Man, it is COLD out. It's so cold that.... well you know the jokes- but thankfully I don't live in Buffalo, NY.

 

 

 

I've been sitting in for the Electronics Instructor, this week, at school. Introducing county wide, 9th graders to the wonderful world of Electronics Technology. But I did get a little lathe time and some progress on the Christmas presents. 

 

Most of our friends/relatives are getting one of those garlic crackers. I thought I'd better also give them something upon which to crack the garlic; so I made some miniature end grain cutting boards. 

 

 

These are about 5" in diameter and about 5/8" thick. They still need a little sanding and the finish.

 

I'm also making some shallow bowls to use for the same purpose .

 

 

I had a piece of poplar propeller (at least it looked like one) and used it for the glue blocks.

 

 

 

The finished bowls will be about 5" in diameter and a little over 1" tall. They have a flat bottom over most of the inside to facilitate cracking garlic or hard herb seeds.

 

 

Tim Yoder posted another neat turning project- Inside Out Christmas Ornaments-

 

 

 

 

Finally from a newsletter, I read about Rodney R. Miller, a disabled Air Force veteran who does some really nice turnings.

 

You can email Rodney at Atsilla@gmail.com. You can see more of Rodney's work on his Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/rcprojectsofAZ

 

I hope he might decide to join our ranks.

 

 

Safe Turning!

 

 

 

I love the small end grain cutting board!

 

I am so glad I don't have a fridge like the one you pictured.

Lew, awesome post, and thanks for getting it up here today! I Love watching Tim Yoder videos!

I love the small end grain cutting board!

 

 

Thanks, John and John! I'm looking forward to seeing the grain patterns after I put on the finish!

The bowl is perfect, I like the curve at the lip, graceful and wonderful a touch. Lew, are you keeping the glue block on? Or does it get cut completely off when you are finished, I have never used a glue block before so the concept is new to me. I am completely green for turning, remember!

Bu the way, I do love the bowl also. Just forgot to type that in my first response.

 

The bowl has a beautiful grain to it, I think it will look great when it is finished.

 

How are you planning the bottom, flat or slightly raised?

John and John-

 

I will part (cut) off the glue block after sanding the inside and as much of the outside as possible. I usually use a piece of pine for the glue blocks however in this case, the poplar piece I had was so twisted that it wouldn't have been much good for anything else.

 

After parting it off, I'll reverse chuck the bowl in a Longworth chuck and finish the bottom with a slight recess- so it sets flat on a counter top and then complete the sanding. Probably make 6 or 7 of these.

 

The first one had a little lip because the material was thicker and I could incorporate it into the side wall. All of the other bowls are a little less thick so I'll just use a simple curve.

 

Thanks for kind words, they are really appreciated!