Candlestick Design King Heiple CWT May 6, 2006

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1 Page 1 of 10 Candlestick Design King Heiple CWT May 6, 2006 can'dle-stick' (-stik'), n. 1. A utilitarian but sometimes handsome or beautiful device for holding a candle both upright and away from a table to protect it from burning and melted wax. 2. A single turned [or frequently paired] item sometimes used by woodturners to placate an irate spouse in need of an immediate gift for a friend or relative. Many woodturners first ever acquaintance with a lathe was in a high school shop where they scraped out a squatty candlestick and presented it proudly to their parents. And perhaps have never made another one since! Figure 1 is mine and is dated 1943 on the bottom! It wasn t all that bad in retrospect. I then didn't turn again until about 15 years ago. Candlesticks can be quite simple and still be handsome depending upon both wood and form for their beauty. Or they may be surprisingly complex using glue ups of contrasting woods or glue ups to extend their form beyond what is possible with a one piece turning. Rude Osolnik made hundreds or even thousands of a classically simple form that has been widely copied or imitated. Since he is now deceased you can certainly attempt that form without the guilt that you are "ripping off" his design, just acknowledge it. A copy or a similar concept can still be beautiful. There is no law that you must be a totally original artist. It's just a bit more fun to work out a design of your own. If you are not acquainted with what his classic form looked like here is a set of his that was turned in tulipwood.

2 Page 2 of 10 Figure 2. A set of Rude Osonik's modern classic candlesticks. Here are several suggestions for interesting variations that have sometimes both a challenging form and function well. Function requires a base large enough for stability and usually some physical "trap" for melted wax that may drip and is difficult to remove from a tablecloth. Those elements are not mandatory but are certainly basic. The stability necessity suggests that the base be around 1/4 to 1/5th of the height. Taller can be elegant but with increased tip over risks. Remember the candle itself increases that risk. Note that Rude Osolnik's form pushes the stability limit looking for slim gracefulness. Shorter can be fine, especially for big heavy candles or for use on a porch with wind risk. Figure 3 is a short turned and carved walnut candle "holder" for such use. It could hardly be described as a "stick". Figure 3. Many designs may be made from a single piece of wood, as was Rude Osolnik's. This of course is a limiting factor for your design depending upon your wood supply, This is particularly true if you want to use expensive exotic woods that you may have.

3 Page 3 of 10 Figure 4. This pair in walnut is a variation on such a single piece candlestick that adds only a ridge to the otherwise simple form and does so in the same tradition of Osolnik's but in a slightly shorter form. However, once you have "unhorsed" yourself from the notion that every candlestick should be made from a single piece of wood, you open a huge range of possibilities. And your designs may be deliberately be in some particular mode to make them compatible or complementary to your or the recipients decorating style. Art Neuveau, Shaker, Colonial, Mission, Arts & Crafts, Modern, etc. Just a study of pictures of many furniture styles may give you ideas so that your final product will carry that "feel". Or just stimulate you in some completely new direction. Figure 5 is a pair of "Colonial" walnut candlesticks done from a four part glue-up. The base, lower stem, wax cup and candle socket each being a separate piece of wood. This mode of construction, either as a three or four part assembly opens a wide range of design possibilities and allows economical use of 4/4 wood stock for most designs.

4 Page 4 of 10 Figure 5. This pair deliberately uses the sapwood streaking and asymmetry of height as deliberate elements of the design. The construction and turning of a single part design is obviously the simplest, but a quick sketch of your goal is helpful. Here are some sketches of simple but attractive forms that can be carved for additional visual interest. The construction of two, three or four part designs takes some planning. But it allows a great

5 Page 5 of 10 deal of freedom in design. The left style can either be made from two pieces if your exotic wood is too limited and don't be afraid to glue up 4/4 stock into 8/4. Just keep the glue line in the middle with the grain symmetrical. The dotted outlines indicate the way in which three and four part designs are built up. Cut out appropriate disks of your wood from 4/4 stock on the bandsaw for the base and wax cup and center drill both with a 3/4" Forstner bit. Also cut a stem blank and the candle socket blank. It is much better to center drill the candle socket blank at this point with the 3/4" Forstner and then use a centering plug while turning. That prevents spoiling the finished product trying to drill the candle socket at the very end and also allows for perfectly aligned glue-up by using the lather as the glue-up clamp as shown below.

6 Page 6 of 10 Put a tenon on the bottom end of the stem long enough to protrude 1/4 to1/2" through the base so that turning the base is easier. And a short 3/8" inch tenon on the top to come one-half way through the wax cup. A tenon on the candle socket is also one-half the thickness of the wax cup so that the two almost meet at glue-up. Note that the cone center of the live center keeps the alignment perfect and allows sufficient pressure to turn the piece. Use your smallest drive center. In this case a 1/2" Steb center. Turning is now an adventure in rapid alternation between a small bowl gouge, usually my 1/4", for the base and wax cup portions and a 1/2" spindle or detail gouge for the spindle turned portions. The transitions can be tricky and a small 1/2" round nosed scraper can be very helpful. Do the base and wax cups first, then the candle socket and finally the stem as this is where you will get the most problems with harmonics as the stem gets thinner. This assembly is for the right hand design on the previous page. Turning the Flower design:

7 Page 7 of 10 Turn a large tenon on the base so that you can grasp with your scroll chuck to turn the leaf and stem portion of the base element as show below. Turn the "leaves" first while you have maximum support for what you are doing and hollow with your spindle gouge to a 1/16" wall. Then center drill with a 5/16" drill for a 1/4" depth to accept your "flower" later before proceeding further. Make a "turning plug" for the hollow leaves and then you can support the stem to finish the turning of the base portion.

8 Page 8 of 10 The "flower" itself is turned separately and then glued into the base portion. Left: pre-drilled on the drill press. Middle: rounded and tenon on bottom for spigot jaws of scroll chuck. Right: Mounted in spigot jaws keeping centering with live center. Turn outer portion of "flower" with your spindle gouge and sand up. Hollow the "flower" with your spindle gouge to a 1/16" wall and sand, leaving at least 5/8" depth of candle socket. Cut crosswise with a back saw in two directions to create four "petals".

9 Page 9 of 10 Lay out the "petals" from the saw cuts and carve with an X-acto or carving knife and sand their edges. Install a "turning plug" as shown to finish turning the stem. Sand and trim off the base. Adjust the length of "stem" to suit your pleasure and glue into your base. Be very careful to maintain vertical alignment. A flower may lean to one side but you do not want your candle to do so! Here is the finished product and also the one with carved spiral flutes in walnut.

10 Page 10 of 10 Have fun, King Heiple, May 2006.