# Celtic knot question



## RyanNJ (Jul 4, 2010)

I read the article in the latest wood and I have read the tutorials on here about making a Celtic knot.  What I don't understand is what people use to
Fill the cuts in

What I gather is cut on a 45 with a 1/8 to the end the label 1324 and cut the 2 side and fill, then 3 and 4 is that true?


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## daveeisler (Jul 4, 2010)

Brass, aluminium, truestone,pickguard, and some even use contrasting wood, or a combination of all the above, just experiment with what you already have.


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## skiprat (Jul 4, 2010)

RyanNJ said:


> What I gather is cut on a 45 with a 1/8 to the end the label 1324 and cut the 2 side and fill, then 3 and 4 is that true?


 
Yes, that's what I do, opposite sides. 
The only trick ( if you could call it that) is to make sure your blanks is square and the piece you stick in, FILLS the kerf ( slot)

There are many complex jigs for cutting, but the hardest part is glueing them back together accurately. I find that the best way to overcome this problem is not to cut all the way through the blank. Of course your blank may need to be a bit bigger, depending on the pen.
Practice on rubbish blanks first.:wink:


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## RyanNJ (Jul 4, 2010)

Thanks for the info, where can I get pickguard... I will try to make one this week


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## skiprat (Jul 4, 2010)

Before you go out and buy pickguard....

....decide what machine you are going to use to make the cuts ( table saw, chopsaw etc)
Now make a bunch of cuts across half way through on one side of a piece of material ( wood, pr etc) with all the various blades you have.
(I have a cut blank that I keep in my car so that I can try stuff I come across when I'm out and about.)

Now is the time to find all the goodies that are a nice fit in each of the different thickness cuts. You will be amazed at what you already have laying around.:biggrin:

....or you can buy pickguard and then hunt for a blade to match it's thickness


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## RyanNJ (Jul 4, 2010)

I don't know how to cut them my only saw that will cut on a 45 is the bandsaw unless you have ideas of how to make something to hold them on a 45 for the table saw


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## Nate Davey (Jul 4, 2010)

I use my band saw to cut my kerfs, then have a sled made for my table saw to cute repeatable, thin inlay material.  I like the thin celtic knot and this makes a nice tight knot.  Skiprats got it right, figure out what blade you think you will primarily use and go from there.


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## IPD_Mrs (Jul 4, 2010)

The other trick that has not been mentioned is to make sure you drill center. Any drift will make the knot look goofy. This is best to drill on the lathe. Also make sure that the material you use to fill the voids is not so tight is speads the wood causing your blank to no longer be square.


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## soligen (Jul 4, 2010)

Here are a few tips I figured out that I didn't see in the tutorials that helped me keep thigns in perfect alignment. I've used slices of contrasting wood (maple) as the fill on a 3/32 table saw kerf.

As someone else mentioned, get the blank perfectly square.  Not just right angles - not at all rectanguar either.

When you slice the material for the fill pieces, do so from a blank smaller than the pen blank.  since you want to not cut all the way through, size the fill piece so it does not overhand the blank when glued in.  Saves sanding/trimming and the inaccuracies that can introduce. Using a blank 1/8 smaller is about right if you are leaving 1/16 uncut.  Quickly Wipe off excess glue with paper towel.

Have the stop for postioning the pen blank contact the center of the end of the blank (where you would make a center for turning).  This elimiantes inaccuracies from positioning using corners.

Make a clamping jig to hold the blank as glue sets.  Its just anything longer than the blank with a perfect right angle.  clamp on both sides of the cut to hold the blank perfectly straight while the glue sets.  Use wax paper to avoid glueing to the jig.  This can be real basic.  Here is mine made from scrap MDF, setting on the simple sled I made for accurate slice cutting.  You want a sawdust relieve in the inside corner. The part with the screw is the guage I use to position a blank to cut the filler slice.  The guage is removed when making the cut.


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## soligen (Jul 4, 2010)

The pic for above


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## darrin1200 (Jul 4, 2010)

Check out this thread 
http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=64092

It leads to this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9uQv5sKibk

Young Alex is quite talented. His video shows a good demonstration of a celtic knot on a bandsaw.

Darrin
Timber Elegance


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## RyanNJ (Jul 4, 2010)

darrin1200 said:


> Check out this thread
> http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=64092
> 
> It leads to this video
> ...


that video is actually what perked my interest in the celtic knot


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## darrin1200 (Jul 4, 2010)

I plan on trying another knot using his technique. The way he uses the bandsaw to adjust the width of the kerf, allows you to use just about any material.

Darrin
Timber Elegance


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## Dan26 (Jul 4, 2010)

Ditto with what Nate and Mike said. I use a bandsaw and find it works best for me. Make a simple sled for repeatability and make sure you drill dead center otherwise the rings in the celtic knots will be different sizes.


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## MobilMan (Jul 4, 2010)

Darrin,  he's not adjusting the width of the kerf with the bandsaw, he's just cutting it.  You can tilt the table as he has or add a length of wood to you're miter to accomodate the cutting.  Fix a stop so as to reposition the blank the same each time.  I stop my cut just shy very little then wet [lick] the leftover part so the kerf will open and not break away.  Then glue and clamp with a quik clamp for about 20 minutes.`


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## hkstroud (Jul 5, 2010)

I did a few Celtic knots in small goblets and thought that was fun.  Then I decided to do a pen.  That's when I found out two things.

1.   The smaller the turning the greater the accuracy required.
2.   The hole in the blank must not only be in the exact center of the blank.  It also has to be perfectly parallel to the sides of the blank.

In my world those two things are never going to happen at the same time.

My solution was to drill the hole in the blank first and then saw the sides of the blank parallel and equal distance from the hole.

Here is the jig I made to do that.  The blank is drilled, a brass tube is run through it and it is clamped in the jig.  Jig is made of 3 parts, base, fence and hold down. 

Base runs against my saw fence.  The brass tube of the pen blank is positioned against the jig fence and blank protrudes over the edge of the base just slightly.  I start with the side closest to the brass tube and saw all 4 sides.

I then have a blank with the hole perfectly centered.  All four sides are perfectly parallel to the hole.


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## soligen (Jul 5, 2010)

hkstroud said:


> My solution was to drill the hole in the blank first and then saw the sides of the blank parallel and equal distance from the hole.
> 
> Here is the jig I made to do that. The blank is drilled, a brass tube is run through it and it is clamped in the jig. Jig is made of 3 parts, base, fence and hold down.


 
Very nice solution. Can I patent that? :biggrin:


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## hkstroud (Jul 5, 2010)

Yes, but I get a pizza.


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## daveeisler (Jul 5, 2010)

Skiprat, was my inspiration to come back to pen turning and make amazing pens, not quite as remarkable as his, but getting better every day.


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