Johnathan Silwones is starting a new AAW chapter, Southern Alleghenies Woodturners, in Johnstown, PA. (click here for details)
Congratulations to Jim Hills for "Journey II" being selected as Turning of the Week for May 6th, 2024
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I acquired a load of desert ironwood, from Sonora, Mexico. Can anyone tell me the best way to work with it. As hard as it is, should I be looking at scrapers or will a nice sharp gouge do the job. I would appreciate any assistance.
Tom, Both types of tools have their place in turning, with some considerable overlap. The most important thing is sharp tools with careful control. You should practice every day, if possible, not on making something, but on the tools and how they cut. Refining your capabilities is more important than refining your "art" at this point. Experiment with each tool you own and keep the cutting edges sharp. Don't forget about riding the bevel! Good luck. Phil
I used to turn quite a bit of DI for small craft fair-type projects and found sharp gouges and skews to be very effective. I had occasion to use scrapers too and found that they worked very well.
However, I found sanding to be a bigger issue. The stuff stinks when you sand or drill it. I'd suggest using a mask at the very least.
Someone gave me some small pieces that had the wrong grain orientation for anything I made. I ended up burning them in my wood stove several winters past--big mistake! The stuff smelled so bad that we almost had to leave for awhile until the smell cleared. Took a lot of "heat" over that decision.
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