Well Doug it looks like our friend Frankie has conquered the Celtic Knot with different colors so it would be safe to say you can procede with your pictorial. This would be great for the library if you have one set up here. Your work looks great and great color combination.
I will give you my take on the aluminum because I have used it for a number of blanks as I have shown. A couple little things I stick to. If I am inserting aluminum as a means of a ring of some sort I will predrill to tube size and build the blank on the tube one piece at a time. This eliminates the heat build up. I always use epoxy but the key is to use epoxy that has a long open time and not 5 or 15 minutes. This type epoxy is subject to heat breakdown moreso than say 2 hour or 12 hour. I always let the blank cure overnight. I never drill the same day I built the blank. That goes for any blank. I do slow down the lathe to drill. I do step drilling. I cool my bits with denatured alcohol.
A celtic knot with aluminum has the metal at angles and you are drilling at angles so this makes this even more difficult. When I get a blank like that I take some gauze and wrap the blank and soak in thin CA. This gives the blank some ridgidity. I have also at times lined all 4 sides with popsicle sticks glued to the sides. These are all tricks that can be used when segmenting.
Now when turning blanks with wild grain and metals or in fact any blank always work the ends down first and the work the center to the ends both ways. I find you put less strain on the material. When putting final passes I like to always work toward the center of the blank and not toward the bushings if you are using them. I use a carbide cutter for most cutting but finish off with a sharp skew always. Leaves little need for sanding which can be a pain with metal and wood combo.
Not sure if any of this is any help to anyone but it is what I follow.
Again nice work Doug. I look forward to many more.
