Mary Ostler

I decided to try a new technique today. Barley twists are a fairly late furniture technique, and almost all english examples that are even in the 1650 stretched SCA time-line are of a single twist variety. I ended up do a triple twist (cause I am retarded).

marked a grid out on the dowel and then connected the connecting points in a spiral pattern.

I then put a depth stop on a drill bit and drilled holes along the spiral line to have a consistent depth.

Using a rough rat tail file I started to file down the drilled line.  I drilled way too deep for the depth, and ended up use a huge file to get rid of the drill marks. This means I will have a very thin outer spiral as the thick file takes away most of the material.

This is a surprisingly easy technique to learn, but amazingly labor intensive. I have strange blisters to prove it.