Been a busy week in the shop! Got the second chair finished/delivered. Funny how different they turned out. Even though I had some rough drawings of what I wanted to do, seeing them side by side it is obvious they are not twins!

I finally got back to the mortar/pestle segmented turning. The last thing I had done was the beginning of the sanding process. Considered making a ball sander but went ahead and sanded it using traditional methods.Sanded inside and out starting at 80 grit and working up to 220. Switched over to Abralon pads for 360 to 4000.

Next, the mortar was parted off the waste block-

Then mounted onto the Longworth Chuck

The nylon reinforced packing tape isn't necessary at this point but when the live center is retracted, it will provide the support needed to securely hold the piece.

Turns out, this is about as small of a turning that can be held in my homemade chuck. The mounting block should have been made smaller in diameter to allow the chuck to rotate to a slightly smaller position. I might be able to turn the block down some to achieve this.

All that's left is to finish off the bottom. To insure it sets flat, I scooped out the center slightly leaving a circular foot.

At this point the center was retracted, the wooden nub removed and the final sanding up through all of the aforementioned grits.

I did not make the pestle. I believe it is made from Beech.

As you can see, I need to work on getting my segmented angle joints more accurate and tighter.

Normally, I would have used mineral oil on this piece but a friend gave me a bottle of a new finish- "Ty Fine Finishes". It is food safe, zero VOC and 100% organic- a combination of polymerized Flax Seed Oil and Shea Oil. Not absolutely certain where my friend got this oil. I did find a Facebook page-  https://www.facebook.com/TYFineFurniture?ref=stream&viewer_id=0 that has the product listed. Here's a direct link to the product on the page-  https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=443769528992913&set=a.403888702980996.77616.180069022029633&type=1&theater.  The address on the bottle is "TYFF Ltd., 23717 Liberty West, Raymond, OH 43067". The finish dries completely, unlike mineral oil and has a low luster sheen. How well it will hold up, remains to be seen.

Of course, Mimi confiscated the the set and has them on the kitchen counter.

On another note, I was searching the Internet for something and came across this young man- Alex Harris. I think what caught my eye was his home made lathe duplicator. If you get a chance, check out his web site- http://thiswoodwork.com/; Twitter @thiswoodwork; Facebook https://www.facebook.com/thiswoodwork. I think you'll enjoy his passion.

Safe Turning

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Lew Kauffman-
Wood Turners Forum Host

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

Thanks Lew, it was a great read and the turnings are beautiul of course, I didn't see anything wrong with the joints themselves, just maybe the colors of the woods used showing the joint a bit more than all same color pieces would.

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Charles Nicholls
Site Host
nicholls61@att.net
Proud supporter of The Wounded Warrior Project, Homes For Our Troops and the NRA

http://www.etsy.com/shop/nichollswoodworks