Wednesday's Wisdom For Woodturners October 29, 2025

[lew]

Our Patriot Turners-

@Steve Krumanaker made some more lids for the artisan who sells bee products. Steve decided to make a change on some of them

 

These new knobs are really nice. Check out more of this design in Steve's post-

 

@RustyFN did another gorgeous basket illusion turning. I cannot imagine the patience it takes to create one on these- not to mention the steady hand and great eyesight!

Our turners really like this one judging from their comments

 

@calabrese55 turned a marvelous segmented, hybrid vase. Unfortunately, he discovered a flaw and decided to make a design change.

 

Mike explains what happed and why he decided to do the redesign-

 

@frenchwwr posted this in the "What's On Your Workbench" forum. Pretty cool lamp made from spindles!

 

What's Coming Up-

Click on the images for links to more information and registration.

Holiday Ornaments-

 

 

 

Fall Vendor Showcase

 

Cindy Tool Talk from last Friday

 

A most worthy turning event and contest to benefit the Saint Jude Children Hospital

 

From the page description-

In this special event live turn-off, we have Rebecca DeGroot, Nathan McCollim, Jake Thompson, Mark Branch and Carl Jacobson joining us to turn an ornament for the 7th annual St Jude Children's Hospital fundraising auction sponsored by Easy Wood Tools! Chad will be joined by Christy and Chris from easy wood tools as MC's of the turn off and we will get to see what each of these awesome artists are turning in real time! If you would like to get in on the fun and also make and ornament to donate for the auction you can find all the information here: https://www.turnerswarehouse.com/page... And if you want to pick up your own Easy Wood Tool to make your ornament turning smooth you can browse them here: https://www.turnerswarehouse.com/coll... We hope to see you in the chat for all the fun!

 

And from Mike Peace with more about the contest-

 

 

For The Newbies-

More on the skew. Tomislav Tomasic demonstrates using and sharpening-

 

Tim Yoder answers a question on sharpening-

 

Expand Your Horizons-

If you needs some ideas or tips for the ornament turning auction, Mike Peace may some ideas.

 

 

 

Not as cool as @Steve Krumanaker's !!

 

Turning Time With Easy Wood Tools-

Easy Wood Tools shared this video  from Nathan McCollim. A project turned completely with Easy Wood Tools products.

 

NEWPRODUCT FROM EASY WOOD TOOLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Chuck Mounted 3/8" Mandrel is used to mount small project turnings without removing your chuck from your lathe. This mandrel is used for small project turnings such as bottle stoppers and small handles to be paired with a variety of project kits and components. It features a 3/8” x 16 TPI thread with a fluted tip, for self-tapping, or can be used with correct sized threaded inserts. It is made of nickel-plated hardened steel for superior strength and corrosion resistance. Includes polyester washer to prevent project sticking. Mounts to most 4-jaw lathe chucks. 100% Made in USA.

 

https://www.easywoodtools.com/product-page/chuck-mounted-3-8-mandrel

 

Easy Wood Tools live demonstrations next week-

https://www.rockler.com/retail/stores/wi-brookfield-store?utm_source=local&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=milwaukee

 

https://www.woodcraft.com/pages/store/baltimore

 

https://www.woodcraft.com/pages/store/lexington

@Jordan Martindale

 

New Turning Items-

See the EWT section for the new mandrel!

 

Turning stuff on sale at Woodcraft. Click on the image for the link!!

 

 

If Made in America is important to you but carbide tools are not your thing. Sam Angelo reviews Robust turning tools.

 

Everything Else-

Safe turning

[HandyDan]

lots of ornaments.  Love it!

[Gerald]

Lew you have shifted me into OVERLOAD

[Fred W. Hargis Jr]

Lew, if you were to turn one of the ornaments which EZ wood hollower would be the best? I'd like to try some but am not sure of the size needed. I have 2 of the largest ones and know for sure i won't be using them.

[lew]

8 minutes ago, Fred W. Hargis Jr said:

Lew, if you were to turn one of the ornaments which EZ wood hollower would be the best? I'd like to try some but am not sure of the size needed. I have 2 of the largest ones and know for sure i won't be using them.

When you say the largest ones, do they have dark brown handles or the light colored handles?

[lew]

12 minutes ago, Fred W. Hargis Jr said:

Lew, if you were to turn one of the ornaments which EZ wood hollower would be the best? I'd like to try some but am not sure of the size needed. I have 2 of the largest ones and know for sure i won't be using them.

Sorry about that I see you might have the newer version. Are yours 22” or 32” long?

[Fred W. Hargis Jr]

I just looked it up, my are the 32' ones. I have the straight and the number 2.

Edited 21 hours ago by Fred W. Hargis Jr

[lew]

@Fred W. Hargis Jr  If you were making the bird houses, you might be able to get away with those. It's pretty much straight in hollowing. If you plan on doing hollow ornaments, I would go with smaller sizes. The Mid size 45° and 90° need an entry hole close to 7/8"- or larger- if you are going pretty deep. The Mini hollowers can work through a 7/16" hole. The minis have square shafts the entire length. They can be a little grabby when going deeper. Negative rake cutters work best for these as those cutters are not as aggressive

[RustyFN]

Thanks Lew. A lot of great videos to watch.