25y7f4mp said:


> ..... Although by the sounds of it you can get a bit busy once other people see them. You could end up doing a production run. :lol:
> 
> Thanks for bringing this idea to out to us before xmas *Dave*.



I'm happy and glad to give something back to the forum, having gleaned a lot in the early months of browsing. My son is into wireframe modelling of cars for PC games such as GTA and counts a successful design post as one that has 10,000 or more downloads...in his words it's about the 'respect and recognition' not seeking money (mind you he was a student at the time), but his words sum up the true essence of forums such as this. -sharing, educating and learning

Back to the snowmen -every year it ends up a production run and each year I say I'll start early but don't. I always think my local market of friends and relatives is flooded but the 'orders' come in from October and its a race to finish. I'm not quite 50, but when I (semi) retire I might have a go at the craft market - so don't swamp it for me in the next ten years!!!


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