On the way to GAW’s Turning Southern Style Symposium, Bonnie Klein presented this month. The project she demonstrated is a spinning top which incorporates a threaded box.
One thing which impressed me about Bonnie Klein is she moves very quickly to cover a lot of ground. I apologize that the photos are not up to normal quality, but several shots did not allow time for camera setup.
Bonnie uses a unique and very portable sharpening system:
Initially, Bonnie turns the upper face of the lower half of the “box-top” with a recessed pocket for the box. She uses a chatter tool and Tombo brand colored pens (along with metallic and black sharpies) to decorate this surface and a Bonnie Klein threading machine to form female threads.
For the top half, Bonnie then turns a spigot and again uses her threading machine to cut the male threads.
She next screws the bottom half onto the tenon of the top half and turns the bottom side of the top. Again, it is chattered and decorated.
The lower half is now completed and Bonnie removed it to give easy access to the top half of the top and occasionally replaced it to make sure she had pleasant lines where the two pieces mate.
The top half is chattered and decorated and the halves are assembled to complete the top. As an extra touch, she usually turns a very small, decorated top to place inside the box!
