Turning Segmented Wood: Making Beads-of-Courage Vessels

Every year the Beads-of-Courage (http://www.beadsofcourage.org/) program provides 60,000 sick children in 250 hospitals beads for every procedure they have to endure. They start out stringing these beads together but too often they have so many that they need a container to hold them all. The organization asks woodworkers create fancy boxes to hold beads. In March I made a vessel using flat boards. 

My First Beads of Courage Vessel With Rings Made Out of Two Flat Boards

I recently joined a group of woodworkers learning to make round objects using segments. The technique uses triangles or trapezoids glued together to form rings that are stacked to make bowls, vases, urns and similar cylindrical forms. By incorporating different colors of wood, these creations can be extraordinary. The pieces of wood are typically arranged so that grain is tangent to the circumference of these round forms. Tools then shave nice ribbons when slicing along the grain. When making a ring from a solid board, only two small parts cut along the grain the rest becomes more difficult as more and more wood fibers have to be cut at up to 90 degrees. Cutting tools often pull bits of fiber out of the wood that require more sandpaper and effort to finish.

Three additional vessels use twelve trapezoids that have 15 degree angles on each end to create five or six rings. The upper and lower rings of the cylinder are walnut and the three layers that make up the top alternate cherry, walnut and soft maple. The sides of the vessels utilize either soft maple or birch dowels, lined with clear formed polycarbonate sheet. Knobs (actually rejected wine stopper handles) were turned from lilac. In contrast to the first vessel that used two pieces of wood, the solid cylinders use 74 pieces, not counting knobs.

Views: Inside Lids and Solid Cylinder Bottoms

Views: Inside Vessels and Tops 

Stepped and Blended Three Ring Tops on Vessels

Three Rings Glued Together Make the Tops

The Vessel With Clear Sides Supported by Six Dowels

View Showing Inside the Lid and Open Vessel

View Showing Maple Bottom and Inside Lid with Pine Ring That
Centers the Lid on the Vessel Opening

Maple Syrup and Working Wood

February and early March weather spurred maple trees to produce large amounts of sap. Five tapped trees produced 14 quarts of maple syrup so far but are tapering off. Our stove has been covered with steaming pots for the duration and we're looking forward to a cooler kitchen, without so much steam.

A Pot of Soup Shares the Stove Top with Five Pots of Maple Sap

Although gathering sap, feeding the fire, tending pots on the stove and insuring syrup does not become charcoal takes time, there were a few hours in between to complete woodworking tasks. I've been learning skills at Northeastern Woodworkers Association classes and the organization expects each member to contribute an object to be sold at the NWA Showcase being held in Saratoga, NY on April 2&3: 

http://www.nwawoodworkingshow.org/information.htm 

It's the largest woodworking show in the country and this is the 25th anniversary show and should be the most extravagant. In addition to the garden tote with white ash ends that will be on sale to benefit the club, I made another out of cherry to be on display in the flat-board section along with instruments, furniture, chests and fancy boxes. I have yet to complete a bowl for display in the wood-turners section. 

The organization supports many non-profit and other benefit efforts and I volunteered to make a vessel to hold "beads of courage" for some very sick child. These colorful beads are given kids when they undergo a procedure like drawing blood, getting imaged, receiving chemo or radiation treatment and shots. Many kids "earn" thousands of beads and need something to put them in. Some of the members made square boxes and others turned cylindrical vessels out of wood. I decided to encase a large plastic jar in wood with lots of open areas to view the beads inside. 

For more information see: http://www.beadsofcourage.org/

Bead Vessel: Top & Bottom Are Walnut, Knob Is Lilac

Horses Are Soft Maple, Poles Are Birch

Garden Tote: Ends Are White Ash, Sides Are Cherry, Handle Is a Hickory Stem and Woven Nylon-Coated Stainless Steel Cable Bottom 

Side View of Above Tote

End View of Above Tote

All Cherry Tote with a Cottonwood Handle Peeled by a Beaver

End View of Above Tote