Making and Installing Fluted Quarter Columns

As I stated in an earlier post, one of the aspects of case construction I wanted to explore was making and fitting fluted quarter columns to a clock case. Following Franklyn Gottschall’s plans, I glued up a 2-1/4 inch square turning billet from four smaller 1-1/8 inch square lengths of cherry. The laminated squares were separated by strips of brown paper. Gottschall’s drawings show the columns turned in one piece with the column’s base and top sections turned at the same time as the center shaft. I followed this procedure. However, the base and capitals on the first effort were disappointing. So, breaking with Gottscall’s procedure, I turned new base and capitals separately. When I was satisfied with the resulting turnings I trimmed and glued them in place. I glued up a new turning billet for the fluted section of the columns. The flutes were cut using a 1/8 inch diameter grooving router bit, with the grooves cut on 1/4 inch intervals. This spacing created 1/8 inch wide flutes. I trimmed the fluted section of the columns to fit the gap between the already installed base and capitols. Not bad for a couple of days work.

I am already thinking about turning several examples of column profiles based on photographs of clock cases featured in Antiques Magazine. A great thought, but given my time constraints maybe something for the next life time.

Thanks for stopping by. STB

Originally posted on 4/28/2019