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What’s on your lathe?

Joined
Sep 19, 2023
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Location
Columbia, TN
Osage orange from the pending pile. I was referring to it as the scrap pile, but it's really a pile of stuff that I did intend to turn eventually.

This log has been laying in the woods for who knows how long. It's dry and very hard. This was my best effort to date in terms of getting a smooth finishing pass. Very little sanding at 120.

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Joined
Aug 14, 2022
Messages
45
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158
Location
Atascadero, CA
A chunk of Black Walnut from a tree that is still standing after over one hundred years. This wood is from a very large limb that fell during a storm. The wood has lots of character that clearly shows as evidenced by the many cracks. I'm trying to finish turning this piece without resort to CA or epoxy to hold it together. So far so good.
Jay


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Michael Anderson

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Joined
Aug 22, 2022
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Chattanooga, TN
Finishing up the pedestal for a project. Black Mesquite with Wenge pewa. Sanded to 600 and then burnished with a grey scotchbrite pad. Will finish with hemp oil. Black Mesquite is a gnarly wood with wild grain and colors ranging from light tan to black. This is a species of Mesquite that grows in south-central South America. It’s in the same genus as the Mesquite found in southwestern USA.

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Edit: here it as after the first coat of oil:

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Last edited:
Joined
Feb 18, 2023
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Location
Orange, CA
Finishing up the pedestal for a project. Black Mesquite with Wenge pewa. Sanded to 600 and then burnished with a grey scotchbrite pad. Will finish with hemp oil. Black Mesquite is a gnarly wood with wild grain and colors ranging from light tan to black. This is a species of Mesquite that grows in south-central South America. It’s in the same genus as the Mesquite found in southwestern USA.

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And cool pewa wood. Need to find some wenge.
 
Joined
Oct 15, 2015
Messages
216
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576
Location
Smithville, MO
Interesting. I want to like persimmon, but mine always end up gray and dirty looking.
Kent, This is a very odd wood. Some of it is very plain and other parts are quite interesting. I don't really have a good handle on it yet. I got an entire tree worth that fell down last summer. It was 22" at the base not including bark. Persimmon is considered american ebony and it has it's peculiarities. It is prone to cracking and moving.
 
Joined
Sep 19, 2023
Messages
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Location
Columbia, TN
Kent, This is a very odd wood. Some of it is very plain and other parts are quite interesting. I don't really have a good handle on it yet. I got an entire tree worth that fell down last summer. It was 22" at the base not including bark. Persimmon is considered american ebony and it has it's peculiarities. It is prone to cracking and moving.

It's probably the worst wood I've experienced yet in terms of cracking and movement. I have a couple of big persimmons on my place, about the size you mention. Both are safe from my chainsaw, though. One is along the road where its absence would leave a big hole. The other is 200 yards back in the forest where I can't effectively get it out... at least not at my age. ;)

Edit: Last year was a bumper crop of persimmons. Food for wildlife was so abundant here last fall that a lot of the persimmons went uneaten. I would have picked a bunch, but the branches are too high to pick them before they drop.
 
Joined
Nov 22, 2023
Messages
324
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2,910
Location
Morganton, NC
First time trying a small hollow form, 9” x 5-3/4”, gotta start somewhere😁. Used a Sorby gooseneck tool and can’t wait to get the Lyle Jamieson system in a couple months.
Will sand and clean up the inside tomorrow. I didn’t sand the outside since it was cedar and I figured I’d blow it up once I started on the inside😁. Thinking of doing a walnut top and finial for it.
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Joined
Apr 30, 2022
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Location
Beavercreek, OH
Website
www.ovwg.org
Black Walnut natural edge on the lathe for final sanding. Sealer applied, think I will use satin lacquer on this one. Aprox 14x12x8-1/2

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Hey nice NE bowl David. A lot of people struggle with the shape by making it look to "dumpy" and not smooth on the curve. Your is really well done plus the thinner walls are nice! 👍
 
Joined
Nov 22, 2023
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Location
Morganton, NC
Hey nice NE bowl David. A lot of people struggle with the shape by making it look to "dumpy" and not smooth on the curve. Your is really well done plus the thinner walls are nice! 👍
Thank you! I try my best to get a nice flowing curve on my bowls and shoot for 1/4”-3/8” on thickness. Still in the learning process but trying to improve with each bowl.
 
Joined
Feb 18, 2023
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Location
Orange, CA
the tear out on end grain NIP is ridiculous . . . got most of it but it wasn’t easy. Bowl is 12.25 inch diameter and 5.25 inch height.
I used polymerized tung oil on this bowl. Soaked it up like a thirsty camel—end grain kept looking dry so I kept adding oil, and I used an entire liter of the stuff before it stopped soaking in. Insane. Never seen anything like that.
 

Odie

Panning for Montana gold, with Betsy, the mule!
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Dec 22, 2006
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When it comes to laser embellishments, is it possible that it just looks too perfect......? To me, it seems to lose that "handmade" feeling to it.

Just my opinion.

-o-
 

Odie

Panning for Montana gold, with Betsy, the mule!
TOTW Team
Joined
Dec 22, 2006
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Location
Misssoula, MT
Roughed out two Brown Mallee burl bowls last night. The photo was taken just prior to applying the anchorseal. Both have around 20% MC, so I expect it will be somewhere around 1 year before they're ready for the second turn. It's my intention to incorporate the natural burl figure into the rim design, so the overall final shape will be entirely dependent on combining the two entities.

-o-
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