I want to turn flowers on my lathe

[Michael Lyle]

Hey guys.
I am woodturner of about 4-5 yrs...and all my skills need more practice I know.... I also know my turning is getting better
that said......

I want to turn flowers on my lathe......I saw an Asian man turning
beautiful flowers and mushrooms with see through leaves
an very thin. Yamabiko was his name I think....
I have studied most of his videos on youtube. A very good turner.

Now my question is what would be the best wood
to turn really thin. turning leaves that light shines thru?

Seems to me wet wood would be great....

I was trying today to turn one opened bloom......3 times 3 times
I ruined my piece. I am pretty sure it was some kinda really
ugly oak......ok you laugh right.....I should not have used that
wood but its somewhat ok to practice on.
so i was not mad that i ruined very good.i was mad cause 3 times
i ruined a piece......period

I know i need to get my gouge chops down much better
and my sharpening is getting better..!!!!!!..I think i am smart enough
to know it all starts with sharp tools

It took me about 3 yrs to fig out .....I needed my sharpening station
near my lathe (which is in the garage) and not out in the back yard
in my wood shed....its a really nice wood shed but to far to go to and fro every time i need a sharp tool .....oh yes my honing skills
need a lot of practice also....

anyway. what could be better choices for wood to be turned to be
flowers....

thanks

Mlyle

 

[Michael Lyle]

or maybe its not the wood!!!!!!

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

Looks like he is using cherry which is a good wood for this. any lighter colored wood might work. The problem here will be on the stem. Thin turning is not very hard using the light method. But that stem will be something else.

 

[Bill Boehme]

I'm moving this thread from Tutorials and Tips to the Woodturning Discussion Forum.

 

[Emiliano Achaval]

Hey guys.
I am woodturner of about 4-5 yrs...and all my skills need more practice I know.... I also know my turning is getting better
that said......

I want to turn flowers on my lathe......I saw an Asian man turning
beautiful flowers and mushrooms with see through leaves
an very thin. Yamabiko was his name I think....
I have studied most of his videos on youtube. A very good turner.

Now my question is what would be the best wood
to turn really thin. turning leaves that light shines thru?

Seems to me wet wood would be great....

I was trying today to turn one opened bloom......3 times 3 times
I ruined my piece. I am pretty sure it was some kinda really
ugly oak......ok you laugh right.....I should not have used that
wood but its somewhat ok to practice on.
so i was not mad that i ruined very good.i was mad cause 3 times
i ruined a piece......period

I know i need to get my gouge chops down much better
and my sharpening is getting better..!!!!!!..I think i am smart enough
to know it all starts with sharp tools

It took me about 3 yrs to fig out .....I needed my sharpening station
near my lathe (which is in the garage) and not out in the back yard
in my wood shed....its a really nice wood shed but to far to go to and fro every time i need a sharp tool .....oh yes my honing skills
need a lot of practice also....

anyway. what could be better choices for wood to be turned to be
flowers....

thanks

Mlyle

It is a good idea to have something. I chose the sandpaper, to be a few steps from the lathe, so you walk, kind of getting a break, some exercise. I have been known to spend 16 plus hours on the lathe, time just flies, so you need to take small breaks. But to walk across town to sharpen might be a bit much, LOL. I have not seen the video you are referring to, but did you see Rudy Lopez at the AAW virtual symposium? He did some great work similar to what you are describing.

 

[Don Wattenhofer]

I have done maybe a thousand of more thin walled goblets and that is where I would start to develop the necessary skills. The basic rules for success are use fresh cut live small trees or limbs and if you want the bark to stay on cut the wood when the sap is not running. The basic procedure is to mount the wood in the chuck then true up the outside but do not form the outside, then hollow out the cup and shear scrap & wet sand the inside. The next step is to mount a light shinning into the cup then proceed to finish the outside down to translucents. The two pictures are of cherry goblet forms, but red & white oak work as well as ash and I have successfully use many other woods including white pine. I believe the form of the goblet would lend itself to being cut into petals and and reassembled into flowers so the challenge is to try it.

 

[Michael Lyle]

Thanks all...... sorry I placed this in the wrong forum....
I think i will find some wet alder.....nice color and the alder is cheap andp plentiful. I have no idear when alder sap is running.

here are two of my latest tries at flowers.......one was close till i broke the cup....The other, because the wood was kinda expensive I
settledfor a bad shaped wine glass.....This wood was from
a guy in Taiwan....I only had two pieces.....and I am not proud of my
technical turning skills on these cups. I am glad I turned them
and know I can and will create/turn flowers.
I love the look of turned flowers and the petals are all misshapen
I saw one turner of wood symphony i think
Greg Gallegos turned some "podlets" he called them.....similsr to flowers or flattened mushrooms.....with a bulb like bottom.

so anyway on we go.....
coffeebreak is over back to the lathe....

Mlyle

 

[Michael Lyle]

And Gerald....Yes that tiny stem did have me shaking in my boots
and I never did get a tiny stem YET....ha!

And Don.....Hats off to you your goblets are beauties!!!!!

thanks for your suggestions ALL

 

[Michael Lyle]

FYI

The taller of my
pieces shown has a broken cup ln the other side.

 

[Don Wattenhofer]

I think i will find some wet alder.....nice color and the alder is cheap andp plentiful. I have no idear when alder sap is running.

The sap may or may not be running now but that doesn't mean that it isn't good practice, it just means the bark may fall off. On Wednesday I was back in the woods checking on recently seeded deer plots and came across some red oak branches hanging over the edge of the plot so I cut them off and brought them home to see if they would work for goblets/flowers. The one in the pic I cut a little to thin (around .020") but I finished it anyway, but the stages needed to do the outside should be evident. The alder we have around here is referred to as "alder brush" and a 3" diameter stem is about as big as it gets. I once brought some alder brush back to my shop and tried turning goblets but due to the extremely soft wood it took 5 or 6 tries before I completed one goblet. The key is not whether the wood is good or bad just go out and get some then practice and practice some more. The best way to make those fine shearing cuts on the out side is using a traditional bowl gouge with the point leading.

 

[john lucas]

I do my flowers differently. I use inside out turning to create the flower.

 

[Michael Lyle]

wow @john lucas that is a nice flower....and display is lovely

 

[john lucas]

That.one was made from a foot.piece of 2x4 for.our club competition.

 

[Lawrence Duckworth]

Ball in a Ball thing is slowly evolving

 

[Lawrence Duckworth]

#2 test

 

[John Torchick]

Lots of turned flowers on Youtube. And you don't have to water them.