6 X 6 X 3 Turning Blanks, What to Make

[William Rogers]

I have several 6 x 6 x 3 and 6 x 6 x 4 Exotic turning blanks. The only thing I can think of to make from them are a small bowls. The 6 x 6 x4 is pink ivory, a couple of purpleheart, desert ironwood, and mystery wood.

 

[hockenbery]

These are nice size for seed jars
I turn these as split hollow forms.

https://www.aawforum.org/community/index.php?threads/turning-a-seed-jar-split-hollow-form.13584/

red gum eucalyptus shows off the wood no embellishment needed 3H 7D

this one is sapelli 4” H 5D

cherry 3.5H 7D

 

[R Henrickson]

Seed jars are good option. Lidded bowls might also.

 

[robo hippy]

I think of hollow forms and lidded boxes mostly. You could get some smaller bowls out of them, depending on the grain orientation of the blanks. End grain bowls also possible. They are a bit small to cut into 1/4 lengths and then turn smaller boxes out of, but the smaller ones are better for threaded boxes.

robo hippy

 

[Dave Delo]

Offset turning could be another option. Here's one I did a couple weeks ago out of walnut for our local chapter instant gallery.

 

[Mark Jundanian]

I think you have an opportunity to do a bowl design with some height. An umeke form is one thought, or perhaps a nearly spherical bowl with rolly polly bottom. Take a sheet of paper and draw a 6x4 (or 6x3) rectangle, then sketch some bowl cross sections that make use of the box.

 

[William Rogers]

Thanks. I didn’t know of seed jars. I’ll do one of those and a lidded box. I do have the Axminister eccentric chuck that would make a offset bowl easy to do. Still interested in other ideas.

 

[Lawrence Duckworth]

theses are about 5" dia.

 

[robo hippy]

Hmm, another thought, the 'emerging' bowl concept. I tried a couple after watching a Mike Waldt video about it. It was fun, and different...

robo hippy

 

[William Rogers]

theses are about 5" dia.

Tell me about those tops/finials?

 

[Lawrence Duckworth]

I textured a 2" metal hemisphere and ground a taper on a 1/2"dia. metal rod. welded the two together and glued it to the wood. The ring is 1/8"x1/2" flat (available at HD or lowes) textured, sanded and buffed, ...glued to the wood. The texturing is done with a torch...
>source for the metal hemisphere..... https://www.kingmetalscatalog.com

William, I'm reluctant to be more specific without knowing more about your metal working background. Welding with a torch requires another volume of safety knowledge ... I'd be glad to detail things like that to you privately, email, etc.

 

[William Rogers]

I textured a 2" metal hemisphere and ground a taper on a 1/2"dia. metal rod. welded the two together and glued it to the wood. The ring is 1/8"x1/2" flat (available at HD or lowes) textured, sanded and buffed, ...glued to the wood. The texturing is done with a torch...
>source for the metal hemisphere..... https://www.kingmetalscatalog.com

William, I'm reluctant to be more specific without knowing more about your metal working background. Welding with a torch requires another volume of safety knowledge ... I'd be glad to detail things like that to you privately, email, etc.

Don’t worry I won’t be trying to duplicate. I have a small wire welder, but not a lot of welding skill. I sold my torch equipment years ago. Just wanted a how/what as they make an impressive turning.

 

[Lawrence Duckworth]

William, I'm not at all worried about duplication. it really is about safety. id hate for someone to read hoe to do it and start a fire. My Daughter is a safety Engineer for a large company and she hounds me all the time.... can you tell me the flash point for saw dust?... she can and will

 

[William Rogers]

Lawrence, I understand what you are saying. I was a engineer for turbine engines used in helicopters. Safety is #1.
Your work is just several levels way above. Fascinating to look at.

 

[Lawrence Duckworth]

oh cool!!! my Dad was machine repair at Prat. they had an open house years ago and the F-16's flew over and went straight up....was fun fun fun!

 

[robo hippy]

I don't know the flash point of saw dust, but love the videos of saw dust cannons on You Tube.... Major POOF!

robo hippy

 

[Lawrence Duckworth]

I'm "woke" to punkin chunkin

 

[Bill Boehme]

I have several 6 x 6 x 3 and 6 x 6 x 4 Exotic turning blanks. The only thing I can think of to make from them are a small bowls. The 6 x 6 x4 is pink ivory, a couple of purpleheart, desert ironwood, and mystery wood.

Getting back to your original question, I don't have a recommendation for what to make, but I do have a design guideline: Don't let the dimensions of the turning blank determine the form of your project. Beginning woodturners often feel compelled to maximize the use of wood at the expense of good proportions. It's a tough temptation to overcome for a frugal woodturner.

 

[Tom Albrecht]

These are nice size for seed jars
I turn these as split hollow forms.

https://www.aawforum.org/community/index.php?threads/turning-a-seed-jar-split-hollow-form.13584/

red gum eucalyptus shows off the wood no embellishment needed 3H 7D View attachment 36762

this one is sapelli 4” H 5DView attachment 36763

cherry 3.5H 7D View attachment 36765 View attachment 36764

Have you done a video on making those?

 

[hockenbery]

Have you done a video on


Have you done a video on making those?

There is a video of a demo in the tips and techniques post. You might have to scroll down to see the video

https://www.aawforum.org/community/index.php?threads/turning-a-seed-jar-split-hollow-form.13584/

 

[Brian Horais]

I like to turn half-twist bowls and then embellish the edges to highlight the interesting contours. Here are some images of bowls I have made from blanks similar to what you mentioned. I've also included an image of the extensions I add to the bowl blank to make it 'tame-able' on the lathe for twisted turning. You can see more of my technique in my YouTube video at:

View: https://youtu.be/j4r3_oqpm1k









Enjoy!

 

[robo hippy]

During this flu thing, I have started doing more cooking, and now they all use Kosher salt, which is very coarse. I am finding that I need to make a salt box.....

robo hippy

 

[William Rogers]

Somewhat related, Is there a reason to to use spray can varnish on lidded boxes or small non-utility bowls. The reason I ask is with exotics, they are sensitive to uv and the varnish has uv inhibitors. I don’t recall seeing anything stating the finish was varnish.

 

[Glenn Lefley]

I have several 6 x 6 x 3 and 6 x 6 x 4 Exotic turning blanks. The only thing I can think of to make from them are a small bowls. The 6 x 6 x4 is pink ivory, a couple of purpleheart, desert ironwood, and mystery wood.

The 6*6*4 pink ivory I’d cut into 4 pieces and make 4 small lidded boxes. Or two 6 inch high salt and pepper grinders.

 

[Aaron Harris]

I made my first couple of bowls out of blanks roughly that size that I ordered from Cook Woods. And though I haven't worked up the courage to turn a desert ironwood bowl blank that I have yet, the shaving brushes that I have made from it finish to a stunning chatoyance. Because it is so hard, it is rough on tools, and for me at least, kind of scary to turn. DI is one of the most beautiful woods in the world IMO, along with some of the more exotic figured walnuts.

 

[William Rogers]

Well I turned a piece of purpleheart and made a lidded box. 6” diameter 7” tall. Added a yellowheart lid and African Blackwood finial. Different style lidded boxes seem to be a decent choice. Still have more small exotics yet to turn. Won’t rush.




This is a piece of cocobolo I turned. I have another half of this piece and maybe more of this wood in 4 x 4 x 12 squares I need to cut.