Our wood turning club meeting is today and the demo is my responsibility. I am doing a Glenn Lucas project(sort of) a "traditional Irish platter". I downloaded his video on it a year ago or so. Over the last few weeks I've turned probably 10 platters while practicing, editing notes, etc. etc. Most of the ones I've turned are from plain soft maple and are nothing special. I wanted to do one out of a nice piece of wood and had a walnut platter blank just had some really nice grain in it. Moisture meter said it was ready so I went after it. This piece of wood fought me through the whole process. There were a couple areas that no matter what I tried there was still tear out. Tried sheer scraping, stiffening the fibers with finish and/or oil. Push cut, pull cut, sharpen tools, no matter, there was just tear out.

Eventually, I had taken so many cuts, thickness became an issue and I couldn't follow the profile of Glenn's design. Still, after MUCH sanding it looked pretty nice I thought.

 

 

 

 

 

It had everything, some really nice feathering from a crotch and it just glowed. I could tell it moved a little while turning but I wasn't worried. I'd left a decent raised rim on the bottom and the very center was mortised.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After finishing, it just kept moving and moving. You can see it a little in this picture

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This picture gives a better idea just how much this piece of wood moved. It has a serious cup and I have to say "this platter rocks" LOL. I will still take it for my demo. Glenn actually talks about where to get a platter blank from a log and what can happen otherwise. This will illustrate his point nicely I think.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

Edited March 5, 20179 yr by Steve Krumanaker
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Wow, that is perseverance!

Great looking piece Steve,

Cal

Beautiful piece Steve.  I love the feathering in the wood.

Very nice. 

 

That is an amazing amount of movement.  It is still a beautiful turning and the feathering is grand.  I was thinking three more and you would have the nicest set of hubcaps around.  Seriously, it is still a keeper.

Sometimes it is really difficult to know exactly the turning blank's orientation- in respect to the log- unless you cut it yourself. 

 

With a couple of walnut bowls I made, the only turning tool that removed the tear out was 80 grit. 

That is still a really nice looking piece.

Great looking piece. I know it is not what you were striving for, but sometimes wood projects turn out that way.  Do you think it is stabilized or will keep cupping?  Might turn into a salad bowl before it is done.  Think it might crack eventually?  You did a great job on your end.

Herb

It is pieces like this that give you a chance to shown your style. I have one from last week that I cut too thin.....all the way to the outside.....so design change and I think it turned out good. Nice job on the save Steve.

Somewhere I read a tale about a guy who turned a bespoke bowl  from a bespoke hunk of lumber. The wood changed shape quite a bit after he turned it to finish resulting in an oval.  The customer he said loved it and couldn't  figure how he turned an oval.

 nice platter

 

Even if it moved, I think it looks great.

"Defects" are most always noticed only by the creator. As for my untrained eye, this platter is spectacular all the way around. Hope the movement you describe subsides, but even if it doesn't it still will be a one-of-a-kind beauty.

I suspect your turning club thought so as well. Thanks Steve.

Nice!!

 

Great Job!!

Beautiful piece of wood and great job persevering over cantankerous wood.  Sandpaper is a turning tool.