First of all...Why?
Some time ago I saw a turned hat at the Working with Wood Show and I thought that I would like to try that one day. The Peninsula Woodturners Guild were having a Competition and Show and when I purchased the November 1991 edition of the English Practical Woodworker I saw a photo of hats. The decision was made.
Now,. ....How. I believe that when you turn an article, you should select a timber that suits the job in hand, therefore I selected Cyprus Pine. I had some large pieces in stock which the woodturners had slabbed in 1985. From these I chose a block approximately 500 mm. x 200 mm. that I thought would do the job.
Firstly I
squared up the block with a chain saw and cut off the corners. Fig.1.
I then centred and fixed the faceplate to one side. After mounting it
on the outboard end of my lathe and balancing it, I rounded the block
and faced the underside of the brim. Fig.2.
Having marked
out a 150 mm. circle on the outside, I proceeded to take away the
wood working down the crown and out until I formed the shape of the
crown and the top of the brim. Fig.3.
Next I cut a
recess in the crown to take the Nova scroll chuck, removed the job
from the faceplate and remounted it on the Nova chuck. Fig. 4.
Having measured
the diameter of the top and bottom of the crown and the depth
required, I marked them out on a piece of plywood, deducted the
thickness of the wall of the crown and cut out a template.
The crown was then hollowed out until the template fitted neatly, Fig. 5. and then the inside was sanded and polished.
Now came the
difficult part, finishing the underside of the brim and turning it to
approximately 3 mm. thickness. It started to buckle and wobble a
little bit so I made a wheel attachment to support the back of the
brim. Fig. 6.
When that was
done, I mounted a piece of wood on the faceplate and turned a hat
block that made a jam chuck Fig. 7, mounted the hat on it and turned
off the top of the crown to remove the recess for the Nova chuck.
Then came the
finishing. It was sanded till smooth all over, coated with sanding
sealer , and sanded again. A coat of spray-on polyurethane was
applied and then wiped off. A second coat was applied and again wiped
off and then a rub down with 500 grit paper. Beeswax was applied as
the final polish and then I hand buffed it until I was satisfied with
the finish.
Finally, I must thank the Peninsula Woodturners Guild for holding the Competition and Show. Without it I may have never improved my work or attempted to make "That Hat".
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