Well, I didn't get much time on the lathe this week but I did manage to work a little on the spoons.

The spoon wood turned out to be "Pussy Willow" and dried enough for some sanding and more shaping.

The two closest to the camera are (hopefully) going to work as "spaghetti" spoons. They still need some more shaping/sanding. As I was cutting the "teeth" I noticed the wood was still wet/soft so they are drying and hardening. The other two are pretty much finished except for some detail sanding on the handles. I'll finish all of them with mineral oil.

To sand the "bowl" of the spoon, I made a very small ball sander to fit into my Dremel tool. It did a fair job of cleaning up the the surface. Being only about 5/8" in diameter, there wasn't much surface area for the velcro sand paper to grip so the paper came off several times.

Got an order, last week for a fountain pen. As it always works out, I didn't have the bits or bushing required for the one the customer wanted. Thanks to Woodcraft's excellent service, the materials came yesterday. 

I've always had difficulty drilling long holes on the center axis of pen blanks, using my drill press. The holes drift as they pass thru the blank. I've tried several methods including vices, clamps, homemade jigs and leveling the table to the bit. Everything always looks good but in the end the hole isn't perfectly center as it exits the blank. This time I'm going to drill the pen blank holes on the lathe. I found a couple of articles by Mr. David Smith where he makes blank holders that attach to a four jaw chuck.

Here's a link and picture to the one I'm making:

http://davidreedsmith.com/Articles/AuxPenJaws/auxiliary_pen_blank_jaws.htm

Hopefully this will solve my problem.

When I was at the landfill, trying to determine the spoon wood, I picked up another mystery wood. It looks like it might be just the correct diameter to try a natural edge bowl. I've never made on of those. I'll post the progress when I get started.

Safe Turning!

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Lew Kauffman-
Wood Turners Forum Host

Time Traveler and Purveyor of the Universe's Finest Custom Rolling Pins!

I like drilling on the lathe and agree that I get a better straight hole. I've done all the things you mentioned on the drill press without much luck.

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John Moody
Site Administratorhttp://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com
“Don’t make something unless it is both necessary and useful; but if it is both necessary and useful, don’t hesitate to make it beautiful.†Shaker Saying