| Project by scottb | posted 493 days ago | 1102 views | 0 times favorited | 18 comments | ![]() |
I’ve been planning to make a trellis for the garden, something for sweet peas to climb up – or any of the other vining plants threatening to take over the yard.
Even before the categories were picked (and I was knee deep in wrapping up my Thorsen table entry) I worked out what I would make for my wood joinery project, if it was chosen.
If you caught my blog on this project, you know I got a really late start (yesterday morning) and my leisurly project turning green wood, and thougths of allowing the drying of the wood to snug up the joinery, needed to be rethought out.
Ultimately, I turned (pun not completley intended) to a pair of railings I’d salvaged from a reno job. Luckily I had just enough wood between the two to make a trellis/pyramid as tall as me.

Problem was, I’d never turned anything so long before. Each side is 73” long, turned in three seperate segments, all attached with mortise and turned tenons. If this was green wood each part would have snugged up nicely, being dry wood I had to go for as tight a fit as possible, and pay attention to grain orientation to avoid splitting as the wood expands/shrinks with the seasonal changes.
The bottom two segments of each side (are turned to match) for the tops, Thinking of my forest of bizzare chess type peices (all those practice turning pieces I’ve kept) I was inspired to create literal chessmen. A king, queen and bishop. These, like the bottoms, were designed on the fly, and nothing by my memory served as a reference.

The top is merely joined by a vine (a woody, though still pliable piece of periwinkle) twisted/knotted around the bodies of the three “chessmen” symbolic of the plants that will soon be holding this together, and later, taking it over.

Before I thought of the chess peices, I was going to use another turning to serve as the top, and have them doweled into that. Now, if the vines prove not to hold, (Plan C), I’ll go back to plan B – and slip a wooden ring around their necks! Any symbolisim, (good or bad) is solely in the eyes of the viewer… Though I will personally admit to finding some level of humor in the fact that the represented characters, like all of us, will one day be taken over by nature.

This piece is just over six feet tall, approx 20 inches apart at the rungs – all in all I’ve turned 23.5 feet of spindles for this structure – all of it salvaged pine handrail. It will patina to a nice lovely silver finish, that is if it gets the opportunity before the (what looks like) grapevines, raspberries, periwinkle or anything else that I plant on purpose moves in and makes itself at home.

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/
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18 comments so far
Karson
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14326 posts in 941 days
posted 493 days ago
Great Scott how did you do that so fast.
Great Scott. Superb structure.
-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †
RobS
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1127 posts in 846 days
posted 493 days ago
Very Cool, can’t wait for pictures of it when it’s full of plants. Good job Scott!
-- Rob (A) Waxahachie,TX
dennis mitchell
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3057 posts in 854 days
posted 493 days ago
Cool I like the lower triangle
-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com
scottb
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3064 posts in 867 days
posted 493 days ago
Thanks… I’d say It was fast… but my wife (after not seeing me most of Sunday might tend to disagree. On the other hand… It must have gone together quick, because apparently my wife didn’t really know what I was up to, when typically I’ll spend days and days on a project. When I dragged the parts outside tonight, she asked “What’s that for?” Then responded with “Cool!”
I can only say I’m happy how things went together exactly as I’d hoped. But lets hope she knows better than to expect this sort of turn around from me on future projects!
I thought of that Triangle as an easier way of figuring out the drilling angles in the legs!
-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/
Dick, & Barb Cain
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5399 posts in 839 days
posted 493 days ago
Very nice Scott, That’s a clever way of joining the rungs. Is it legal for an old timer to say,”Cool”.
-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1
Don
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2586 posts in 717 days
posted 493 days ago
Thanks, Scott. Very interesting entry. And what a delightful little girl, your daughter I assume. It’s not fair using such photogenic props. LOL
-- CanuckDon "I just love small wooden boxes!" http://www.canterburybaptist.org/
MsDebbieP
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12284 posts in 701 days
posted 493 days ago
this is great!!! And you met the deadline. Well done.
(Don, you are right—I think it’s cheating to include the “awwwww” factor by using children in the pictures))
She’s so cute—awwwwwwwwww
-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)
scottb
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3064 posts in 867 days
posted 493 days ago
Yep, that’s my little one… use what you’ve got, ya know… besides any parent knows how hard it is to keep a child out of a picture ;)
-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/
john
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818 posts in 922 days
posted 493 days ago
Nice work scott
I have a hard time getting a picture without a cat in it.lol
-- John in Cranbrook http://www.extremebirdhouse.com ....http://community.webshots.com/user/cranbrook2
oscorner
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4573 posts in 851 days
posted 493 days ago
That one nice trellis and I think she approves, Dad!
-- Jesus is Lord!
mot
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4863 posts in 576 days
posted 492 days ago
Wow! That’s just great, Scott!
-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)
jockmike2
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4506 posts in 787 days
posted 492 days ago
Very nice Scott great idea. Should win something just for the idea. jockmike
-- Mike. Profisher50@yahoo.com
Dick, & Barb Cain
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5399 posts in 839 days
posted 492 days ago
An after thought, it looks like your on the road toward making a Windsor chair.
-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1
MsDebbieP
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12284 posts in 701 days
posted 492 days ago
haha Dick .. you are always ready to challenge someone to take another step forward!
Where would we be without you?? !!
-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)
Joel Tille
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200 posts in 784 days
posted 492 days ago
Nice trellis Scott, Where will you put the rest of the chess pieces?
-- Joel Tille
scottb
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3064 posts in 867 days
posted 492 days ago
And to think Mike Dunbar’s Windsor Chair School is an hour or so from here…
Joel, the rest of the chess pieces will certainly wind up on all the garden stakes, posts and such… just as soon as I get a real garden going again. I had a 4×8 box the first two years here, (tomatoes, squash…) and several 1/2 whiskey barrels… but the past few years have been about landscaping, building and mending retaining walls and such… next weekend my brother-in-law will be over to help us grade the yard, and I’m thrilled that next year I’ll be able to get a real, permanent garden going…. just in time for my little one to “help”.
-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/
RobS
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1127 posts in 846 days
posted 492 days ago
Hey cool, get some wood involved with the lawn leveling so you can post pictures next weekend.
-- Rob (A) Waxahachie,TX
robbi
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76 posts in 495 days
posted 491 days ago
Very clever, love it.
-- robbi