Dennis turned these three elegant tap handles at the request of some friends who make their own beer.

All three feature captive rings at the base.  Two are from walnut, and the twisted one is sycamore.  For twistwork afficionados, this is a 4-start, graduated, and slightly stretched bit of twistwork.

Steps from his demonstration of the 4-start twisted handle are now available on the ‘Project’ tab at the top of this page, as Project #3.

The Liggetts’ woodshop also serves as a classroom.   Dennis has a new demonstration of ‘Twistwork for the People’ ready for the Utah Woodturning Symposium.    The debut was for the Pikes Peak Woodturners.  In the follow-up class, several club members came by the shop to try their own hand at making the flame twist.

In the photo, Milo Scott helps Mark Harry sand his first flame twist.  Dennis is watching Robert Brewer (behind Mark) turn a pineapple.  Bill Smith and Lyle Wilgers also came over to learn simple twistwork.

Dennis holds training sessions throughout the year as part of his mentoring role for the Pikes Peak Woodturners.

Dennis will demonstrate cutting twistwork by hand at the Utah Woodturning Symposium in May.   For the first time, he will demonstrate some novice and intermediate level twist techniques for smaller projects, like finials and bottle stoppers.

He will also have demonstrations of stone inlay work, the laminated twisted goblet, and the traditional woodturner’s canteen.

In the photo, he is turning a lid to fit to a box base.  The wood is American osage orange, one of Stuart’s favorite woods.

Stuart is best-known for his innovative ways to achieve the precision of traditional twisted spindles and twisted hollow forms, open-twist finials, and specialty twists such as the pig-tail and lace edge.   He is an expert carver on turnings as well, and he teaches quick and effective techniques for hollowing turnings for carved detail.  To see current work from the Mortimer woodshop, visit www.stuartmortimer.com.

Stuart made a variety of turnings while he was in Colorado.  Some of the demonstration pieces were auctioned at the Symposium.

The Pikes Peak Woodturners will auction several more at meetings in October or November.   Ths auction will include two finished pieces–a goblet with a twisted stem, and the box from the demonstration in Manitou Springs.  For more information about the PPW auction, call Dennis  719-481-8754

The entire piece is turned from American Cherry.  As it ages, it will darken to the familar dark red cherry tones.  The finish is penetrating oil, with a hand-rubbed wax.

Overall height  10.5″  x  11″ diameter

The lacy edge adds lift to this more substantial goblet form. Cover the rim, and you will discover that the lace is not ‘fluff’–it creates the success of the piece. Ornament at its best completes and energizes the form. Dennis learned this technique working with Stuart Mortimer.

Twins - Both are right-hand twists

Dennis turned these goblets for the Southern States Symposium demonstration from canary wood, with a laminated stem of holly and canary wood.  They are 10 1/2″ tall.   The twist is a right hand twist, which means that it appears to rise from left to right.  Sometimes a pair of goblets or candlesticks will have one right-hand twist, and one left-hand twist.

The goblets are decorative, although they might be used once or twice for a special toast.  Spirits will definitely damage the finish.

Open twists make a great finial–light and airy, especially in a darker color. Notice that your eye goes to the ends of the bines, where particular care needs to be taken with the cut. Dennis turned this piece in 2001 after studying with Stuart Mortimer.