On the clock I am building now are four fluted half-round columns, each 1 in. high and 1-3/4 in. wide, two of them 41 in. long and two of them 16 in. long. Each has five flutes. To make these columns I took pieces of walnut 1-1/16 in. x 1-3/4 in. and marked the ends to the half-round I wanted. I then took off some of the waste on the jointer and the rest with a hand plane. To get them perfectly half-round I took a 6-in. length of tubing with an inside diameter of 1-3/4 in. and cut it in half lengthwise. Inside of this I put a piece of 60-grit sandpaper to shape the wood, followed by finer grits until it was smooth. To make the flutes I put a drill chuck with a router bit on my radial arm saw. I set the saw to the proper angle for the first flute, with the wood against the rip fence, and ran both edges of all four pieces through. I adjusted the saw setting for the succeeding flutes.

George Eckhart, Kenosha, Wis.

Fine Woodworking Magazine, Fall 1977 No. 8

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