Our Patriot Turners-

Our turners were really knocking them out of the ball park this week!

From "What's On"

@Gerald' walnut bowl-

And from "What's Off"-

Gerald shows us a really cool birdhouse with a nod to @Steve Krumanaker on turning the little birdie.

@RustyFN was gifted some beautiful oak burl and he did it justice!

Check out the comments-

Rusty's week didn't go completely as planned. It's OK Rusty, we are looking forward to seeing how you will work this into a design modification-

@DuckSoup sent me an awesome video link showing an early 6 man turning team. It's on social media, hope you all can see it-

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1EHXGUuVfT/

Thanks, Bob!!

@Fred W. Hargis Jr posted a writeup about PVA glues. Some interesting facts! Thanks for the information, Fred.

Our longtime member @Steve Krumanaker, recently did a demonstration for his turning club.

Check it out this versatile little tool!

What's Coming Up-

Last Friday's reply of All Things Woodturning live stream, in case you missed it.

StreamYard

All Things Woodturning - Part 2, Twice Turned Box

It's been a month since my last live stream. In part 2 of the twice turned box, I will work on the lid. The biggest concerns are the join between the lid/box and the lid shape because of the lid teno

Cindy Drozda's Tool Talk

Registration

Cindy shared more events last week. Here's a walk around at the Rocky Mountain Woodturning Symposium.

And, coming up in November is the Vendor Showcase Winter Wonderland

Registration

For The Newbies-

Tim Yoder share a 3rd in a series of videos aimed at helping those new to turning-

Expand Your Horizons-

Carl Jacobson hollows out a maple form using Tim Yoder's hollowing rig-

Sam Angelo took a page from Richard Raffan's experiments to turn a wet blank and then microwave for drying.

Alan Stratton turns some air and some elm to create some pretty neatly shaped bowls-

Turning Time With Easy Wood Tools-

Easy Wood Tools users and products across the Internet

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DdV_idSO7Jc/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&stkn=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DdjKy3wB5hz/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&stkn=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

Need to turn some beads? Easy Wood Tools has you covered!!

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1EbtuJaspe/

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/14pyAsQyGfp/

EWT Demonstration next week-

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

@Jordan Martindale

New Turning Items-

Everything Else-

From Ron Brown's Newsletter

Torn Grain – A Universal Problem

 Now, whether you’re a greenhorn just turning your first piece of wood or a seasoned old-timer who's been at the lathe longer than he cares to admit, one thing is absolute: the problem of torn grain will show up sooner or later. And if there’s one rule about torn grain, it’s that it almost always rears its head at the absolute worst possible moment. So, what are you supposed to do when the wood decides to fight back?

Let’s start with a few honest-to-goodness techniques that can help you avoid torn grain in the first place.

 Stop and look frequently. Take a breath and check your progress before you get anywhere near your final shape 

Keep your tools sharp. Put a fresh, honest edge on your tools right when you’re closing in on the finished shape or diameter of your project.

Catch it early. If you start seeing torn grain early on, address it right then and there while you’ve still got enough material left to correct it.

Switch up your approach. Try changing your cutting direction—move from the outside in, or from the inside out. 

Shear scrape. A good shear scraping pass can often smooth things right out before they get out of hand.

 

Now, despite your best intentions, it happens. Here’s how you actually fix torn grain when you discover it mid-turn:

 

Delicate shear scraping with a fresh edge. This often does the heavy lifting. You can shear scrape at a 45-degree angle to the work using pretty much any turning tool in your shop—scrapers, carbide-tipped tools, or gouges. 

Use a scraper with a fresh edge. Make sure it’s got a noticeable burr right on the edge to bite into the fiber cleanly 

Break out the negative rake scrapers. Truth is, these tools were made specifically for a headache just like this. 

Reverse your direction. Try switching up the path—if outside-to-inside isn't cutting it, try inside-to-outside. 

Adjust your speed. Give the lathe a little more throttle; a faster speed can sometimes make all the difference. 

Try a larger radius. Use a tool with a noticeably larger radius and take easy, light cuts. 

Stabilize the work. Support the workpiece to reduce vibration—this holds true whether you're working on bowls or spindles. Just make sure to protect those fingers so they don’t get burned or pinched against the tool rest. A pair of thin, leather fingerless gloves can be a lifesaver here. 

Sand it out as a last resort. Sometimes, no matter what you do, nothing works, and you just end up having to sand your way through the damage. When that happens, do everything you can to minimize the tearing beforehand so you aren't sanding until the cows come home. Work your way up through the grits step-by-step to remove the marks left by the last pass. A good rule of thumb is the "Half-A-Grit" method: if you started with 80 grit, add 40 and don't skip higher than 120 next. From there, move to 180, and so on.

 

At the end of the day, there are times when there's simply no rational explanation for torn grain. You can do everything right, execute a cut the exact same way you've done it a hundred times before, and the wood still won't cooperate. Just know that it happens to every single one of us. Take a beat, experiment with these techniques, and roll up your sleeves to overcome it.

Safe Turning

Thanks for mention in the post Lew. Will have to find some time this week to watch some videos.

Thanks Lew.