It turns like butter, very wet butter. I had forgotten what turning very green wood was like.
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What’s on your lathe?
- Thread starter Rusty Nesmith
- Start date
It turns like butter, very wet butter. I had forgotten what turning very green wood was like.
14 x 4.5 box elder with maybe a rookie mistake ---> . It was soaking up the danish oil like it was alcohol evaporating so I kept applying. As you can see it has a lot of figure in it which I really like. The two repairs, the rim one I like better than the one on the bottom but it is what it is.
Gonna have to charge $15 for this one?
Gonna have to charge $15 for this one?
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Beautiful BE bowl, Sam-Maybe I'm missing something. Where is the rookie mistake?
I kept putting danish oil on it until I run out. Which was quite a bit more than I usually put on a bowl.
I’ve been spending most of my non-lathe time embellishing previously turned pieces that had nice (imo) forms. Mainly as an opportunity to practice pyro and carving. Today, I decided to reshape a small early piece that had a not-so-nice form. Kind of a fun way to kill some time off the lathe. Here are some progress pics, starting with the original form:
The next step is to reshape the curve near the foot. I shaded the problematic area with a pencil and am using a combo of power carving, rasping, and sanding to make a gentler curve. Afterward, I’ll work the flutes some more with a riffler. Fun stuff!
The next step is to reshape the curve near the foot. I shaded the problematic area with a pencil and am using a combo of power carving, rasping, and sanding to make a gentler curve. Afterward, I’ll work the flutes some more with a riffler. Fun stuff!
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In have found that more than two coats of DO does not add to the finish. Have not turned BE but I do prefer Tung oil on oak so maybe too many coats or not the best finish. For now let it cure about 2 week and buff if not satisfied topcoat with a film finish.
It will have plenty of time to cure. Fall festival.... well is in the fall... lol
I just kept adding because it literally was soaking it in some places faster than alcohol evaporates so in the interest of trying to make it even I kept adding. I'll go check it here in a little bit to see if any has run out the bottom since I left it mounted on the lathe.
**EDIT** Checked the bowl and you can't tell it's had way too much DO put on it. Looks just like the others sitting around curing.
I just kept adding because it literally was soaking it in some places faster than alcohol evaporates so in the interest of trying to make it even I kept adding. I'll go check it here in a little bit to see if any has run out the bottom since I left it mounted on the lathe.
**EDIT** Checked the bowl and you can't tell it's had way too much DO put on it. Looks just like the others sitting around curing.
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Monty, sycamore/plane is one tree that I have found that will warp as much as madrone. The main difference is that madrone never warps in predictable ways. Sycamore is fairly predictable. It can warp way beyond the 10% rule. Boiling may be necessary.
robo hippy
robo hippy
Here’s the conclusion of the little bowl re-work from post #885 a little while back. I used a rotary tool and a fine ball burr to deepen the flutes so I could add some fine pyro texture to the high spots and still retain a nice grooves texture. I also textured the rim in a very random way and added pyro texture to the high spots. Smoothed the flutes and grooves with a fine round riffler. I also decided to round the bottom, but left a small concave spot so the bowl would sit level. It’s not perfect, but I think the piece was transformed from something clunky to something pretty pleasant. Onward!
Sam if I get thirsty wood, and yes I do get some, like the spalted Apple bowl I have just finished, I will wipe only one coat of PTO (Polymerized Tung Oil) and leave it at least couple of days to cure, then add an other coat, and against let it sit, It is important to give the oil enough time before adding more oil, as an added coat before it is cured will prevent the oxygen from getting to the first coat, and it will then take a long time before it is cured, so adding more oil before it has had time to cure makes it al worse rather than helping it.
You have a nice bowl there, I would say, let it sit till the oil is hard, that will give you the better outcome, rather than adding more stuff on top
Wife wanted a banana hook and a cutting board. Maple and Walnut. Threw in a Walnut bowl too! Tried and True Oil is still drying.
I don't know Michael, I saw where you had the bead too low on your bowl, it did not look right, so you rescued it by cutting a piece off of it. not bad, but I don't think the halve plain and the other halve embellished is doing it, of course just in my eyes
No worries, it’s all experimental practice anyway. I wanted a piece with a dichotomy between the rough jagged top and the smooth round bottom. The bead seemed like a good separator of the two sections. Good thing about texture though—you can always add more, but you can’t easily take away. I’ll let it sit around for a while and if I get tired I’ll just embellish the rest. Or move on to the next one. We’ll seeI don't think the halve plain and the other halve embellished is doing it, of course just in my eyes
Still working through the flaming box elder. Obtained 2 cores from this 14 inch bowl. The blanks I’ve turned over the last 3 weeks appear to be drying nicely. Monitoring weights as they air dry. When stabilized will take a few to a dry kiln and see how they do.
Made a couple of work holding chucks for my PanaVise and mounted the vise to a base so I can clamp it to the bench. The chucks are all wood (made on the lathe) and could be made in various sizes (these are sized for some small boxes). First internal chuck was less than successful as I couldn't keep the flat head screw from turning as I expanded the jaws. I switched to a carriage bolt and cone (with a square hole for the carriage bolt head) to expand the jaws and had better success. Based on ideas I got from Doc Green's book on chucks and fixtures!
Cheers.
Barry W. Larson
Calgary, Alberta, Canada eh!
Cheers.
Barry W. Larson
Calgary, Alberta, Canada eh!
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Barry, those are awesome! How do you like the panavise? And, what is the purpose of the green tape?
Doc is a great guy. I usually see him in the Monday evening chats on WoW. If he’s there tonight I’ll give him some kudos from you
Doc is a great guy. I usually see him in the Monday evening chats on WoW. If he’s there tonight I’ll give him some kudos from you
The green tape is a shim for a box lid that was a little oversize for the chuck. I have sized the lids so they are a slip fit with allowance for wood movement so they vary in size a bit depending on the final diameter of box body - these are made from flatwork off-cuts so the starting material varies a bit. I'm going to re-design the internal chuck (one more time) as the jaws are still too stiff to expand enough. This should allow a bit more range of size for the chuck, although they are pretty quick to make so making ones sized to fit would also solve the problem.
The PanaVise seems to work well, although I haven't used it a whole lot. This model is rated for way more weight than I am likely to put on it. It doesn't have the range of motion of a carvers vise so it might be limited for some purposes. I made the standoff as long as I could to overcome some of this limited motion. For the price it seems like a good unit - and made in North America as well! Remind me to report back once I've used it a bit more.
By all means pass my thanks along to Doc. His book is a great resource. Next up some jam chucks and wooden fixtures for my live center.
Cheers.
Barry
The PanaVise seems to work well, although I haven't used it a whole lot. This model is rated for way more weight than I am likely to put on it. It doesn't have the range of motion of a carvers vise so it might be limited for some purposes. I made the standoff as long as I could to overcome some of this limited motion. For the price it seems like a good unit - and made in North America as well! Remind me to report back once I've used it a bit more.
By all means pass my thanks along to Doc. His book is a great resource. Next up some jam chucks and wooden fixtures for my live center.
Cheers.
Barry
I was hoping for a nice feather feature on this piece of English Walnut, then I was glad I had a remote e-stop!
I was turning at a reasonable speed for a piece this size (about 450 rpm) and out of the line of fire. Things were progressing along fine, then a thud and a squeal of the drive belt.
Wanting to have some success I turned this NE bowl.
I was turning at a reasonable speed for a piece this size (about 450 rpm) and out of the line of fire. Things were progressing along fine, then a thud and a squeal of the drive belt.
Wanting to have some success I turned this NE bowl.
That’s a huge inclusion. Nice save with the NE bowl James
YIKES!
That was a good subject for a faceplate mounting, glad you did not get hurt, and a nice end result for the wood
Apparently I poorly worded my post. The successful bowl was from another piece of wood.
I did save the broken one to bandsaw into some pieces for small projects.I agree, a faceplate would have kept it together longer. I have the other half I could try it on, but I won’t. That piece is getting cut up for smaller projects too.
Been gone for a trip, 3 weeks and finished a couple bowls that had been waiting with the PTO (polymerized tung oil) on it, so here is a spalted Apple bowl that was almost gone too far.
But with extra careful turning, sanding and finish on it it is accepted as OK.
Just a hair over 8".
But with extra careful turning, sanding and finish on it it is accepted as OK.
Just a hair over 8".
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How is Power Take Off tung oil different
8 3/4 x 4 1/2 mulberry pretty simple form. Seems like I always find a defect these days, this knot ended up being loose while I was sanding the inside. It needs something but I don't think character lines look good on that form. Ideas?? I thought maybe some embellishment wax but that is pretty subtle.
The spalted maple is my first funnel from a couple of months ago. I didn't turn it and make a funnel, the point of the live center poked through and a hole showed up inside that kept getting bigger the more I sanded so I had the bright idea to drill a hole with a forstner bit and then put a plug in it. Lesson learned-- not one of my strong skill sets. So the other day repairing my boxelder defects I used the extra epoxy to fill that hole. It is what it is. colorful, good description! lol
The spalted maple is my first funnel from a couple of months ago. I didn't turn it and make a funnel, the point of the live center poked through and a hole showed up inside that kept getting bigger the more I sanded so I had the bright idea to drill a hole with a forstner bit and then put a plug in it. Lesson learned-- not one of my strong skill sets. So the other day repairing my boxelder defects I used the extra epoxy to fill that hole. It is what it is. colorful, good description! lol
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, OK Don. I added some info for those that get confusedHow is Power Take Off tung oil different
thanks for looking and the reply
Here is my collection of external and internal collet chucks. The 2 on the left are external with inserts to locate spheres for hollowing, but they didn't work very well because the hose clamp would only close on the side adjacent to the worm screw so I replaced them with custom jaws mounted to the OneWay flat jaws. The internal collets shown are used to hold pieces for spraying and they all have a 1/2" shank that fits into my rotator stands. The largest in the back would fit a dovetail mortise sized for the OneWayStong Hold chuck on the back left and is adjusted turning the nut on the bolt between the 2 jaws. The next size in the right foreground is sized to fit a Talon chuck mortise and is adjusted by tightening the screw through a hole in the 1/2" shank.The smaller ones sized for the mortise used with the PSI miniature chuck are mostly all wood except the steel tapered and flagged piece that expands the jaws in the mortise and the 6-32 socket head machine screw accessed through the hole in the shank.Thanks Don. More good ideas for work holding. Mine are meant for holding off the lathe for carving similar to yours for finishing. I like the idea of custom jaws for the Oneway flat jaws for holding work in the lathe.
Cheers.
Barry
I've shown this large Willow platter before, and have now some finishing oil on it so as promised here are a couple pictures, also from when it still was held on the lathe.
The PTO (Polymerized Tung Oil) has made it slightly darker as expected, it will still get darker over time as is my experience..
The PTO (Polymerized Tung Oil) has made it slightly darker as expected, it will still get darker over time as is my experience..
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That would be a surprize, glad you just heard a thud and belt squeal. Nice natural edge bowl.
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Glad there was no harm done.was hoping for a nice feather feature on this piece of English Walnut, then I was glad I had a remote e-stop!
Looks like a bark inclusion. But the pith I see is in the wrong axis unless your crotch had more than 2 leaders.
Sapwood hints at 3 leaders.
What do you see as the defect?
Continuing my non-lathe work with another transformation of a small early piece. I started with a weird dumpy kind of bowl. I wanted to make something cool while keeping the same proportions. I carved the shape, sanded, textured with pyro, ebonized via India ink, and then dry brushed the tips with acrylic paint. Finished with semi-gloss rattle lacquer. Much more interesting bowl now, imo. Here are some progress photos start to finish:
Neat! What was your inspiration for the form/finish you ended up with? It has a volcanic vibe. Nicely done.
Cheers.
Barry W. Larson
Calgary, Alberta, Canada eh!
Thanks Barry!! I didn’t have a specific inspiration, but I figured a good way to retain the wide base without it looking clunky was to reduce the mass. I mapped out the spikes on the bottom, and then did the same with the top. The offset was just a way to make it more interesting than if everything was aligned. The pyro texture was just for fun as well (but was also a good way to accentuate the triangular sections). The paint was mostly because I’m a sucker for a little splash of color. Gave me some practice with dry brushing and blending (which I need a lot more practice!).
I’m at the John C Campbell Folk School taking a class from Trent Bosch, which has been an awesome opportunity. This piece is still to be finished. I’ll post the final product tomorrow. I’m guardedly optimistic, and hoping it doesn’t end in disaster.
It was a good reminder to inspect wood more carefully before turning it. I have used the cage on pieces that I thought might be a little sketchy, but didn’t even consider it for this one. When it broke it just wedged itself on the lathe with a thud and a squeal of the drive belt. I wasn’t sure what happened.
You are correct it is a bark inclusion that goes all the way through. This is a branch crotch and had a leader or so that self pruned. It was also asymmetrical and the branches were not on the same plane.
This is the side that I was cutting and the larger limb is the side still attached to the lathe.
This is the side attached to the headstock (the other half). I cut this a couple of weeks ago and was a bit surprised at all the white mold that had developed. That probably should have been a clue that it wasn’t solid! I can also see the bark inclusion on this piece.
Tom Gall
TOTW Team
An excellent tranformation. Looks like it could serve as a base for another bowl or vessel, except the tips look to be at different heights. OR ... (as the old saying goes...) put two grooves in it (you already have them) and make it an ashtray!!!
Thanks Tom! That ashtray saying is funny—gives me some interesting ideas though.
And, funny that you mention this being a base. You’re right about tips being different heights, so this wouldn’t work for that, BUT in the back of my mind I’ve been wanting to do something like that for an old egg project that’s waiting for a base. I showed this one to a friend and she said it could be a cool crystal ball holder. Great minds think alike and all that jazz
And, funny that you mention this being a base. You’re right about tips being different heights, so this wouldn’t work for that, BUT in the back of my mind I’ve been wanting to do something like that for an old egg project that’s waiting for a base. I showed this one to a friend and she said it could be a cool crystal ball holder. Great minds think alike and all that jazz
Rough turning more pear. I really like this one, hope it doesn't crack while drying....
