Chiseled Infinite Spiral

This is an infinite spiral which I chiseled out from a piece of teak wood. If you run your finger in the semicircular cavity, you would return to the same place after covering each of the six faces of the cuboid block. Besides this, it smells awesome.

MATERIALS AND TOOLS REQUIRED:

Material: 1.5"x 12" block of teak wood (grains running length wise)

Tools:

1) Mallet

2) Backsaw

3) Files: Rough, Smooth, Half Round, Round

4) Chisel: Flat, Round

5) Marker (made of metal)

6) Sandpaper: P80, P120, P210

7) Planer

8) Compass

9) G- Clamp

PLANNING WHAT TO MAKE:

1) Planning the pattern on all faces of the block is the first thing to be done before starting.

2) Plane all sides of the wood piece after clamping it with a G- Clamp.

3) Draw out the required pre- planned pattern on the piece of wood with a pencil and then mark it out with a marker.

CHISELING:

With the flat chisel and mallet, make v- shaped wedges into the piece of wood. After this, chisel with the round chisel. The point where the spiral moves from one face to another should be done very carefully as the radius of curvature can go out of out of control.

Position the chisel with its bevel side up for deep cuts and bevel side down for concave curves and fine shaving. The chisel is held at an angle of roughly 45 degrees. After the chiseling has been done on the flat faces, move onto the top and bottom part. At these areas, even a bit of extra pressure will split the wood.

FINISHING:

1) Begin filing to remove small pieces of wood and smoothing rough edges. The half round chisel and the round chisel have to be used simultaneously. For the parts where the spiral moves from one face to another, use the round file.

2) After filing has been done, begin sanding. Some tough to reach areas can be smoothed with a sandpaper. Use the most coarse one, followed by the medium and fine sandpaper until a very smooth, bump free surface is obtained.

3) For the final finishing, take another piece of teak wood and rub your infinite spiral with it. The natural resin present in the teak wood comes out giving it a very natural and glossy finish. Alternatively, wax or lacquer can also be used for finishing. Wax gives a matt finish while lacquer gives a glossy finish.

ADMIRE:

Sit back and admire your handiwork. You could also smell your piece because the resin in the teak makes it smell really good.

JUST FOR FUN:

 Replicate the texture of wood on an OHP sheet using acrylic paints just for fun and experimentation.