# Rolling pins construction



## MonteCristo (May 29, 2012)

*Using 15 degree wedges to make a rolling pin*

Of the two rolling pins I put in my projects list, the top one is the one most people prefer. It looks more complex than it is, always good if a guy is trying to make a few dollars at craft. (Out here on Vancouver Island, people expect craft to be cheap . . .)

The first thing to note is that all the wedges are either 15 degrees or twice that at 30 degrees. In the latter the grain runs along the line of the middle of the wedge. This is al to honour the fact that a glue joint is only strong if it has mostly long grain on BOTH pieces.

The wedges are cut and organized with alternating dark and light woods which fan out from an axis perpendicular to the axis of the rolling pin. It makes sense for some to be 30 degrees because the wood used stays the same and two 15 degree pieeces would be silly. This arrangement of wedges automatically means that the central 30 degrees (15 degrees eiher side) will be a short wedge that only spans a short distance along the surface of the rolling pin. The 15 degree pieces that border this central 30 degrees (one on each side) will traverse further along the surface of the rolling pin (basic geometry) and the next 15 degree pieces even more.

Some may note that my "central 30 degrees" is actually two 15 degree pieces. I did this because I only had small pieces of Hick's yew and a single piece was not possible.

Make sure to cut the wedges to approximate length in accordance with the phenomenon outlined above. They can be trimmed later . . .

One key observation is that the pattern can be thought of as two pieces that are flat on the bottoms that are then joined together. That is, a guy sticks together enough pieces to make two bigger pieces, each spanning 180 degrees (6×30 degees, where SOME of the 30 degree elements will be 2×15 degree pieces).

Note that there is SOME freedom in which pieces you stick together to make a 180 degree piece, but you can't just choose any old 12 pieces because in a few cases it make sense to use a 30 degree wedge insetad of two x 15 degree ones.

You want to end up with two (approx) 180 degree pieces so that you can then flatten them "perfectly" and then join them to complete the blank you put on the lathe. Basically, unless you're incredibly good/lucky/both, you will not hit 180 degrees bang on just glueing up a selected bunch of wedges.

Obviously one has to be as carefull as possible with all this wedge glueing up as clamping them is a real bugger. If you have to plane the approximately 180 degree pieces too much you will blunt the area where all the wedges meet and it will look lousey. This was my first (and only !) one of these and you can see it's not perfect.

The lathe work is basic. The geometry of wedges intersecting a cylinder does the rest.

I turn the handles out of a complimentary wood and include a stub tenon. I then use a parabolic bit (drills end grain well) and make a motise in each end of the pin body.

I hope you can follow the above. Send a PM if you have any questions and I will try and answer.


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## SteveMI (May 19, 2009)

MonteCristo said:


> *Using 15 degree wedges to make a rolling pin*
> 
> Of the two rolling pins I put in my projects list, the top one is the one most people prefer. It looks more complex than it is, always good if a guy is trying to make a few dollars at craft. (Out here on Vancouver Island, people expect craft to be cheap . . .)
> 
> ...


I'd like to see some pictures or link to the project,


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## altendky (May 7, 2012)

MonteCristo said:


> *Using 15 degree wedges to make a rolling pin*
> 
> Of the two rolling pins I put in my projects list, the top one is the one most people prefer. It looks more complex than it is, always good if a guy is trying to make a few dollars at craft. (Out here on Vancouver Island, people expect craft to be cheap . . .)
> 
> ...


http://lumberjocks.com/projects/67139


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## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

MonteCristo said:


> *Using 15 degree wedges to make a rolling pin*
> 
> Of the two rolling pins I put in my projects list, the top one is the one most people prefer. It looks more complex than it is, always good if a guy is trying to make a few dollars at craft. (Out here on Vancouver Island, people expect craft to be cheap . . .)
> 
> ...


Thanks for the explanation! I see it now!


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

MonteCristo said:


> *Using 15 degree wedges to make a rolling pin*
> 
> Of the two rolling pins I put in my projects list, the top one is the one most people prefer. It looks more complex than it is, always good if a guy is trying to make a few dollars at craft. (Out here on Vancouver Island, people expect craft to be cheap . . .)
> 
> ...


thanks for the blog but with out photo's I don't get it. thanks for sharing


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## BenI (Jun 8, 2012)

MonteCristo said:


> *Using 15 degree wedges to make a rolling pin*
> 
> Of the two rolling pins I put in my projects list, the top one is the one most people prefer. It looks more complex than it is, always good if a guy is trying to make a few dollars at craft. (Out here on Vancouver Island, people expect craft to be cheap . . .)
> 
> ...


Yeah, I'm a very visual person so if possible, picture would help understanding a lot. thanks for the explanations though


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## MonteCristo (May 29, 2012)

MonteCristo said:


> *Using 15 degree wedges to make a rolling pin*
> 
> Of the two rolling pins I put in my projects list, the top one is the one most people prefer. It looks more complex than it is, always good if a guy is trying to make a few dollars at craft. (Out here on Vancouver Island, people expect craft to be cheap . . .)
> 
> ...


Sorry, the photos I put under projects is all I have right now. If I make another I will take some photos


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## MonteCristo (May 29, 2012)

*30 degree wedges rolling pin*

This pin is simpler to assemble that the first one because it is just 30 degree wedges that alternate in type of wood and orientation. The end ones are only 15 degrees (half a wedge as it were). In mine I used hard maple and walnut.

One thing I found was that a stack of wedges could be dry clamped pretty easily but when the glue was added (I used Titebond III as it is "waterproof") things wanted to squirm around so you have to use some scrap pieces to prevent this.

The wedges don't come to a point on my rolling pin. Getting perfect points ALL ALONG THE PIN would be a bit of a trick so it's safer to have them blunted - very slight errors are almost inevitable but these are hard to see when the points are blunted.

The handles are attached in the same way as for the first pin. These ones are spalted Big Leaf Maple - I like the way they compliment the piece.

Not as nice as the first pin but easier to make . . .


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## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

MonteCristo said:


> *30 degree wedges rolling pin*
> 
> This pin is simpler to assemble that the first one because it is just 30 degree wedges that alternate in type of wood and orientation. The end ones are only 15 degrees (half a wedge as it were). In mine I used hard maple and walnut.
> 
> ...


Thanks!
Isn't amazing hoe the lathe can create the design.


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