What’s on your lathe?

[Sam Fleisher]

Well, it's not my usual walnut but it is one of the first pieces of green wood in my turning journey back in March.

Next piece will probably get dyed, this just doesn't jump out and say wow.

10.5 x 3 Most of that extra long foot will be taken off when I remove the tenon. I didn't know what I was going to do with it back then so I left plenty of design opportunities.

 

[Michael Beswick]

Mostly an exercise in concept, technique and what not to do but I was quite pleased as a first attempt 3x3x4-1/2”

 

[Norm Marentette]

Another hickory bowl from scratch yesterday. Had a crack in it and filled with coffee grinds and CA. Wondering if you think deters anyone from wanting a bowl with a fixed crack even if only slight? 14"diameter x 5"in height, tried and true original finish one coat.

 

[odie]

Wondering if you think deters anyone from wanting a bowl with a fixed crack even if only slight?

Just my opinion, so take it for what it's worth.

If you're going to give the bowl to a friend.....sure, they'll take it, and appreciate the gesture.

If you're going to try to sell it, it will be a hard sell. Although, I have sold bowls with repaired cracks, it all depends on how well you've disguised it, and what the rest of the bowl looks like. Some turners use those hourglass "pewas", and fill cracks with turquoise, among other things......but, I've never been a fan of the "repaired look". On the other hand, some people are ok with the "repaired look", so take that comment for what it's worth, too!

If it were me, I'd give that one away to someone who will appreciate the gift, and move on to all the other bowls that don't have flaws to deal with. One thing about bowl turning, is you'll ALWAYS have a reject here and there.....it's just the nature of the game. So.....many times, I go ahead and complete the bowl, knowing that it will be a give-away bowl, anyway. I never seem to run out of people who are thrilled to receive handmade "free stuff"!

-o-

 

[Russell Nugent]

Crotch bowl from what I believe to be elm. I bumped the rim and messed it up so I'll have to figure out something there.

View attachment 57675

I've had a couple where I've messed up the rim. Then it's time for the bark to come off and a little custom reshaping with a spokeshave. It's not perfect but it becomes functional.

 

[Sam Fleisher]

Back to some walnut and practicing shave/curls with my bowl scraper. This was another piece that came out of the ring shake tree back in March.

 

[Charles Cadenhead]

Turned a little green pear today. It's a little thin so I'm interested to see how it dries.

 

[Robert Lindstadt]

Turned a few of these today

 

[Charles Cadenhead]

Turned a few of these todayView attachment 57791

Those are always fun to make.

 

[Sam Fleisher]

I think I'm going to put this picture behind the lathe and print on it "STOP! PUT DOWN THE TORCH! DON"T DO IT!"

You would have thought I learned my lesson on the last one I did and what happens with the cracks..... Apparently I didn't.

Oak 4.25 tall x 6.5 diameter. Maybe that's my problem....Oak. hmmm try different species.. NO wait. refer to the sign SAM.

 

[odie]

You would have thought I learned my lesson on the last one I did and what happens with the cracks..... Apparently I didn't.

Sam:

If I'm understanding correctly, your troubles are that torch flames penetrate already existing cracks, and darken the oak wood deeper than they do the surrounding uncracked wood? The final result is the cracks are actually accentuated, or made to stand out more so than if the surface were untreated with the torch....such as shown in the interior photo?

-o-

 

[Sam Fleisher]

Sam:

If I'm understanding correctly, your troubles are that torch flames penetrate already existing cracks, and darken the oak wood deeper than they do the surrounding uncracked wood? The final result is the cracks are actually accentuated, or made to stand out more so than if the surface were untreated with the torch....such as shown in the interior photo?

-o-

No, what I did I believe was probably a rookie mistake. Although the cracks could have been there but not visible.

In the process of using the torch I got carried away and got the entire bowl too hot trying to get a more uniform appearance of color and wammo. Cracks appeared. Whether they were there beforehand I don't know on the first one I did it to. On this example the cracks followed the medullary? rays. So I filled them with black "ca" then turned and sanded back. Completely changing the look I was going for with the torch in the first place. That's why I left well enough alone and didn't heat it up again on the inside.

Best case scenario it will be a flower pot with florist foam in there with some fake flowers stuck in it or another candy dish full of candy so inside matching outside wasn't a priority to me.

I didn't get the cracks in the pic very well. (who likes taking pics of their mistakes?) If you look at that top glare you can kind of see the line of black "ca".

 

[odie]

No, what I did I believe was probably a rookie mistake. Although the cracks could have been there but not visible.

In the process of using the torch I got carried away and got the entire bowl too hot trying to get a more uniform appearance of color and wammo. Cracks appeared. Whether they were there beforehand I don't know on the first one I did it to. On this example the cracks followed the medullary? rays. So I filled them with black "ca" then turned and sanded back. Completely changing the look I was going for with the torch in the first place. That's why I left well enough alone and didn't heat it up again on the inside.

Best case scenario it will be a flower pot with florist foam in there with some fake flowers stuck in it or another candy dish full of candy so inside matching outside wasn't a priority to me.

I didn't get the cracks in the pic very well. (who likes taking pics of their mistakes?) If you look at that top glare you can kind of see the line of black "ca".

Uh huh.....OK, I see now.

What is the moisture content of the wood blank?

It's possible that unstabilized wood might yield a different result than if dry......and......as you suggested, species might have different results, too.

I have ruined countless bowls by experimenting with various things, but one thing is certain......your knowledge always benefits.

-o-

 

[Sam Fleisher]

Uh huh.....OK, I see now.

What is the moisture content of the wood blank?

It's possible that unstabilized wood might yield a different result than if dry......and......as you suggested, species might have different results, too.

I have ruined countless bowls by experimenting with various things, but one thing is certain......your knowledge always benefits.

-o-

I don't know what the exact moisture content would have been. The roughed out bowl was turned at least 3 probably closer to 4 years ago.

Since I was getting mildew on my fresh turned bowls by keeping them down in the basement I have been keeping them in the shop with all of the bowls. Will a 3-4 year old bowl draw a lot of moisture out of the air? The fresh ones are on different shelves from the dry ones, but it is just wire shelves.

For this "experiment" I've learned----Put down the Torch!

 

[Charles Cadenhead]

Local tree trimming service dropped off these beauties this morning. It's a 6' hickory log and a large camphor stump. This will be my first attempt with hickory. Any suggestions on processing it?

 

[Marc Banka]

Local tree trimming service dropped off these beauties this morning. It's a 6' hickory log and a large camphor stump. This will be my first attempt with hickory. Any suggestions on processing it?

View attachment 57811

Cut it into turning blocks/slabs now. Bag them all in plastic (shrink wrap works well, or plastic trash bags). Rough turn them very soon—it’s usually the only work I do till it’s all been rough turned. Seal them (anchorseal or similar) all over as you finish the turning. Don’t ever let them sit before sealing. Then wait.

This method is to take full control of the drying as soon as you can, when you received it. Result is a stable blank and no cracking.

Hickory is so buttery soft turning when wet, so enjoy it! Once dried it’s hard as nails. Gorgeous wood!

I'm envious

 

[odie]

Will a 3-4 year old bowl draw a lot of moisture out of the air?

Well now....you got me there! I would assume a 2-3 year old roughed bowl has stabilized to the environment it's in. If it's been moved to another environment with higher humidity, then maybe so.

We still don't know for sure if the MC is a factor in producing the cracks in your bowl.

Lots of variables that could affect this.

-o-

 

[hockenbery]

Will a 3-4 year old bowl draw a lot of moisture out of the air?

Wood moisture content will go to equilibrium with its environment.
Dryer warmer environment less MC in the wood.
Colder damper environment more MC in the wood

My drying space has a humidity of 50% and a temp of 70-75 so my pieces dry to 9% + a bit.

Find your environments in the chart below to learn how dry you wood can get or how much Mc can increase in its new place

 

[Marc Banka]

I don't know what the exact moisture content would have been. The roughed out bowl was turned at least 3 probably closer to 4 years ago.

Since I was getting mildew on my fresh turned bowls by keeping them down in the basement I have been keeping them in the shop with all of the bowls. Will a 3-4 year old bowl draw a lot of moisture out of the air? The fresh ones are on different shelves from the dry ones, but it is just wire shelves.

For this "experiment" I've learned----Put down the Torch!

No matter the moisture content of the wood, heating with the torch will dry the surface wood and shrink it, at least temporarily. Oak, in particular won’t put up with this. As tough and hard as Oak is,,it’s not very elastic, if you want it to move, you have to do it slowly. A hotter torch could help so that you can singe and get off quickly. Or a softer wood?

 

[Phil Hamel]

Picked up my 4th record power chuck! Middle one here. Got the bare bones no attachments one on sale.As far as projects go. I grabbed some many years old Beech boards and did a glue up. Got the bottom turned and finished today. Pic is prior to sanding.

 

[Alan Weinberg]

blew the first one up just as I finished reversing and turning the bottom after hollowing. Dumb mistake but learning. So I turned another—spalted tamarind. Didn’t mess this one up. This wood is fun to turn.

 

[Jim McLain]

Last of five mulberry rough outs. The older I get the harder this is on my body. Not sure if it’s keeping me young or wearing me out. Sad part is I am only 67, which is about middle of the pack for this group.

 

[Phil Hamel]

Spent most of the afternoon making a new set of shelves for my accumulating wood stash.
Did load up a piece of 9 inch black limba to make a bowl for my nephew to hold his meds.

 

[robo hippy]

Phil, that piece on your lathe has a serious flaw in it, the obvious black line. Be VERY careful with that one, and stand out of the line of fire!

robo hippy

 

[Isaac Fisher]

Phil, that piece on your lathe has a serious flaw in it, the obvious black line. Be VERY careful with that one, and stand out of the line of fire!

robo hippy

Always good to check, but black limba often has black lines like that that are nothing more than color

 

[Phil Hamel]

Spent most of the afternoon making a new set of shelves for my accumulating wood stash.
Did load up a piece of 9 inch black limba to make a bowl for my nephew to hold his meds.

Thanks. It isn't a crack it's just the grain pattern. I did take precautions though just in case!
First coat of oil put on.

 

[Phil Hamel]

Started another beech dish project. Wife is gone for 6 days so no distractions. Got pretty far with it today. Bottom side is mostly done. Top side needs sanding and finish. The center part is where the two stacks of wood were joined. I guess my glue up wasn't lined up grain wise. I should have the ink on the top by the end of the afternoon. Might even get the shellac and friction polish done. Depends how fast things dry.
Kinda cold here!

 

[Sam Fleisher]

Had a design change/challenge opportunity and ended up doing the woodturners equivalent of the limbo.

Instead of "how low can you go?", this was "How thin can I go?"

I've been thinking maybe I needed to check/replace my bearings in the spindle but like everything else it must have been operator error making me think that because if they were causing vibration I doubt this would have survived. By the time I got it sanded it was uniform and I could feel the air through it when blowing the dust off.

The finishing curls were made with a regular Thompson bowl scraper. I still get a better finish with that than a gouge. smoother anyway and seem to be able to have a lighter touch.

6.75 x 2.5 ash I believe

 

[Marc Banka]

I had sold this to a neighbor a few years ago. They love it, but left a tomato on it when they went on vacation . It rotted and left a nasty stain. She brought it to me in hopes that I could fix it. I wasn’t obliged to do anything, but was interested in the challenge.
There was enough thickness that I felt I could take a tool to it if I could safely hold it. So, I used my new chuck from odd-not, which worked beautifully. I can grip it from either side, spun it at 1000 rpm and used a negative rake scraper to re shape the interior and remove the stain. Then resanding and finishing in shellac as had been, but also coated in danish oil. Maybe this will hold up better. Such a lovely piece of wood, so glad it’s back, and in truth, better than new. We learn, grow and improve!

 

[Alan Weinberg]

speaking of repairs, made my first pewa repairs. Not perfect but the process is easy. Never used a router before. Good videos on bigislandengraving.com. Wood is purpleheart, cherry bowties

 

[Phil Hamel]

While waiting for the next glue up to set.

I decided to play with some Birch I had around.

It looked like it might have some spalting or patterns inside.

Drilled two holes and made a copper bail for it too. Came out nice for a quick project!

 

[Rusty Nesmith]

A friend and I got turned on to some hard maple. It is hard to get around here. This bowl is around 13” in diameter and 7” deep.

 

[Kevin Weir]

Still working on roughing out the flamed box elder log. None of the roughed out blanks show any sign of
checking and seem to be drying quite nicely.

 

[Kent Jaffrey]

I had a nice 18” maple bowl blank that I cored and dried last summer. Unfortunately it had been sitting awhile before I got the log so it developed a lot of checking and honeycomb cracks. So it turned into a medium sized plate after I got through all the cracks. A reasonable save for sad circumstance.

 

[Rusty Nesmith]

Kent do you seal them with green wood sealer before you set them out to dry? That is what I do and don’t lost any.

 

[Kent Jaffrey]

Yep. This wood had already started checking when I went to pick it up and had a bunch of hidden cracks that didnt show up until it had dried some more.

 

[Darryn Achall]

Friends were cutting up a large Elm today. I was lucky enough to get a couple of big chunks. Was cut through the pith and then into quarters. the bottom picture is how far I got with it tonight. It is covered with a plastic bag for the night. Fun to turn but sloppy wet.

 

[Alan Weinberg]

another end grain spoke wheel pattern NIP bowl, this time about 1/8 inch thick, about 13 inch diameter. One coat of PTO. Might try a CA finish down the road. It’ll stabilize a couple little cracks.

 

[Allen Howell]

Indian Rosewood (Dalbergia sasoo) sourced locally in theTampa Bay area in July. I have a few more chunks, but should have gotten more. Once turned at 9+" and 3/8" thick. Sanded and waiting a few days to finish sand and apply some finish. Not sure what yet - any suggestions?

 

[Rusty Nesmith]

Yep. This wood had already started checking when I went to pick it up and had a bunch of hidden cracks that didnt show up until it had dried some more.

I hate when that happens. I have had a few pieces that looked great on the outside. Once I got it balanced and the outside to shape I turned off the lathe to find cracks inside.