Making the Celtic Knot Rolling Pin #2: Laying Out the Blank

This second part will concentrate on the layout of the rolling pin blank in preparation for cutting the slots. Create a blank that is 22” long and 2” square.
Locate the center of the length (11”) and carry a line around the blank.
The ellipses are 11” long and made of three pieces of 1/8” thick material
Layout a mark 5 ½” on either side of the center line and accurately carry the lines around the blank.

To assist in laying out the diagonals, use a 3/8” thick spacer gauge, drawing lines on the blank, along BOTH sides of the spacer gauge. It is not necessary to layout both diagonals on each side. However, a check of the second diagonal will indicate if the layout is accurate and crossing in the center of the blank.

NOTE: the cut for the diagonal strips falls within the 11” layout lines

Checking the diagonals for centered layout

Rotate the blank 90 degrees and layout the location on the next diagonal cut.
Continue rotating and drawing the diagonals until all four sides have been completed.

Each diagonal consisted of two drawn lines. One line intersected with the layout line that defined the end of the ellipse. The second diagonal line ends “short” of the ellipse layout line. The location of the end, of this diagonal line, must be carried around the blank. These lines define the location of the saw cuts for the strips that create the ellipse.

Accuracy is important when laying out these lines in order to get the ellipses to maintain continuity.

This drawing is not to scale. The measurements are what I used to make this rolling pin. The length and diameters were averaged from various baking supply web sites for their rolling pins.

I will try to post more in a day or so.

Lew