What’s on your lathe?

[Kevin Jesequel]

@Kevin Jesequel I know the bowl wasn't part of the original plan, but it is stunning nonetheless. Great save . Also, how are you liking the new Vic?

Thanks, Michael. I absolutely love the Vic. The Oneway was a great lathe too, but this little Vic fits my space so much better.

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

I was given a few years ago some Azobe. An African wood used for crossties and bridges now blocked from harvest. The man who gave it to me was a CEO of Southern Railways. They used this wood for crossings and he had several ties. Would not even want to think of lifting one . I made this cup of part of the first piece he gave me. It is very hard and being tropical I just applied wax.

 

[Phil Hamel]

Maxing out my machine with a big ole chunk of Walnut!

 

[Alan Weinberg]

going to leave some bark on?

 

[Phil Hamel]

going to leave some bark on?

Ended up with no live edge. Just some bark on the outside. Wasn't meant to be with this piece of wood. To many cracks and inclusions!

 

[Phil Hamel]

Still super wet! Loaded it with tung oil and will see what it looks like in the morning. Needs more sanding if it survives!

 

[Brian Gustin]

Terrific
A mastery of the 3 cornered bowl taken to nes dimensions

Appreciate the compliment, but I wouldn't call it mastery... It isn't perfect (One corner is just a bit thicker, maybe 1/32 - 1/16 inch , because I didn't get perfect center) and I didn't quite get it to the shape and continuous inside curve I was shooting for (I chickened out before getting too close to those spinning points, so couldn't make the curve as even as I wanted it to be) , but I'm sure there'll probably be several more down the road (I might do one as a follow along..) ... But then maybe I'm being my own harshest critic....(as I tend to be)

That’s awesome, Brian! Great design and execution. Thanks for following up.

Thank you for the compliment! - And, Welcome re: the follow-up (Not too shabby for a Harbor Freight lathe and BB tools... kinda goes to show a top dollar lathe and $250 gouges don't make a better turner...?)

 

[Alan Weinberg]

The lignum hollowform became a bowl when I went through the top.

much better than a funnel.

 

[Brian Kopp]

A cigar ashtray for a friend at church who smokes cigars. Poplar on top of walnut with a 3” stone puck liner in the bottom:

 

[Kent Reisdorph]

Back to it after a week of vacation in Denver. I found a log that had been laying for a long time. I did a little happy dance when all that orange sawdust started flying.


Pretty severe tool marks. Hard, hard, wood and NE are a challenge.

I'm not sure what to do with the rim. The bark was long gone so what remains is cambium, etc. Suggestions?

 

[hockenbery]

Pretty severe tool marks. Hard, hard, wood and NE are a challenge.

I'm not sure what to do with the rim. The bark was long gone so what remains is cambium, etc. Suggestions?

the interupted cut is one of the hardest to do well. You have done ok. David Ellsworth is terrific at it. mastering his flute up cut on the inside wall is one way to eliminate tool marks.

you can take the bark off. A lot of work. Then you can color the top edge with prisma pens of similar.
remember to use a color(s) that will look good on dark brown.

 

[Aaron Gesicki]

Some practice on a piece from the backyard Emerald Ash Borer casualty list.

 

[Vitor Cruz]

Spheres…

 

[Sam Fleisher]

Spheres…

All these ideas and not enough time in my day. I'd seen a circle cutting jig do that before but you're giving me some ideas on a little coffee scoop I made the other day.

Care to share some details? Spindle need to be round before you start? Any certain speed on the drill? Slow or all out?

 

[Sam Fleisher]

Back to it after a week of vacation in Denver. I found a log that had been laying for a long time. I did a little happy dance when all that orange sawdust started flying.

View attachment 61023View attachment 61024
Pretty severe tool marks. Hard, hard, wood and NE are a challenge.

I'm not sure what to do with the rim. The bark was long gone so what remains is cambium, etc. Suggestions?

That looks like a familiar wood..... Only I made a long round thingy. Not round in the pic yet though.

 

[Leo Van Der Loo]

All these ideas and not enough time in my day. I'd seen a circle cutting jig do that before but you're giving me some ideas on a little coffee scoop I made the other day.

Care to share some details? Spindle need to be round before you start? Any certain speed on the drill? Slow or all out?

Scoops look pretty good Sam.

I've made quite a few, I start with turning the round head (turning them by eye and just outside measurement) and what I want the handle to look like, ( easy to sand them flat and shape it some, I settled on what I call the beaver tail shape.

Band saw the piece into two identical halves, then I use a jig that will hold the halve securely, I used just apiece of 2X?, and turned a recess that would accommodate the scoop head, clamp the handle down an also used a screw head to keep the end down, just hollow it out.

Don't forget to measure how deep you should turn it ;-))


SIMPLE BUT IS WORKS FOR ME.

 

[Sam Fleisher]

Pretty much the process I used.. Except I followed the "we don't need safety devices" rule of thumb. I just jammed in a hole turned in scrap and let her rip. Didn't spend a whole lot of time on them and if you look closely one has a design modification in the bottom, We'll call that one an egg yolk separator.

Hind site your little fixture would probably work better especially if I were to make the ball with a circle cutter for uniformity.

 

[odie]

Finished up the Jarrah burl platter last evening.....still very wet with D.O.....approx 10 1/2" x 3/4".

-o-

 

[Charles Cadenhead]

Who's there? Turned another ornament out of a piece of scrap walnut. I need to use less glue next time.

 

[Vitor Cruz]

All these ideas and not enough time in my day. I'd seen a circle cutting jig do that before but you're giving me some ideas on a little coffee scoop I made the other day.

Care to share some details? Spindle need to be round before you start? Any certain speed on the drill? Slow or all out?

Hi Sam,

Yes, with a round spindle we get less vibration… Regarding speeds, it depending on the de spindle diameter as you know. In that case, around 500 rpm on the lathe and about 2500 on the drill. The apparatus …

 

[Paul Paukstelis]

Hi Sam,

Yes, with a round spindle we get less vibration… Regarding speeds, it depending on the de spindle diameter as you know. In that case, around 500 rpm on the lathe and about 2500 on the drill. The apparatus …View attachment 61065

That's quite the linear rail on there!

 

[Phil Hamel]

Glued up some more Maple for a gift.

 

[Jim McLain]

Not on my lathe but working on 3 small Chaco pieces.

 

[Kent Reisdorph]

Black locust. If you want to read on wood identification using a blacklight, check out this article on the Wood Database.

 

[Michael Anderson]

Kind of like Jim above, these aren't on my lathe anymore. I'm making a German smoker (Räuchermann), but in the form of a large tree. Admittedly, it is a swap piece that I am a couple of months behind on. This is one of those projects that ended up being more work than I anticipated (and come with a bunch of unfortunate delays). I'm chugging away at it. Here are a few of the tree branches:



These are made of Maple, Cherry, and Birch, and they're turned, cut apart, reassembled, and textured. Admittedly, I did use a few dowels, which cut out some of the turning, but most of these I turned from flat stock (the large pieces laminated). I still need to add another couple of layers of texture, and then I'll color these. There are several other components to this project, but this is just a sneak peak. Partly to contribute to this thread, and partly to give me a bit of extrinsic motivation. Each of these three is about 7"ish long.

 

[Vitor Cruz]

The plate from a board…. with some geometric assembly flaws!

 

[Phil Hamel]

Never again will I wait to sand till a project dries! Over an inch out of round makes it all hand work. Boo! You can see the one crack it developed. First coat of Tung oil going on. 11 round X 4 high.

 

[Bob Hall]

With the recent threads on turning square bowls, I renewed my interest in a project I had been putting off for many months, so finally made use of those 12" x 6" x 2" or so offcuts I'd gotten in an "assorted box of offcuts" deal... Key points: they have to be cut precisely square and glued up perfectly (on faces flattened first on my planer) to get a perfect (or nearly so) cube.. Most of the time spent was in getting it perfectly positioned to cut the initial tenons.. This is after day #3 of careful cutting - Stopped at this point because I started to feel a little tired, and as we all know, it isn't good to try to keep going when you start feeling tired... But when it is done, Should have a fairly nice, slightly less than 5-3/8" 6-pointed bowl... View attachment 60807

Very nice, looking forward to the final result. I have been interested in doing some flat bowls.

Bob

 

[Brian Gustin]

Very nice, looking forward to the final result. I have been interested in doing some flat bowls.

Bob

Posted a bit later in the thread - https://www.aawforum.org/community/threads/what’s-on-your-lathe.20589/post-237356

 

[Bob Hall]

Here it is. - I'm not sure about posting it to gallery - I need to work on my photography some more.... View attachment 60979
View attachment 60980

Very nice . I love the final shape. You should definitely post it in the gallery.

Bob

 

[Paul Paukstelis]

12" sweet gum. This whole tree had terrible ring/cup shake, so the few pieces I did keep require pewas to be able to turn. And I somehow used all pewas I had cut with the wrong grain orientation, but they held!

 

[Sam Fleisher]

Made one the other day so I thought I might as well make another from the leftover wood. hedge apple.

It's maybe not obvious but it's a cane. I hadn't put any decoration on yet in that pic.

Chunk of antler for a handle.

 

[Russell Nugent]

Some sort of fruit wood. Chokecherry maybe? Cuts very nice

 

[Don Wattenhofer]

Some sort of fruit wood. Chokecherry maybe? Cuts very nice

Chokecherry does not get that big however black cherry may get that big if the growing conditions are right. The fruit of the chokecherry and that of black cherry are mostly identical. The difference can be seen when the white blossoms come in spring, and the bark on the CC is lighter then the BC bark. The grown over wood pecker tracks are typical of BC growing in the north country.

 

[Michael Anderson]

A friend gave me a couple of chunks of Sumac a long while ago (not sure what species). One of those situations where the wood looked so crummy you almost want to say no. BUT, I had never turned Sumac, so I couldn’t pass it up. It sat, and sat, and sat, until today when I decided to turn a mini-calabash out of it. The wood was super dry, super soft, hollow-pith, but very beautiful. Green and brown colors and wide growth rings. Here are before (as I received it from my friend), during, and after shots:

 

[Barry Larson]

A friend gave me a couple of chunks of Sumac a long while ago (not sure what species). One of those situations where the wood looked so crummy you almost want to say no. BUT, I had never turned Sumac, so I couldn’t pass it up. It sat, and sat, and sat, until today when I decided to turn a mini-calabash out of it. The wood was super dry, super soft, hollow-pith, but very beautiful. Green and brown colors and wide growth rings. Here are before, during, and after shots:

View attachment 61135
View attachment 61136
View attachment 61137

Nice! The grain looks like a texturing opportunity from my vantage point!
Cheers,
Barry W. Larson
Calgary, Alberta, Canada eh!

 

[Michael Anderson]

Nice! The grain looks like a texturing opportunity from my vantage point!
Cheers,
Barry W. Larson
Calgary, Alberta, Canada eh!

Thanks Barry! The grain is interesting. Even though the dark bands are more porous, all of the wood is pretty soft. I don’t think you get much of a cool effect like with conifers that alternate hard and soft wood. You could probably get a pretty dramatic look overall with wirebrushing though. BUT, I’ll let someone else go that route haha

 

[robo hippy]

I believe that at least some varieties of the sumac will glow under UV lights.

robo hippy

 

[Bob Hall]

Made one the other day so I thought I might as well make another from the leftover wood. hedge apple.

It's maybe not obvious but it's a cane. I hadn't put any decoration on yet in that pic.

Chunk of antler for a handle.

I have been thinking about doing one for myself as well. I would love to see the finished product.

Thanks,

Bob

 

[Sam Fleisher]

I have been thinking about doing one for myself as well. I would love to see the finished product.

Thanks,

Bob

Not a problem. Don't expect too much though. Only the second cane I've made. My spindle turning up to those has been snowmen and Harry Potter wands with some kitchen utensils thrown in.

It's hard to get a nice flowing design with an odd shaped antler. I'm thinking maybe a glass door knob for third one. (have lots of hedge apple)