Gershon Elber Woodworking

General Woodworking (With Some Wood Turning/CNC)

An Oval Table

One can only guess how these legs were made.

A Wall Clock

A wall clock, from Mahogany (left) and Oak (right).

A clock made from wooden wheels (using CNC). The clock is operated via wheel number 1 (small wheel on the bottom right) via a step motor controlled by the Arduino controller. The code to operate the controller is available here while the CNC code to cut the wheels (from ~6 mm thick birch plywood, in mm, using 1.5mm diameter tool) is available here.

A Desk Clock

A desk clock, from Oak. The black digits and the modulated sine wave around it were carved using CNC and filled with black Ebody sawdust. On the back side, the electronic mechanism of the clock is seen.

Round Epoxy Table

The steps of making this round epoxy table of over 70 cm in diameter. Left show the layout of the pieces of the Olive tree (thanks to Koby Golan for the wood), middle after pouring some epoxy, and on the right, the finishing steps on my lather. Turned with the help of Uri Ben Shitrit, on his larger lathe (not shown here).

Three Images of the final table. Made with partially translucent blue epoxy.

Spiral Shelves

The spirals are mostly turning (of a cylinder) on a lathe. If you need hints how the spirals were made on the lathe, consult the two pictures on the right. This table is made from a Beech wood.

This second table was made from Mahogany and glass.

Floating Table

This floating table was inspired by a similar table model created in https://youtu.be/80uQSWkdevQ.

Borromean Rings

Three interlocking Borromean Rings. Three different wood types (Oak, Mahogany, and Eucalyptus). Can you envision how this object was made? The image on the right gives a hint ("when you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth", Sherlock Holmes).

Penrose Triangle

Penrose triangle is a very well-known so called 'impossible' shape. Try google it. This specific variation of the Penrose triangle is part of my "Escher for Real" and ""Beyond Escher for Real" work. The right image shows the NC simulation on NCSim. Beech wood.

These bottom two images show snapshots of the NC process.

David Star from Two Penrose Triangles

Here is a variation of the David star using two intertwined Penrose triangles. The CNC in action is shown on the right. See also ""Beyond Escher for Real". Gaboon wood.

David's Head Relief

NC machining of the head of the David's statue. A relief. See NCSim for the NC simulation image.

Thin wall's lamp shades

Thin wall's lamp shades. Left is made of Olive wood, right from Cypress.

Dithered lamp shade

Dithered lamp shade. Dithered images of the David Star, the Menora, and Herzl were carved on the side of the thin shade walls, via CNC. See also Dithering by Curves Made from Cypress wood. The leg (on the right) is a combination of wood with Epoxy.
Another variation of a dithered lamp shade is shown below. Dithered images of the David Star, the Menora, and Herzl are shown with the interior lamp being both off and on. In this variation, the dithering holes were filled and sealed with translucent Epoxy. Chinaberry (Melia azedarach) wood.

Epoxy stripes champagne glass lamp

An epoxy stripes Champagne lamp. The left image shows the top part ready for pouring the epoxy with the passages prepared for the epoxy to traverse from one level to the next. Similar passages were made on the back side for the trapped air to exit. The entire outer shape was then sealed, and epoxy poured in. Cypress tree.

Epoxy stripes red wine glass lamp

An epoxy stripes red wine glass lamp. The left image shows the cutting of the longitudes using a router (6mm bit), after the latitudes were carved on the lathe. Depth of cut was ~20mm before sealing and pouring the epoxy in (Final wall thickness is around 7 mm). The two rightmost images show the final lamp turned off and on, respectively. Unknown tree (Melia azedarach!?).

Lamp with eccentric circles

A lamp with eccentric circles. The vertical diamond shape was turned eccentrically on chucks with square jaws (see two images on the right). It was turned twice, once from each side, with different eccentricity. The eccentricity has been achieved using the two wooden bars placed next to the jaws, on two neighboring jaws (see rightmost image). After each side was turned, it was filled and sealed back with transparent epoxy, achieving the final effect. Mahogany wood. Original idea thanks to Jim Duxbury, American Woodturner, October 2018. Yet another interesting question is where the electric wire is...

Criss Cross Vessel

A vessel with through criss-crosses. The walls are almost 10mm in depth and the longitude and latitude arcs go in about half that much. The inside latitudes were carved first on the lathe with a parting tool while the outside longitude arcs were curved second using the routing device shown on the left image. Both arcs are about 5mm in width. Indian Rosewood, over 20cm in diameter.

The Utah Teapot

As one of the most famous models in computer graphics and geometric modeling, here is a wooden version of the Utah Teapot. Yet another combination of (mostly) CNC (top left), making two half-teapots, and turning on a lathe (top right) the inside. Beech wood.

3D Vasarely style stripes

Victor Vasarely (1906-1997), the `father' of OpArt, produced several pictures in which nearly parallel black stripes on a white background bend and deform locally to produce striking Gestalt 3D effects. Inspired by Vasarely's art, in this work we produce a 3D wood version of two such emblems combined together in 3D, Israel's Menorah and the David star, that are coming to life independently, from two different viewing angles. Made off sequoia tree, and combined wood turning and CNC work (left image). Thanks go to Uriel Bareven that helped slicing this stock, from Sequoia.

Dithering by curves

Dithering is a process of creating gradual color changes by using a (small) finite set of colors. Herein, we recreate a gray level image of Herzl using random black filled curves over light (birch plywood wood) background. Each pixel in the original image on the left (but low resolution sampled to 30 by 30) is mapped to a black freeform random curve, cut as a hole in a light wood (next to left image). The two right images show a zoom-in on a small portion of the image. Curves were randomly crafted to cover varying percentages of the unit (pixel) square and the proper covering curve was selected based on the gray level of every pixel. These 900 holes were then cut with the aid of CNC. See also Dithered lamp shade

Porous wiggle vessels

Given the pattern shown on the top left, these concentric wiggly rings were cut using CNC, from a few millimeters thick wooden plate. Then, every second ring was rotated half a cycle of the pattern and all rings were glued together. Two such vessels are presented here, from Oak (top) and Mahogany (bottom).

Earrings

The stock from which the earrings were (2mm thick) sliced is shown below. A combination of Ebony, Padauk, and Beech wood. The Ebony was rounded on a lathe.

Wine Glasses, Cups and Goblets - Wood Turning (and some CNC)

Knot neck's wine glass

The neck in the shape of a simple (not a) knot. The NC process is also depicted below. Olive tree.

Knotted Wine Glass

A wine glass with a knotted neck. The image on the right shows the NC step. Olive tree.

Shoe Knots

Yet another combination of (very delicate) NC machining and turning.

This image shows the NC step. Indian Rosewood tree.

Complex knot neck's vases

This time the neck in the shape of a more complex knot (so much so that I decided not to disconnect two joins if you can see them). The left is from Olive tree and the right in Indian Rosewood. The NC process is also depicted below. This knot is also known as (8n3) torus knot.

Bow Tie Wine Glass

A gentleman wine glass with a Bow Tie. The rightmost image shows another variant. Olive tree. The images below show the steps (left to right): the turning, preparation for CNC, and the CNC itself.

Lettered Necks' Goblet

A neck formed out of a cross of two (same) letters... Olive tree.

Another neck formed out of a cross of two (different) E & R letters... First three images on the left show the work in progress. Olive tree.

Menora(t) David

A statue made to look like the Israeli emblem, the Menorah from one view (left bottom image) and the star of David from another direction (middle bottom image), from another... Top two images show the two setups of the CNC stages. Olive tree.

Holding Hand

An attempt to manually carve a hand as a vase holder. Hand is carved out of a Tilia wood.

A Facial Statue

An attempt to manually carve a facial statue. Carved out of an Olive tree.

A Statue of a Couple

An attempt to manually carve a statue of a man and a woman. Carved out of an Olive tree.

Siamese Twin Wine Glasses

One can turn one captured ring on a wine glass. One can turn two captured rings on a wine glass. But can one turn two wine glasses captured in a single ring? It is doable but the version you see here is only a partial proof - the ring here broke in the process and was glued back in... The three images below give you some hints how it can be done (wood turning only and no CNC).

Anti-twin Wine glasses

Anti-twins wine glasses. Olive tree.

David Star Cup I

NC machining was used to cut the David Star shape at the neck. The rest is regular wood turning. The image on the right shows the NC setup. The David Star is formed out of two intertwined Penrose triangles. See also "Beyond Escher for Real". Indian Rosewood.

David Star Cup II

Here is another variation of this model, this time from an Olive tree.

Symbiosis of the Jewish David Star and the Islamic Crescent Moon Symbols

Here is another variation of the David Star. Herein, the Jewish David Star is shaped to look like the Islamic Crescent Moon symbol from the side. As a result, this model presents the Jewish David Star from one view and the Islamic Crescent Moon from another. The image on the right shows the CNC stage. Indian Rosewood tree.

Wood Turning (and some CNC)

Top David Star bowls

Three examples of bowls with a top David star curved out. Top row shows the final pieces while bottom row shows snapshots of the CNC in action. Indian Rosewood and Eucalyptus.

Top heart spherical bowl

An example of a spherical bowl with a heart outline on the top. On the left is a snapshot of the CNC in action. Indian Rosewood tree.

Wood Chains

Examples of small wooden buckets with wooden chains, built from one wood block (Indian rosewood). The image on the right depicts the CNC step. Indian Rosewood tree.

Candle Sticks

A combination of NC machining and turning. The image second from the right shows the NC setup while the right image shows the final NC part before turning. Beech wood.

More combinations of NC machining and turning.

These images show the NC setup. Olive tree.

Another variation of (twisted) candle sticks. Each created by cutting a rectangular block on the band saw and removing most of the excessive materials as shown in the front and side view in this attached pdf file . The final clean-up was done by manual carving. Chinaberry (Melia azedarach) wood.

The Vase of Two Hands

A vase being held by two hands. A combination of NC machining and turning. The image on the left shows the NC step. The geometry was creating by deforming a 3D model of a hand using a geometric modeling technique called freeform deformation, that uses trivariate splines. Olive tree.

Wicker style Vessels

Wicker style tops for wood (olive tree) vessels. The left image shows the CNC stage.

2 Cones

Two cones turned on a lathe, sliced and glued together... Indian Rosewood tree.

Segmented turning using a CNC Jig I

This segmented turning piece (a combination of Mahogany and Oak) is created one layer after another, using a Jig that divides the entire circle to 24 parts. The Jig is made of simple 24 170mm radius lines (12 340mm diameter lines) equally spaced around the circle. You can find the CNC G-code for this one here (the cuts are done in 4 mm deep zigzag motion in Z to a total depth of 8 mm). Note the dividers in the Jig can be taken out to create a division of the circle to 12 (as is the case for the first layer in the final piece), 6, 4, or 3 parts.

Segmented turning using a CNC Jig II

This segmented turning piece (a combination of Mahogany, Beech and Oak) is created by glowing stripes of the different wood type, as can be seen on the left image, only to diagonally cut circular rings out of the plate using a scroll saw and glow them stacked together (twisted) into a conical shape. The images on the right show two different final results.

Wild Chess Board Plate

Turning the plate on the right is the easy part once you have the board on the left. However, can you envision how the board on the left was made? The original credit should go to this movie

High Tea

High tea service using three wild chess board plates as above. Interestingly the wavy holder was made using many strips of veneer glued together using the jig shown on the right.

Segmented Black Hole...

A segmented black hole vase turned from a square pattern formed out of two types of wood (Mahogany and Oak). The black base is Zebrano.

Hexagonal Segmented Bowl

A bowl turned from hexagonal patterning formed out of three types of wood (Beech, Mahogany, and Oak). The left images show the glued pieces (note the interior pieces are not as high as the outer ones). The original credit should go to this movie

Plates with alternating (random) cuts

Two plates with random cuts of pieces from Beech and Mahogany wood. Can you imagine how this what done? A hint: There is an anti-symmetry relation between the two presented plates.

Two additional variations of the same idea. Ashe and Walnut wood, and epoxy with black-die at the gaps.

Plate using puzzle-like tiling I

A plate with puzzle-like tiles. All tiles are identical, up to rigid motion (rotation and translation). Tiles are made of Oak and Mahogany wood, cut using CNC (See left image), and alternatively placed.

Another variation with a multitude of wood-types: Mahogany, Beech, Oak, Zebrano, Limba, and Paduk.

Plate using a puzzle tiling II

And yet another. Here all tiles are different. After the CNC step (left) and while the tiles had excellent fit (middle), epoxy, darkened with black hue, was used to seal the bonding (right). Employing: Mahogany, Oak, Walnut and Enigma.

An Escher-pattern bowl

A bowl with Escher-style pattern at the bottom. The lizards were cut (using CNC) from a 3mm Populus plywood only to be water-painted, for the brown and red colors. Then, the pieces were re-glued together.

These two images show the pieces before the gluing, separated (left), and interlocked (right).

A plate with left-over rectangular pieces

A plate made from small left-over pieces. Adaptation from a similar idea from this YouTube movie. Pieces are (n x n), (n x 2n), and (n x 3n) in size. Two variations are presented, with black epoxy in between the parts on the left and middle, and tightly glued on the right. From (at least...) Oak, Zebrano, Mahogany, Paduk, Walnut, and a black epoxy square if you can find it!

A Threaded box with cover

A box with a cover, both with threading's. Left shows the two parts while the right shows the box closed. Indian Rosewood tree.

Handled Bowls

A bowl with handled. Image on the bottom right shows the (fairly) balanced piece on the lather. Olive tree.

Some Winged Bowls

Indian Rosewood.

Asymmetric Neck Bowl

A bowl with an asymmetric neck. For those who wonder how this is done, a hint: it was created from two different pieces. Indian Rosewood.

CNC patterned Bowls

Banana shaped holes. Image below shows the CNC in action. Indian Rosewood tree.

Diamond shaped holes. Left image shows the CNC in action. Indian Rosewood tree.

A Bowl with pierced wings. Left image shows the CNC in action. Indian Rosewood tree.

Another Bowl with pierced wings. Image below shows the CNC in action. Indian Rosewood tree.

Some Vases

Indian Rosewood tree.

A vessel with natural wings. Turning in two different axes, only to clean with some carving. Indian Rosewood tree.

Vases with Inlays

Small vessels with black inlays, made using 2mm CNC cutter. Top left shows the CNC process. Can you guess how the CNC was centered? Top right shows the final piece and left shows a similar style piece.

Zipper vases

Some vases with (real) zippers (and real flowers).

Shoelaces vases

Shoe knots, with real shoelaces...

Schizo vases

Schizo Vases (google "Schizo Vase"!). The image on the right shows the way the slots were made using a special Jig to guide the cutting tool.

More Vases

A Torus vase. The two images on the right show the stages of making this vase.

An off-center (aka therming) turned vase. Two vases are simultaneously turned as you can see in the setup on the left image. Second from the left is the back disk that is on the chucks and one can see how it was hooked to the turned pieces. The two images on the right show the final pieces. Olive tree.

Vases with handles. From Cypress (left one). Interior has a plastic jar glued in (with silicon) for the flowers...

Another combination of turning and NC machining. Carefully inspect the cross sections! The image on the right shows the CNC process. Indian Rosewood tree.

Yet another combination of turning and NC machining, of a vase and its cover. The images on the right show the CNC process. Indian Rosewood tree.

Epoxy Virtual Plants

These virtual plants in epoxy are made after a great demo made as part of the 2021 AAW symposium by Rebecca DeGroot. The left example has some blue dye in the epoxy and bobbles, as this sample was not placed in a pressure chamber. Interestingly, the lensing effect of the epoxy, magnifies the root, that as a result, looks a bit thicker than expected...

A second variant of virtual plants in epoxy, in a sphere this time. The left shows the epoxy casting where the middle turned vessel (from Indian Rosewood) was vertically sliced as can be seen, to form the (four) bases for the spheres. The right shows the fixture used to cut the circular hole in the base to hold the sphere. Below are pictures of two final examples, with one/two virtual plants.

Epoxy Vessels

This vessel was made from ~25mm boards of Oak, Mahogany, Walnut, and Zebrano. The individual wiggly pieces were cut using CNC (top left). They were not glued directly but with ~6mm spacings for the epoxy (top right). After this first stage epoxy, the single disk was sliced diagonally into several rings to form four layers (middle left), and sealed again (middle right) for a second stage of epoxy. The original idea for the CNC wiggly pieces came from ThePapa1947. Thank you!

Another variant of this vessel, this one with a cover. The making of the vessel itself is pretty much the same as above...

... Yet, and while the vessel itself was made out of four rings, the cover was made from two rings only (see above), being much flatter. The final result is shown on the left.

This vessel was made from a board of Oak with stripes of Mahogany. The dark crescent wood is Zebrano. This basic approach, of making a bowl from a single board, is nicely presented by Edward Robinson and here is an adaptation to "floating rings", with translucent epoxy in between. The image on the right portrays how the epoxy was sealed in the different levels - using thin veneer walls...

Epoxy Vessels II

A spiral pattern was carved, using CNC, ~25 mm deep, as can be seen in the left image. Then, the scheme to make a vase out of a flat board, as in previous wood-piece (See also Edward Robinson) was employed, carefully aligning the spirals.

A variation on the spiral, using CNC, again ~25 mm deep, as can be seen in the left image, also with some interruptions across. Then, the scheme to make a vase out of a flat board, as in previous wood-piece was employed, carefully aligning the (interrupted) spirals.

Epoxy Vessels III

A checkerboard patterns ~20 mm deep (or more) was made using the lathe (the round latitude rings - see top left image) and on a table saw (the longitude lines along the vessel). Then, the vessel was sealed and filled with Epoxy (top middle and right images), only to turn it to the final results on the left. Chinaberry (Melia azedarach) wood. Clearly not bubbles free... See also Epoxy Glasses .

Two more variances of the checkerboard pattern. Here again the latitude rings were made on the lathe but the longitude lines were carved using the presented router on a flat bed, using a 6mm cutter. This epoxy example was employing a pressure chamber while the epoxy is cured and lo and behold, almost bubbles free.

Cypress wood.

Epoxy Vessels IV

An attempt to use epoxy in vessels. Wood pieces are Olive tree.

Another example of using epoxy in vessels. Vertical random cuts are prepared Using a router (see left image) and then 'randomized' using a Foredom carver (middle). Indian Rosewood tree.

Yet another attempt to use epoxy in vessels. Top and bottom are made of Indian Rosewood tree. The rounded rings in the middle are mode of unknown wood. Left shows the gluing stage of the rings over a scrap wood mold, and after the pouring the epoxy and rough cleaning in the middle. That piece was then turned, and the scrap wood completely removed from the inside.

Epoxy Vessels V

Another version of a vessel from a plate. The left shows the original stock, made from wedges of alternating wood types (Indian rose wood and Enigma), with the first stage of the vertical (cured) epoxy spacers. In fact, this stock generates three vessels, out of which one is shown in the image on the right, ready for the second stage epoxy. Below are images of the final results.

Epoxy Vessels VI

On October 7th, 2023, the hearts of millions of Israelis were shattered. Yet, these horrifying events, near the Gaza strip, will not divide us. To the contrary - Israel is now united more than it has been, for the last several years. And together we will prevail!

Epoxy Plates I

Thin slots in the shape of David star were made, almost through the depth of the stock (to ensure constant width), only to fill the slots with transparent epoxy. The slots were made using CNC on the left image and final result in the middle. In the right plate, the slots were made on a table saw.

A few more examples of David star semi-regular (mixed triangles and hexagons) pattern. Left shows the part tight and ready for the epoxy. Slots were made on a table saw.

A two stages' epoxy deposition (from below and from the above). The left image shows the result after casting the epoxy from below.

Epoxy Plates II

Another two stages' epoxy deposition (from below and from the above). The left two images show the result after the CNC and after casting the epoxy from above. The right image shows the result after the CNC from below. The CNC cuts were made to half the thickness of the plate.

The final plate. Teak wood.

Another similar example. Walnut.

And yet another. Mahogany. The left image shows the final stage of finishing the center.

Epoxy Plates III

A translucent epoxy double spiral deep vessel from four layers using the idea of vessel from plate (See also here). Walnut.

A curved plate (inspect the orientation of the blocks, from the side). The gaps are filled with epoxy with dies in several light colors. Oak wood. A hint on how this can be done can be found in the the beginning of this YouTube movie.

Epoxy Spheres

A ~12 cm sphere approximating the earth. Left shows the carving (~8 mm deep into a turned sphere, in all oceans) and epoxy stages, while the right shows two images of the final result.

A levitated version using a (electro-) magnetic levitation hardware. I was exposed to this levitation ability from a very nice article by Ken Conte, in the August 2022 issue of American Woodturner.

Epoxy Glasses

I had some cracked Olive tree pieces, so I tried to use epoxy as a filler. As a second stage a mold was made for the epoxy ring (See image on the left). And if we are at it, any clue how was the epoxy leg made on the right image?

Also cracked Olive tree pieces filled with Epoxy. Herein, however, a checkerboard patterns ~10mm deep (or more) was made using the lathe (the round latitude rings - see left image) and on a table saw (the longitude lines along the glass). Then, the glass was sealed and filled with Epoxy (middle images), only to turn it to the final results on the right. See also Epoxy vessels

Trapped Arrow

Yet another cracked Olive tree piece, but it also has a trapped arrow in it, also from Olive tree. The arrow was inserted through the small holes after boiling the back side of the arrow in water for ~15 minutes and then pressing it hard for several days to dry out, shrinking it to fit the holes. Placing the back side of the arrow in hot water again, let it expand back in minutes! Original idea from the "Woodturning Wizardry" book by David Springett. The two right images show variants with a wine battle and a cup.

Bottle-opener Trapped in a Bottle

Can you imagine how this bottle-opener in a bottle was created? Johnny did not figure it out... A hint: The bottle is a regular wine bottle, and was not cut or drilled in any way. And the bottle was not blown around the bottle opener... The real hint can be found here.

Epoxy Lamps

An epoxy-based lamp. A mold from cheap wood (left) was turned on a lathe, and two Olive tree branches were glued at 90 degrees, along the axis and orthogonal to it (second from the left), only to pour the epoxy. The base of the epoxy lamp was then wood-turned out of the mold... The two images on the right show two results - the electric wires are hidden inside holes made in the Olive branches.

An epoxy-based lamp, like a waterfall. The vertical pillar was cracked first, epoxy was filled in it and it was turn. Then, the base was carved as can see in the left image, and epoxy was poured in. Olive tree.

Auxiliary Staff I

Some trials in locked geometry inside a cube...

In this version, an epoxy pour made the locked sphere. The cube was lightly drill from its six faces and its core was randomly carved through the six holes, only to pour translucent epoxy.

A challenge I was exposed to by Yaacov Strichman. The different steps are conveyed in the images left to right, top to bottom. First step (top left) shows the chuck that were used on the (almost) final result. In the bottom left, the simple gouge made and used to verify the sphericity is presented. Beech wood.