Years ago I found a really nice of spalted Box Elder and I turned it down. I recently found the rest of the peace and decided to turn it down and was hoping to find more of that beautiful red spalt. I didn't find red, but I did find some beautiful grain. I stained it and it came out beautiful. To make it stand out I pained the top and bottom white.

 

Very nice.  The grain looks a little curly.

Quote

I stained it and it came out beautiful.

that it did...

Top and bottom were soft, as spalted wood can be. Another good reason to use paint

That is awesome!

That is nice grain and a cool turning, too!

Edited September 11, 20169 yr by lew

I was really hoping that my hollowing tool would work better than it does, so that I can make ornaments like this in such a way that they are not so heavy. I really do like this one, and it inspires me to start making some for the holiday season coming up. My hollowing tool is on a round bar that keeps getting yanked and twisted every time I try using it.

My carbide round tip does a decent job. I am NOT good at hallowing, so my opinion my not amount to much

4 minutes ago, Ron Altier said:

My carbide round tip does a decent job. I am NOT good at hallowing, so my opinion my not amount to much

 

Nahh that's fine Ron I have a tool that has a curved neck made for hollowing things like his, but since it is made with the round bar, it's pretty much useless

44 minutes ago, Charles Nicholls said:

I was really hoping that my hollowing tool would work better than it does, so that I can make ornaments like this in such a way that they are not so heavy. I really do like this one, and it inspires me to start making some for the holiday season coming up. My hollowing tool is on a round bar that keeps getting yanked and twisted every time I try using it.

Charles, if you are using your tool with the tip in a horizontal position and set to cut on center it will be grabby.  You need to raise the cutter a bit above center to use it horizontally.  In essence this will give the cutter a negative rake and should work better for you.  If the tool is too thick to raise it up then twist it to the left some so the cutter has a slight down hill slope.  You will need to experiment some to find the sweet spot that works best for you.

1 hour ago, Charles Nicholls said:

 

Nahh that's fine Ron I have a tool that has a curved neck made for hollowing things like his, but since it is made with the round bar, it's pretty much useless

 

Dan has it right. The hollowing tools I use are on a round bar and work well. I will admit the curved one was a little grabby until I figured it out. Seldom get a catch now.

 

 

 

Steve

3 minutes ago, Steve Krumanaker said:

 

Dan has it right. The hollowing tools I use are on a round bar and work well. I will admit the curved one was a little grabby until I figured it out. Seldom get a catch now.

 

 

 

Steve

That's all mine does is grab and catch.and it's not carbide.

 

Edited September 12, 20169 yr by Charles Nicholls

16 minutes ago, Charles Nicholls said:

That's all mine does is grab and catch.and it's not carbide.

 

 

Charles, you know that you can't have any of the curved portion on the tool rest, right? It must bear on the straight portion of the bar.

 

Steve

1 minute ago, Steve Krumanaker said:

Charles, you know that you can't have any of the curved portion on the tool rest, right? It must bear on the straight portion of the bar.

 

Steve

Yes I did but thanks for the reminder

As has been said start the cut between 7 and 8. Once cutting begins you can raise the cutter some. The advantage of a round bar with curve (swan neck) is that if you get a catch then the bar rotates and does not transfer the motion to you.

 

Oh and by the way take light cuts to avoid that catch.

Edited September 13, 20169 yr by Gerald
added reasons for light cut