​​Here at Black Star Customs there’s a goal to try and invent, innovate, create just all around dream shit up kind of vibe. This will be the case with a new line of “City Furniture” that is being dreamed up right now. This line is still in the pre-pre-production stage. However, the excitement around this new City line is contagious.

There is some conversation on naming the line something a whole lot more creative than “City Line” but the jury is still out on that. Another idea is to call it the “L Line.” This is for a couple of reasons. One being that the L line is shutting down and causing my GF to move. Plus, her first name starts with L. So – why the heck not name the series of city sized furniture the “L Line” after these items???

Above is a screenshot of a SketchUp idea for the first concept. It doesn't show much for a reason. 
Have to have an image or no one will read this – right?

Stay tuned! ​

This is going to be a quick post - lots of photos. Who doesn't like to read photos over looking at a bunch of text anyway. HA!

I have to say the clamping jig worked great. Wax paper was the best part. Even the West System will peel right off the wax paper. Easy clean up - no seriously I can reuse the wax paper. 

Below you will see a gallery of images to see what I did. Here are some notes on the process. Please feel free to ask any questions.

• Mixed some saw dust with the West System to darken it and help fill in between the rings.
• Used TiteBond 3 for the segment glue up (KEEP THIS AS FLAT AS YOU CAN)
• Sanded the rings as flat as I could get them
• Spread West System on with a popsicle stick to keep your fingers out of it
• Clamp on each side to help it all from shifting around. 
• See photos for steps below but go to the end to see the finished work. 

This is all well and good but if what you end up with isn't pleasing to the eye there's no point other than this was a learning exercise. I did learn a lot, and I am semi happy with the vessel that I ended up with. I don't like the foot that is on it. I need a bigger face place to hold the bowl to turn that how I want it to me. I have also learned to turn the foot second. I had to get the whole thing balanced first. That was a bit tricky and even took a trip to the bandsaw.  

Please let me know your thoughts on my first ever segmented turning attempt. 

Thanks for reading & looking. 

If you do any type of gluing up of wood pieces you know that you will quickly run out of clamps. You complicate things when you do segmented turning as well. After watching Frank Howarth do his segmented glue up I got an idea for a little “glue up station.”  

I had some 1" plywood in the shop from the previous owner. So I decided that would be a very sturdy chunk to use for this. I cut it down to 12 inches square. I got about four pieces out of it with some left overs. I need the leftovers so when I cut this on the table saw I don’t max out my cuts to use all the wood.

Now I ripped some 1.25” pieces down. Next I cut four 4” pieces and four 3” pieces. I put some Titebond 2 on the pieces and stapled them into place with 1.25” staples using my Bostitch stapler. You can see in the photo below how I arranged the “feet” on the base. I did this to give the most clamping area I could achieve and still have room for a strap to go through the centers if all the shop clamps were already in use.

After getting the feet on I went ahead and lined up the two pieces and marked the center. I cut a 1” hole in the center. I know this is a bit of over kill and it could've been a tad smaller - but that’s ok. This will be used for a piece of allthread to go up through both boards and clamp them together this way.

I made two of these. One will be a gift and one I will use around my shop.

Please comment below and if you build one or have something like it - send  a photo!

Until the next build  -  Dallas


Some things to note:

• These are not a perfect 12” square
• I sanded everything on all sides
• Plywood splinters bad going through a table saw - even when you go slow
• Forstner bit was used for the center hole & hand held drill
• Feet could be taller for the clamp heads to fit
• I need to work on my staple skills