Betel Nut Calabashes

Photographed individually:

You always have something beautiful to show us Michael !

what size gouges and tools do you use, Michael? Are you wearing loupes and using miniature tools? Glue chucking? Tell us a bit of the how. Great work.

Thanks Dimitris! These were a fun distraction from another tedious project. Lol!

Alan Weinberg said:

what size gouges and tools do you use, Michael? Are you wearing loupes and using miniature tools? Glue chucking? Tell us a bit of the how. Great work.

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Thanks Alan! No loupes, though that would be a pretty good idea. I did pretty much all of the exterior turning on these and the other minis I've posted with a 1/2" spindle detail gouge. I have it ground at an angle somewhere between 25 and 30 degrees, and have swept the wings back quite a bit. I'll take a photo later today when I get home. For the interior I mainly use a 3/8 Thompson bowl gouge ground at around 60 degrees with swept back wings. These gouge sizes work well for me, but the most important thing, especially with these betel nuts, is to keep the tools sharp and take fairly light passes.

Mounting is a bit of a challenge. @William Rogers and @Jon Sauer have both given me solid advice on turning betel nuts. I usually sand a flat and then use thick CA to glue the betel nut to a waste block. I've use hot glue as well, but it can get in the way when working small. I keep some tailstock support for the majority of the turning, and then remove when it's time to hollow. I don't reverse mount these betel nut bowls, but instead turn the bottom as much as I can and cut off the bottom with a thin kerf saw. I usually just cut away the extra bits with a sharp carving knife. That's it!

Betel nuts are so wild, and turn pretty well, but can be a bit finnicky. Thin CA glue helps to stabilize them if needed.

And here's the next American Woodturner article...

These are awesome Michael!

Thanks a lot Will!

Dean, shhhhhhh don't tell. Ha!

Love these little guys, Michael. Outstanding forms for such a small size ... not an easy task! Does the Betel nut have some hollow areas/splits like Tagua nuts? I have some somewhere in the shop, but I've never turned any of them. You know ... save them for something special and then forget about them.

Those are beautiful! I've really gotten into miniature turning after seeing (and buying a couple of) David Ellsworth's spirit forms. I'm still working my way down in size, though. I haven't attempted anything as small as your bowls here yet.

Tom Gall said:

Does the Betel nut have some hollow areas/splits like Tagua nuts?

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Thank you Tom! Yep, the center of the betel nut is hollow and somewhat star-shaped. I’ve only turned about 8 of them so far, but it amazes me how variable the size and specific location of the hollow is. Splits seem to show up randomly. You can see several in the whiter calabash in the main photo, but in the individual photo I turned it slightly and the surface is much more continuous.

Asher Langton said:

I've really gotten into miniature turning after seeing (and buying a couple of) David Ellsworth's spirit forms.

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Miniature turn is really something else. I sort of had the same experience. Wasn’t too interested until I saw some very small hollowforms in person. A couple of Ellsworth’s spirit forms and a small one that Jamie Donaldson turned. Really awed me, and is just another fun way to make a beautiful form. Definitely works the fine motor control skill set. Lol. It’s also a great way to utilize scraps and work with species that might otherwise not be on the radar.