Here's my situation:
1) I'm a complete noob to turning (this is basically my first project
ever, and I've never actually seen anyone use a lathe before)
2) I have some 5" or so diameter walnut logs I was going to do some
bowyering with (but they ended up with too many knots) that have been
sitting in my driveway for 10 months. The ends were checked about an
inch into the wood, but the rest seemed reasonable for what I wanted
to do.
3) Goal: nice small project that I can finish without getting terribly
frustrated that isn't pens (pens just don't do it for me). I decided
to try to make some small sake cups (essentially a 2"x2" or so
shotglass).
So, what I did was cut off a foot from the end of the log, ran it over
the jointer to make 3 sides with 90 degree faces, then quartered it on
the table saw. I then cut off the checked ends, and cut the 4
quarters into 4" long blanks to give me plenty of room to work with.
I turned my blanks round between centers, drilled out a 1.5" deep
starter hole with a forstner bit on the drill press, then chucked up
what I had on the lathe with a self-centering chuck. I scraped out
the inside, shaped the outside, sanded both, then used a parting tool
to cut the basically finished piece off.
I was fairly pleased with what I got as a first attempt, but figured I
could do better, so I just set that aside as-is for a few days. After
observing it for a bit, I am a bit puzzled. I can perceive absolutely
no checking on my finished cup, and I didn't do anything on it to
prevent checking. The end of the log that I cut my starter piece from
is already checking badly at this point.
So.. the real questions:
1) Do small things such as tiny bowls or pens not check? (or not check as badly?)
2) In another month am I going to see checking on my cup?
3) If 2) is true, if I polyurethane my cup now, would it then not check since no more moisture could escape?
4) Would my results be a lot different if I was using very green wood?
And one question related to my project, but not the checking:
5) After I part my piece off, is there any convenient way of sanding the bottom (or turning a divot)? Turning it around in the chuck will scratch it all up. Here are the ideas I've come up with:
a) rubberized chuck jaws or strips of rubber between the jaw and the piece
b) hot glue + face plate (centering would seem to be an awful chore if I wanted to make say... 80 of these)
c) jam chuck (I'd have to make all of them exactly the same time if I wanted to make several)
Anyway, I hope these questions aren't TOO basic, and I was trying to get opinions from as many people as I can (as from what I've seen so far, there can be several different opinions on some of these questions).
1) I'm a complete noob to turning (this is basically my first project
ever, and I've never actually seen anyone use a lathe before)
2) I have some 5" or so diameter walnut logs I was going to do some
bowyering with (but they ended up with too many knots) that have been
sitting in my driveway for 10 months. The ends were checked about an
inch into the wood, but the rest seemed reasonable for what I wanted
to do.
3) Goal: nice small project that I can finish without getting terribly
frustrated that isn't pens (pens just don't do it for me). I decided
to try to make some small sake cups (essentially a 2"x2" or so
shotglass).
So, what I did was cut off a foot from the end of the log, ran it over
the jointer to make 3 sides with 90 degree faces, then quartered it on
the table saw. I then cut off the checked ends, and cut the 4
quarters into 4" long blanks to give me plenty of room to work with.
I turned my blanks round between centers, drilled out a 1.5" deep
starter hole with a forstner bit on the drill press, then chucked up
what I had on the lathe with a self-centering chuck. I scraped out
the inside, shaped the outside, sanded both, then used a parting tool
to cut the basically finished piece off.
I was fairly pleased with what I got as a first attempt, but figured I
could do better, so I just set that aside as-is for a few days. After
observing it for a bit, I am a bit puzzled. I can perceive absolutely
no checking on my finished cup, and I didn't do anything on it to
prevent checking. The end of the log that I cut my starter piece from
is already checking badly at this point.
So.. the real questions:
1) Do small things such as tiny bowls or pens not check? (or not check as badly?)
2) In another month am I going to see checking on my cup?
3) If 2) is true, if I polyurethane my cup now, would it then not check since no more moisture could escape?
4) Would my results be a lot different if I was using very green wood?
And one question related to my project, but not the checking:
5) After I part my piece off, is there any convenient way of sanding the bottom (or turning a divot)? Turning it around in the chuck will scratch it all up. Here are the ideas I've come up with:
a) rubberized chuck jaws or strips of rubber between the jaw and the piece
b) hot glue + face plate (centering would seem to be an awful chore if I wanted to make say... 80 of these)
c) jam chuck (I'd have to make all of them exactly the same time if I wanted to make several)
Anyway, I hope these questions aren't TOO basic, and I was trying to get opinions from as many people as I can (as from what I've seen so far, there can be several different opinions on some of these questions).
