BONNIE KLEINE. AMERICA.
Just last week (March 2000) I had the great pleasure of attending a symposium on wood turning that included Bonnie Kleine.
Well, I warned her that I was her greatest fan and that I would attend all her sessions and I pretty well kept my promise.
Here is a gallery of Bonnies' tops and bone turnings.
Well, even if she was not a great top turner I would still be her greatest fan. What do you think!! :) Oh you may think that it is because she a pretty young thing (that tells you how old I am) but no..... it is because she is wearing a "Lace Bobbin T Shirt" and you know how lace bobbin compete with my love of spinning tops!!
She is using a Vic Mark variable speed lathe. Vic Mark is an Australian lathe to boot. I am saving up for one. It is a sturdy small lathe. Cast bed, and very stable. The variable speed is an add on that I am sure we all would like.
If I remember rightly Bonnie uses Maple as her main wood for top turning.
Bonnies stock-in-trade, is a threaded top, and when you buy one of Bonnies tops, inside that threaded box is a miniature top.
The features of a Kleine top is the chatter tool decoration. This is done with a tool called a "chatter tool" (surprise) It comprises a handle in whish is placed a spring steel cutter. The secret of the chatter tool is to get it at the right angle. From what I learnt from Bonnie you could call it a drag position, but at the same time it must have an attack built into the position. It takes a bit of practice. the speed is the decider on how much space there is between each "chip". The faster the more distance and vice versa.
For colour, Bonnie uses what I think is a Japanese writing brush type of pen. It is their equivalent of a "non" ball point pen!
Her tops are both pretty and colourful.
Here is a close up, with one of her miniature tops in the shadow at the back.
Here you can see the threaded parts. Bonnie cuts these with a special gadget that she has designed. It is priced quite well, but if you are a meany like me there are DIY approaches to thread cutting that work quite well, but not so easily as Bonnies cutter.
It fits on the tail stock end of your lathe and has all the adjustments for inside and outside cutting and a foolproof advancing mechanism. Though Bonnie had it set for one size thread I think it can be adjusted. But I am not too sure about that. Look at those good clean threads. Great. ( No I do not get commission!!)
Here is a bit of sanding going on towards the final stage of the top making.
Now we turn to her bone turnings
Look at this for a miniature goblet.
Here is some bone and horn turning. By the way. Look at the thickness of the bone stock that she can get at the pet shop. We cant get that in Australia.
There is a turned box, and Acorn container and a chess piece.
Here is a bone inlay mirror and a horn acorn lidded container
A lace bobbin, letter opener and a pair of ear rings.
Oh, here are close ups of the earlier picture. Sorry about that!!
This Ivory bracelet is just so beautiful. And made to a rather simple and clever design.
This is the end of my Bonnie Kleine rave page. I hope you have enjoyed it.
