What’s On Your Lathe?

[Fred W. Hargis Jr]

This is more to prove I'm screwing with my lathe than anything, but I'm trying my first box. Not sure what this wood is, it may have been some of the Mulberry (?) that Dave brought to our house when we had the gathering a few years back. I can tell you this: it's extremely dry and hard. So hollowing it out has been a challenge, as much due to me not knowing what I'm doing as the hardness of the wood. This piece does have a crack i it that doesn't go all the way through, but since this is more of a learning exercise than anything I'm not concerned with it. I tried to do the hollowing with a bowl gouge and a spindle gouge and was getting terrible catches that I couldn't seem to avoid. I switched to a carbide finishing tool and got most of the hollowing done. The bottom of the box is very rough where I had a bad catch, oh well. I do not yet have a big HSS scraper to do the inside but one is on my shopping list. My biggest problem seemed to be the distance to the bottom of the box, about 3 1/2". I couldn't get my rest inside because of the small size (it's about 4-5" diameter and my heaviest bowl gouge is 5/8" and still wasn't stiff enough (or I'm not skilled enough) to get a clean cut on the bottom. All that aside, at this point I'm happy so far with the way things have went, I'll be trying the lid next, then come back and cut a foor into the bottom of the box.

[HandyDan]

Looking good Fred.  You've got it conquered.

 

[lew]

Looks awesome, Fred!

 

Check out the videos from Richard Raffan and his use of scrapers when doing the inside of these types of boxes.

https://www.youtube.com/@RichardRaffanwoodturning

 

Also, if you know any welders, have them make you a small tool rest from steel rods. This one I had made at my school in the welding class. The top piece is about 6" long. Makes getting into smaller openings a little easier.

 

[Gerald]

Looks good to me . The bottom is always a problem. Two things save it for me. Hunter carbides and scrapers. Note with regular scrapers do not enter wood with tool level, it must be used handle up ( or point angled down). You can make your own scraper from bar stock off Amazon.

[kreisdorph]

On 5/26/2024 at 11:24 AM, Fred W. Hargis Jr said:

This is more to prove I'm screwing with my lathe than anything, but I'm trying my first box. Not sure what this wood is, it may have been some of the Mulberry (?) that Dave brought to our house when we had the gathering a few years back. I can tell you this: it's extremely dry and hard. So hollowing it out has been a challenge, as much due to me not knowing what I'm doing as the hardness of the wood. This piece does have a crack i it that doesn't go all the way through, but since this is more of a learning exercise than anything I'm not concerned with it. I tried to do the hollowing with a bowl gouge and a spindle gouge and was getting terrible catches that I couldn't seem to avoid. I switched to a carbide finishing tool and got most of the hollowing done. The bottom of the box is very rough where I had a bad catch, oh well. I do not yet have a big HSS scraper to do the inside but one is on my shopping list. My biggest problem seemed to be the distance to the bottom of the box, about 3 1/2". I couldn't get my rest inside because of the small size (it's about 4-5" diameter and my heaviest bowl gouge is 5/8" and still wasn't stiff enough (or I'm not skilled enough) to get a clean cut on the bottom. All that aside, at this point I'm happy so far with the way things have went, I'll be trying the lid next, then come back and cut a foor into the bottom of the box.

It isn't mulberry. Maple, maybe?

 

I'm a rookie at hollowing myself. I've experimented with bowl gouges and carbide. What seemed to work best for me with the bowl gouge is a pull cut from bottom to top, after drilling a hole down through the center.

 

[kreisdorph]

Spalted sugarbgerry, 11". I'm trying something different on this one-turned bowl. I sealed the end grain with Anchorseal. Now I'll let it dry in the house for a few days. We'll see if the Anchorseal prevents it from warping in a fast-dry environment. Fast-dry meaning it sits on the dining room table for 4-5 days.

 

[Fred W. Hargis Jr]

5 minutes ago, kreisdorph said:

It isn't mulberry. Maple, maybe?

 

I'm a rookie at hollowing myself. I've experimented with bowl gouges and carbide. What seemed to work best for me with the bowl gouge is a pull cut from bottom to top, after drilling a hole down through the center.

 

No idea, it was in a pile that was unmarked. My mulberry guess was just that I thought Dave had brought it here and I think he said that wood was mulberry.

[kreisdorph]

6 minutes ago, Fred W. Hargis Jr said:

No idea, it was in a pile that was unmarked. My mulberry guess was just that I thought Dave had brought it here and I think he said that wood was mulberry.

 

Got it. Mulberry is quite open grained, for whatever it's worth.

 

[lew]

36 minutes ago, kreisdorph said:

Spalted sugarbgerry, 11". I'm trying something different on this one-turned bowl. I sealed the end grain with Anchorseal. Now I'll let it dry in the house for a few days. We'll see if the Anchorseal prevents it from warping in a fast-dry environment. Fast-dry meaning it sits on the dining room table for 4-5 days.

 

Love that spalting! Hope your experiment works!

[lew]

26 minutes ago, kreisdorph said:

 

Got it. Mulberry is quite open grained, for whatever it's worth.

 

So glad you left the imperfections unfilled!

[Gerald]

Progress on the Urn. Got the time to do the hollowing yesterday. One of my boring bar bit holders is broken so with alternative cutters took a bit longer than usual. It is about 10 inches tall and 7 wide at center. 

 

A friend came by yesterday and we got to talking about urns and threaded inserts. He has metal lathe and is going to try plumbing parts and turn them down.

[lew]

2 hours ago, Gerald said:

Progress on the Urn. Got the time to do the hollowing yesterday. One of my boring bar bit holders is broken so with alternative cutters took a bit longer than usual. It is about 10 inches tall and 7 wide at center. 

 

A friend came by yesterday and we got to talking about urns and threaded inserts. He has metal lathe and is going to try plumbing parts and turn them down.

I've read about using parts from the Borg. Great idea if you have the metal working tools/friends!

[Gerald]

Got a bit further down the road today and the lid is on the lathe now. After carving upper portion was dyed black and dry brushed with two shades of blue. The next ring was also dyed black after dots were carved in and dry brushed with a metal flake white.

 

[calabrese55]

REMARKABLE  simply REMARKABLE !

 

calabrese55

[lew]

@Gerald, you've outdone yourself!

[HandyDan]

18 hours ago, lew said:

I've read about using parts from the Borg. Great idea if you have the metal working tools/friends!

 

Trouble is plumbing parts aren't cheap either.  This deal you put in a couple weeks ago is hard to beat.

 

https://nilesbottlestoppers.com/product/threaded-rings-for-urns/

 

And you still need to buy the female thread part.

[HandyDan]

Love it Gerald!  Nice detailing.

[Masonsailor]

WOW !!!!

[lew]

@Gerald, do you do the "divets" with a burning tool or a rotary tool?

[Gerald]

8 hours ago, lew said:

@Gerald, do you do the "divets" with a burning tool or a rotary tool?

Used a micromotor with a diamond bit . You load the bit up by holding it in one place and then it burns the holes.