Stubby 3 Part Turned Candle Stick From Scrap and Reclaimed Wood.

Having recently made a large candle stick in 3 parts I was messing around in the shed making chisel handles an was using a 3" square scrap of spalted beach to test the chisels out on.  I started to see this small piece of beech had potential to turn something on the wood lathe so I screwed it onto the screw chuck and rounded it out to see what would happen.

I decided to make a stubby candle stick holder using the beach as the holder and a scrap of mahogany 2" x 2"  about 3 inches long to make a spindle and use a 4" mahogany bowl blank to turn the base from.  All this timber was reclaimed so it does have a few inclusions so designs have to be open to change due to the wood saying no but this is the way of things when turning wood.

I went for a plain design as the beach had a nice grain effect and it wold be the focal point.  The handle was made out of a piece of thick square section copper wire from a large transformer coil, I bent it to shape using 2 adjustable wrenches.  The handle was drilled, filed and sanded to remove any tool marks and give it a smooth finish and was attached to the base of the candle stick using small self tapping screw I reclaimed from some electronics I once dismantled.

I used 22mm copper pipe as the insert in the candle holder part as it is a better fit for a standard household candle and is much cheaper than buying the inserts used in water fittings.

All parts where glued using Titebond wood adhesive. Once final shaping was done the piece was sanded with various grades of paper up to about 400 grit then the decorative lines where burnished using copper wire.  The candle stick was then finished with boiled linseed oil, french polish and finally given a coat of bees wax it bring out the shine.

As per usual I didn't get all the stages and of course the camera blurred some of the pic I did remember to take, although I will fault the Samsung Galaxy mini for not having a basic flash on the camera as it does let a relatively good device down somewhat. I took  few pics with my camera to show of the nice wood grain.

The scavenged screws started to bug me and I dropped into the local hardware store and bought a few small brass screws for only a few pence each. I contersunk the handle so the screw head would be flush with the handle.  the heads of the screw were also given a light touch up with the diamond file to smooth of any rough edges.  The handle now feels much more comfortable.

I also decided that I had better put my copper insert theory to the test and allow a candle to burn right down to see if the insert would stop the wood from catching fire or getting scorched.  The test was a complete success and the candle burned down and extinguished its self with no sign of any scorching of the wood, the copper pipe acted as I though and becomes a heat sink and draws heat away from the wood.  

I also found that the french polish finish is a very good finish and sheds any dripped wax with ease and leaves no visible marks once the wax has been removed.

Thanks for looking.