What’s on your lathe?

[Phil Hamel]

Couldn't stand all the imperfections/tool marks so I rechucked it on the lathe and did a complete strip and refinish. 3 coats of shellac and a coat of Minwax paste wax.
Now the grain pops like it should!

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

Not on the lathe yet but have these persimmon logs. Decided to debark first and got a rude awaking when I picked one up and an area the lift knocked bark off had one of these thorns. By the way bark comes off fairly easy. Also These have black resin lines thru most of the log.

 

[Frank English]

Small juniper bowl for granddaughter's birthday. Love the smell, similar to aromatic cedar that used to be in hope chests. Left a small area on the bottom for the "smell" component.

 

[Bob Vaughan]

Did some screwdriver handles

 

[Don Wattenhofer]

Small juniper bowl for granddaughter's birthday. Love the smell, similar to aromatic cedar that used to be in hope chests. Left a small area on the bottom for the "smell" component.

Aromatic cedar is not cedar but rather it is juniper so it is more than similar smell.

 

[Brian Gustin]

Small juniper bowl for granddaughter's birthday. Love the smell, similar to aromatic cedar that used to be in hope chests. Left a small area on the bottom for the "smell" component.

As Don mentions - Cedar as we generally know it in northeast US and Canada (that tree that grows here) A.K.A. Eastern Red Cedar , is actually Juniper - Same thing, so yes more than a similar smell. True cedar I believe is a Mediterranean tree found in regions around Greece, and a very different tree from what we typically call Cedar (As in Cedar Chest - which I often see coming up in Facebook marketplace in our area as people pass away and their estate is cleaned out and sold off. Buying these up at bargain basement prices is a decent way to accumulate some board footage of Cedar without paying the commercial pricing. On average they'll have about 25 Bd Ft in them, and I find Cedar boards anywhere from 3 to 5 bucks a board foot, so buying up a cedar chest at $60 on an estate sale is a decent bargain... Only problem is it is never thick enough for much turning)

From time to time I will find these trees growing next to someone's older house, I assume they were planted as shrubs and just left to grow. I recall a neighbor had 4 or 5 of those trees bordering their sidewalks. They're a rare sight in my local area these days though.

 

[Bob Vaughan]

Juniperus Virginiana has all sorts of common names even within the same region of the country. It can be risky turning as there can be hidden cracks and checks, but it sure smells good.

 

[Charles Cadenhead]

The college campus I worked at in Texas had a small tornado come through a few years ago blowing over several juniper trees and I was able to salvage several pieces. I still have a couple of smaller blanks waiting to turn.

 

[Frank English]

We live on a small Gulf Island off of Vancouver Island, B.C. Lots of red cedar and occasionally will get some yellow cedar although they are found on Vancouver Island. A friend gives a couple of us local turners juniper that has been on the ground for quite some time. In his last "gifting" one round had serious ring shake issues but was able to salvage 41 pen blanks. The smaller round gave me enough wood to turn this small bowl. Juniper pens are quite attractive, but unable to keep that nice smell after finishing. Man cave still retains some of the juniper aroma since the bowl was turned.

 

[Dennis Ramos]

Spalted sycamore sprayed with water

 

[Leo Van Der Loo]

In the area I used to live (SW Ontario) the Juniperus Virginiana grew at a lot of places, I did plant several small seedlings on the lower edge of my property, and they did grew well there, I also turned some Juniper and found it turns good, though it likes to check and split, so slower drying was called for, the shavings were used by LOML in some bowls as she liked the smell, though it is only good for a few months at most in an open bowl.

The trees can grow to a good size, even though they are slow growing mostly.

On my son's property just outside Ottawa there are a few low growing Juniper shrubs, called Juniperus Canadensis.


The fresh turned Juniper has a nice color and smell, though both are there only for a limited time.

 

[Sam Fleisher]

Chainsawed 18 oak blanks last Saturday. Was only going to grab a couple but it was so easy with the limb being in the air that I got greedy and paid the price. I haven't been able to move much until today because my back has been spasming. But I was able to knock out three of them, this being the last one of the day because I didn't want to push my luck.

This one is also an experiment because I left the pith in just to see whats going to happen. The other two I turned the pith away and made shorter bowls. That's not the pith that is visible that's a limb inclusion or whatever it's called. The pith is just over the horizon on the chuck end.

**Edit** Should I have made more of an effort to get rid of the sapwood? Will it cause problems?

 

[Odie]

@Rusty Nesmith ....Bet you never thought, when you started this thread, that you were initiating one of the most interesting threads of all time. Great conversations are started right here. Hope this thread continues to be such an interest magnet!

-o-

(Note: I've been working on a great 12 1/2" Maple burl bowl for the past two evenings.....so, I have nothing to report today. Hopefully, I can finish this one up tonight.....)

.

 

[Sam Fleisher]

@Rusty Nesmith ....bet you never thought, when you started this thread, that you were initiating one of the most interesting threads of all time. Great conversations are started right here. Hope this thread continues to be such an interest magnet!

-o-

I like it because I feel I don't have anything I consider worthy of the gallery yet and this is a place to show off some work.

 

[Brian Gustin]

I like it because I feel I don't have anything I consider worthy of the gallery yet and this is a place to show off some work.

Likewise here.
Though I have not had much time for turning, anyways - house renovations taking up all my time (and money) now that I've inherited my birth home (Mom and dad bought the place 2 months before I was born) - it does need some work and updating, so been rather busy with that stuff, meaning only thing I have had on lathe in last 3 months has been a walnut bowl I'd started the day after probate was started, which I got around to finishing today and then finally turned a bellmouth fitting for dust collection... might post pic of that , as I made it out of some scrap birch and the end that fits in hose is just a PVC floor drain fitting.,, plan is to epoxy it into the recess I made for it after I finish sanding the inside of the bell.

 

[Michael Anderson]

ERC (Eastern Red Cedar) grows all over the place in Chattanooga. Between here and Nashville are a number of Cedar glades (much more so near Nashville). I've worked with ERC several times, but only kiln dried and air dried flatstock. I have 6 logs waiting around that I just got from a friend. Planning some calabashes and some other fun stuff. Here are a few things that show off the colors. The hollowform was one of my first.

 

[Odie]

Maple burl....

-o-

 

[Rusty Nesmith]

@Rusty Nesmith ....Bet you never thought, when you started this thread, that you were initiating one of the most interesting threads of all time. Great conversations are started right here. Hope this thread continues to be such an interest magnet!

-o-

(Note: I've been working on a great 12 1/2" Maple burl bowl for the past two evenings.....so, I have nothing to report today. Hopefully, I can finish this one up tonight.....)

.

You’re right Odie, I had no idea how big this thread would get.

 

[Sam Fleisher]

I found a candidate for some epoxy last night during my rough turning of oak.

 

[Michael Anderson]

Relatively small Bradford Pear traditional calabash. Finished the second turning today, as well as some embellishment.

 

[Odie]

Past 1am and I'm just coming in from the shop now!

Roughed out 3 very wet 36% MC Big Leaf Maple burl bowls this evening....For these three, the seasoning process begins right now! When roughing out unseasoned, raw bowl blanks, I'm reminded how easy it is to turn wet wood.....and, how important it is to have sharp tools and good technique, when second turning seasoned bone dry hardwoods.....especially very hard dense exotic imported woods! The objective isn't to have sand-able finished surfaces.....but rather to completely eliminate the need for all aggressive power sanding.

I purchased a total of thirteen unseasoned bowl blanks the end of April.....from three sources.....so, I'll be turning my attention to roughing out some very nice burls and exotic woods for the next few days......

-o-

 

[Sam Fleisher]

Past 1am and I'm just coming in from the shop now!

Roughed out 3 very wet 36% MC Big Leaf Maple burl bowls this evening....For these three, the seasoning process begins right now! When roughing out unseasoned, raw bowl blanks, I'm reminded how easy it is to turn wet wood.....and, how important it is to have sharp tools and good technique, when second turning seasoned bone dry hardwoods.....especially very hard dense exotic imported woods! The objective isn't to have sand-able finished surfaces.....but rather to completely eliminate the need for all aggressive power sanding.

I purchased a total of thirteen unseasoned bowl blanks the end of April.....from three sources.....so, I'll be turning my attention to roughing out some very nice burls and exotic woods for the next few days......

-o-

View attachment 52366 View attachment 52367

Do these have your glue block on at this point? If so do they stick to the green wood well? (I've never used a glue block)

 

[Odie]

Do these have your glue block on at this point? If so do they stick to the green wood well? (I've never used a glue block)

Sam.....No......I use a combination of chucks for roughing out wet unseasoned bowls. Screw center chuck (also known as a screw center faceplate) for first roughing the exterior and forming the tenon.....and scroll chuck for gripping the tenon while roughing out the interior. The glue block is attached to the dry roughed and seasoned bowl prior to the second turning.

-o-

 

[Monty Ivy]

~12x4 pecan bowl into the kiln. 23% moisture



Took 1/2 dozen rough turned bowls out of the kiln that were 5% or less. Will let them acclimate for a week or two before finishing.

 

[Odie]

~12x4 pecan bowl into the kiln. 23% moisture

What is that wire (?) going from the back of the lathe to the tool rest? Is that a light on a magnet attached to the other side of the tool rest?.....what a great idea you have there! I may take advantage of that.

-o-

 

[Sam Fleisher]

The one I had was very fragile. Chunk of bark took it out.

 

[Odie]

The one I had was very fragile. Chunk of bark took it out.

Is there such a thing as a micro light on a magnet, battery operated? Small battery operated flashlights are pretty cheap these days.....could be considered "disposable" if some kind of unforeseeable event happened that took it out......just get another one.

Anyone know of such a critter?.....must be a very small light with a magnet.....or maybe a magnet could be added with a little ingenuity......?

(That faint buzzing sound in the background is the sound of mental gears turning!)

-o-

 

[Michael Anderson]

The one I had was very fragile. Chunk of bark took it out.

RIP

 

[Sam Fleisher]

Wood wonders or one of those sites $20 bucks

 

[Tom Gall]

Wood wonders or one of those sites $20 bucks

So does Cindy Drozda.

Cindy Drozda - Magnetic LED MicroLight

Elegant, Exquisite, Museum Quality Lidded Finial Vessels and Urns hand made by Woodturner and Artist, Cindy Drozda. Woodturning instruction, Demonstrations and Instructional DVDs.

cindydrozda.com

 

[Odie]

Here we go....only $1.00 at Walmart.

easy to attach a magnet on the back with hot glue....and ditch the strap.

-o-

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ozark-Tr...ed/1597430900?athbdg=L1102&from=searchResults

 

[Monty Ivy]

What is that wire (?) going from the back of the lathe to the tool rest? Is that a light on a magnet attached to the other side of the tool rest?.....what a great idea you have there! I may take advantage of that.

-o-

Exactly that. This one came from Cindy Drozda. Especially liked this one because of the included switch.
E

 

[Sam Fleisher]

Here we go....only $1.00 at Walmart.

easy to attach a magnet on the back with hot glue....and ditch the strap.

-o-

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ozark-Tr...ed/1597430900?athbdg=L1102&from=searchResults

I wonder if the batteries are good? That's cheaper than buying them by themselves! hmmm keep the batteries for other things.

 

[Monty Ivy]

Made a trip over to the Citizen Collection Center earlier today. This is NOT where they make the Soylent Green but a rather odd name for the city dump. One section of this place has a mountainous pile of logs and brush that are composted and eventually ground into mulch and sold by the city for $22 / ton.

I pick up a few log rounds and cut them into blanks. Other than some kind of conifer I'm not sure what kind of wood it is. Guessing either long leaf or yellow pine. This will make good practice blanks for hollow forms, a facet of woodturning that I struggle with.

Yield was 6 ~12" and 2 - 10"

 

[Frank English]

Arbutus bowl from the firewood pile. Cracks filled with clear or black CA glue.

 

[Sam Fleisher]

An experiment. This is what happens when you watch too many you tube videos. Guy had made his own bead tool out of an old 1/4 inch gouge. I didn't have a 1/4 all I had was a 1/2 inch Benjamins best. Apparently the flute is more v shaped than oval in one of those as you can see.
This is my overly large jamb chuck so that's what is suffering the consequences.
I do see the advantage of making evenly spaced character lines easily but the beads not so much. Although you never know. It would have to be a pretty thick walled bowl! I smell a design idea.

 

[Vincent Vogel]

A white oak natural edge crotch going to be once turned. Has a little bit of flame figure in it. Will wait until it dries some to sand. 1/4" wall about 11" diameter.

 

[Sam Fleisher]

A white oak natural edge crotch going to be once turned. Has a little bit of flame figure in it. Will wait until it dries some to sand. 1/4" wall about 11" diameter.

Nice shape. What are you holding the glue block on with? I just bought a hot glue gun and didn't know if it will hold wet wood or not.

 

[Vincent Vogel]

I used medium ca glue but I let the blank dry for a day after I turned it between centers to do the outside then glued the dried maple block on with clamps and let the glue set for a day before turning the inside. I actually cored it and got another smaller blank to work with.

 

[Marc Banka]

I used medium ca glue but I let the blank dry for a day after I turned it between centers to do the outside then glued the dried maple block on with clamps and let the glue set for a day before turning the inside. I actually cored it and got another smaller blank to work with.

Why are you using a glue block at all? I find it much quicker and stronger to grab the bottom of the bowl (not extra wood that’ll be cut away) with a chuck.
I might be missing something