Eric Friedman

[Eric Friedman]

Hello everyone,

I'm Eric, a hobbyist woodworker in the SF Bay Area. Most of my work is with flat things (portfolio site: https://justwood.design/), but I got into spoon and then bowl carving a couple of years ago and really like those, in no small part because there's a community around it. They make great gifts and I enjoy the thrill of discovering what's inside a log when you split it open.

I took a class a few years ago on turning and liked it but didn't pursue. One of the guys in my carving group is a very accomplished turner and I realized that I had an opportunity to pursue it with some informal coaching. So, when a toolmaker - Wahuda - that I like (I own a jointer and planer from them) started making lathes, I waited until their second model emerged and went for it during their annual promotion, which included free shipping + lift gate as well as a free chuck.

I'm a buy once / cry once kind of person when it comes to tools, so I sprang for a really nice set of turning tools from Carter + Son based on advice on reddit and feedback from my friend. The pre- and post-sales experience have been phenomenal.

For sharpening, I went with a common setup: Rikon slow speed grinder, a 180 grit CBN wheel + wolverine. Craft supplies didn't have the kit with the raptor set up components. So I just copied my friend's using them as templates on a router table with a pattern bit and some 1/4" plywood. All of these things work well although I'm not really impressed with the build quality of the wolverine. I couldn't get the long bar past the cam and called Oneway who told me to grind off a corner. Really? Quality control? Also you have to jostle it so that it doesn't move when you lock it down -- this seems like a solvable problem, but they are the "default" so why bother.

I have a backlog of green wood that is getting less green and so rough turning those has been a priority. I will still carve bowls by hand too as I enjoy the quiet physicality of that. I'm experimenting with different ways to move drying along - I already had some desiccant beads and also tried boiling a couple of rough turned bowls. But I'm prepared to use the most effective tool, which is patience. I'm including a photo of the bench I made for the lathe. That sled hanging on the wall is no longer there as it's in the splash zone for green wood. I've hung a water proof poster-like thing in its place.

For fun I'm including a photo of a recent (hand carved) bowl as well as an interesting piece of plum crotch that I rough turned. That's enough for now I guess - I'm grateful that this forum exists and look forward to learning from others here.

 

[Kent Reisdorph]

Welcome, Eric. This forum is full of extremely knowledgeable and experienced folks, and they are willing to share pretty much everything they know. Carving a bowl seems hard. 😉

 

[John K Jordan]

Welcome, Eric. Looks like you are having a blast! I did flat woodworking for years (including at the wood industries where I went to college in Berea, KY) but never tried turning until I wanted to make something for my son when he was in college (now an architect). I eventually got hooked on woodturning. Some years back I built a shop down by the barn and outfitted it with flatwood and woodturning tools but the the table saw with slider and some others mostly sit unused! The lathes and some other tools helpful for woodturning get a lot of use though! My favorite thing is teaching.

I don't turn much green (prefer dry wood) but I hear that some people hang a shower curtain or something behind the lathe to catch wet shavings.

I've never heard of that brand but it looks nice! From their website it looks like it might be their 15" model, good specs and with three speed ranges - you can make a LOT of things on that! I have some 16" lathes and a 20" but frankly, I rarely turn anything that wouldn't fit on a 12" lathe although I do like the long bed lengths. I see you added an nice way to move it around!

One question, what's the height of the spindle with the lathe on that (very nice!) cabinet? Hard to tell from the photo, but at first glance it looked a bit high but from the photo it appears to be about 45" which is only a few inches higher than what I prefer for my height. (For best tool control control the it is generally recommended to have the height of the spindle and the axis of the grinder for sharpening at about elbow height.) For some of my shorter students, I built a a small platform.

This is thought by some too be so important - a well-known professional woodturner, Rudy Lopes, showed me the details of a collapsible foot stand he made to carry with him everywhere when he travels to teach or do demos! (most full-sized floor-standing lathes are made with about the same spindle height) Clever design, uses one threaded rod to hold the hinged sides tight!



The piece you showed is beautiful! And hand carved! - what a wonderful time-honored tradition, sadly seldom seen these days. (This part of the country has a long tradition of hand-carved "dough bowls" made of yellow poplar.)

I've never turned or even seen plum wood. We have a lot of hardwoods here but fruit wood here is mostly pear, apple, peach, cherry, and persimmon. (I love persimmon - not beautiful wood but hard, fine-grained, a type of ebony)

I'm certain you'll be in good company on this forum. I've seen a lot of turning wizards here!

JKJ

 

[Gregory Hickman]

Welcome to the forums. I'm a new turner as well and jumping head first into the deep end. Looking forward to seeing what you're journey brings.

Gregory

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

Welcome to he forum. I see you are ahead of me as we like pictures. Oh by the way when making bowls on a lathe we call it turning a bowl. Thats a nice job for #1. You might want to find a turning club and check out the AAW. That stand looks like it belongs in someone's bedroom.