Wednesday's Wisdom For Woodturners October 21, 2015

October 22, 201510 yr

Well, the basement shop is still a mess, but I moved enough stuff to be able to get things done. Although sometimes I have to walks twice as far to accomplish them.

I finished the coffee scoops and decided they would look better with some finish- bee's wax and mineral oil rubbed in. These are walnut and maple. The center one was the prototype.

Then it was on to the walnut, shallow bowls. I still had several thick/wide pieces of air dried walnut from the humidor fiasco. I cut up one of the smaller pieces into turning blanks. The blank is about 11" square and 2 3/4" thick.

Laid out a circle that would provide the most wood

Drilled a small hole for the pin on my bandsaw circle jig

Set the jig to match the radius of the cut

Mounted the blank and cut it

Once the circle was cut, then I added some layout lines to center/mount the lathe faceplate. I used a Vix bit to more accurately center the holes.

Then drilled pilot holes for the screws- remember, no drywall screws here

Mount the faceplate. I alway use a reference mark to locate the faceplate or chuck in case they need to be removed and reattached.

Mount the blank on the lathe

True the perimeter and flatten the face

Locate the chuck recess and set the depth of the recess

Remove the material where the chuck will set

Using a shop made tool, I created a dovetail type opening to better hold the chuck. The opening is wider at the bottom and matches the chuck jaw angle

Now it is just a matter of turning the outside to shape. I also sanded the outside after it was turned

Next I removed the faceplate and mounted the blank on my chuck in preparation for turning the inside. Sorry, I forgot to take a couple of pictures here

I carefully calculated and set the depth of the finished inside. No repeats of my last bowl accident.

The inside of the bowl turned and sanded. A couple of home made sanding balls to help on the curved surfaces. I also used my random orbital sander on the flat surfaces.

The last step was to finish off the bottom where the chuck recess is located. I have a shop made Longworth chuck that I use for this procedure

The wooden cone, on the tail stock, keeps pressure on the piece- for safety. I had already started work when I realized I forgot to take more pictures.