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Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. Please don't forget that we have started our annual Christmas project to help a veteran and their family- Our Patriot Turners- @RustyFN posted an inquiry about a lathe stand for handicapped turners. If you have any plans, or know where plans can be obtained, please let Rusty know- @Gordon asked our members a question concerning bowl finishes appropriate for specific uses. He received some input from our members. Hop over to Gordon's post and let him know what your favorite bowl finishes are! @DAB turned some cute little ornaments. He posted it here- @Fred W. Hargis Jr had turned a Christmas tree finial. This is where he used it- Pretty cool project. Fred explains more, here- Fred's project prompted @JimM to show us his version. Notice the "finial" on his tree- Jim's post is just a few entries down from Fred's. What’s Coming Up- Signup at- https://community.woodturner.org/events/event-description?CalendarEventKey=421c6cad-b842-4f3e-8278-01934ad538d5&Home=%2fevents%2fird-demonstrations&_zs=ceDib&_zl=eLHJ4 For The Newbies- Just starting out and looing for a simple but useful project? How about a Garden Dibbler (Dibble). Watch how Mike Waldt creates his- Expand Your Horizons- A cool project from Glenn Lucas that will test your sphere turning skills! Carl Jacobson does a live demo on turning a lidded box using the bronze threaded inserts. If you are planning to do something like this, there are some good tips- Some more Christmas ornament ideas from Alan Stratton- @Steve Krumanaker does a lot of "Bee Specific" turned items. I saw this in a news letter from Niles Bottle Stoppers and thought I'd share it- Steve also turns birdhouse ornaments. For his work, he also turns the little birds that live in them. This Craft Supplies USA video demonstrates turning birdhouses along with a source for tiny premade birds. Visit- https://woodturnerscatalog.com/collections/new-products/products/mini-mushroom-birds-4-pack?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=product_shelf for the birds. New Turning Items- Nothing new but I did notice there are lots of "Black Friday" sales running at most of the woodturning sources Everything Else- Safe turning
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Not a lot of activity this week by our turners. I guess everyone is winding down from the elections. Our Patriot Turners- @RustyFN scored some freshly cut maple and was able to put it to good use- He explains what he has planned for these blanks- Rusty also showed us a sweet walnut turning he is working on, looks like this could be a real knuckle buster! Check out his post to see why he chose to make this one- We had an entry on our "What's ON" this week. A partially finished wave bowl- Catchup with the latest activity here- What’s Coming Up- Click on the images for links to more information and registration- Friday, November 15th, 2:30 pm Central (20:30 UTC) For The Newbies- Sam Angelo posted a video with his thoughts about the necessary tools for the beginning woodworker Richard Raffan has a really nice video on the entry cuts using a gouge. Lots of closeup images. Expand Your Horizons- Several of our members have built their own drying kilns from various materials. In this video, Glenn Lucas provides some insight into how he built his. He provides a link to more complete information for those who might want to duplicate his efforts. https://www.glennlucaswoodturning.com/product/build-your-own-wood-dryer-download-video-and-manual-no-33/ This sure puts my cardboard box and lightbulb to shame!!! Richard Raffan makes, and demonstrates, a tapered sanding drum for his lathe. Pretty neat idea- New Turning Items- Sam Angelo puts the Mike Mahoney hollowing rig through its paces and critiques the results. The link to where it can be purchased- https://carterandsontoolworks.com/collections/mahoney-hollowing/products/mahoney-hollowing-kit Craft Supplies USA critiques the new Robust turning tools in this video Everything Else- Safe turning
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Well another election is in the books. I, for one, will be glad to return to commercials for Ozempic and Liberty Mutual car insurance. Our Patriot Turners- @RustyFN picked up some great looking Sycamore logs- He received lots of comments on the popularity of Sycamore for turning. Check out the comments at- Rust also made a super score at his local Woodcraft store. Our resident Ring Master turner, @Headhunter, posted some awesome bowls he has completed! Head on over to Tony's post and see more images and the comments from our gang- @Fred W. Hargis Jr was perusing some of our older topics and posted an observation about a commonly turned wood- @DAB turned a nice little bowl from a wood I had never heard of- Ohia. I found this from an Internet search- https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/forestry/plants/ohia-lehua/ He has some interesting stuff he is thinking about storing in this one! @forty_caliber has several serious hobbies along with turning. It's fantastic when you can meld them together. In this post from "What's Off Yor Lathe...", Monty turned an adapter to help build his short wave radio antenna farm. Also, in the "OFF" topic is a really nice bowl posted by @user74- The new items start here- What’s Coming Up- Click on the images for links to more information and registration For The Newbies- Safety video from Craft Supplies USA. PSA- not just for Newbies!! With Christmas coming, a gift idea from Alan Stratton @Steve Krumanaker Practice your spindle turning and a little hollowing with this item from Mike Waldt Expand Your Horizons- The "4 Ways" collaboration is back! A winged box!! A neat project for the seamstress in your life from Carl Jacobson- New Turning Items- I think we posted this before from another source. Here is Tim Yoder's assessment of the Tru-Arc tool Everything Else- Safe turning
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Summer ain't over yet- 94° and heat index a little over 100! Our Patriot Turners- New member @Gordon posted a scary image of a bowl he was turning. Fortunately, the bowl was the only casualty. Check out Gordon's post for more about what happened- @kreisdorph and @User74 added to our "What's Off Your Lathe..." You can catch up on all the images and comments starting here- @AndrewB continues to revamp his shop. He is currently working on his sharpening station. Read more here- @Masonsailor was back at his lathe to finish up his door project. Checkout his post to see what he has made! What’s Coming Up- @Gerald was lucky enough to be able to attend SWAT last week. For those of us stuck at home, Cindy Drozda gave us a video walk about- Cindy is also hosting a Live Tool Talk on Friday August 30- Registration is here- https://streamyard.com/watch/3Ajs9A8vghKr For The Newbies- Considering getting into bowl turning? A very informative video from Craft Supplies USA- Expand Your Horizons- Mike Peace shows us how to turn a Hair Stick- Alan Stratton is still turning out spheres- New Turning Items- There were some new items presented at SWAT. In Cindy's video tour, she gives us a glimpse of some of the items. Everything Else- I hardly every remove my chuck from the lathe. The EWT chuck jaw changes are so fast and no screws to drop. But when I needed to use a sanding pad, the Jacobs chuck require the EWT chuck removal. Enter Rube Goldberg- I wore out one of those angle drill/sanders from Woodturners Wonders. Removed the small chuck from it and made tis jig.- Sanding while the chuck is still in place! I mentioned my brother had back surgery. I've started making a cane. I found a "how-to" by "mmh". Some of you may remember her from "that other" woodworking site where she posted her custom canes. Her how- gave lots of tips and much needed assembly techniques. I got the shaft turned and rough sanded today- The taper is 5/8" over 32" length I discovered my LED, ala Alan Stratton steady rest wouldn't adjust small enough for the small end of the shaft. Had to fall back on my original steady. The old steady had inline skate wheels and the rubber has dried and fallen off, but it worked. Next up will be to form the handle. Finally, from Ron Brown's newsletter- The Argument For Carbide-Tipped Tools I met Craig Jackson around 2008 in Gainesville Georgia at a turning symposium. He was in the very early stages of introducing Easy Wood Tools with their carbide-tipped cutters. Craig is the founder and original owner, he is the “Father” of this category of turning tools. Others made similar tools but they never really caught on. Craig was finally able to make carbide-tipped tools a mainstream product. I got to know Craig over those 4 days and I let him know in no uncertain terms that I thought he was ruining woodturning by promoting scraping tools over traditional high-speed-steel tools that cut wood fibers rather than tear them savagely. We agreed to disagree. Over the next few years, I made a discovery and went from a strong detractor to a strong supporter of carbide-tipped turning tools. There is a fundamental truth that applies to everything in life. If something seems easy people will try it. If it looks difficult, they are less likely to begin at all. Using carbide-tipped scraping tools is easy. Just grab one and go. You don’t have to own a low-speed grinder and an expensive sharpening jig, or take the time to learn how to use it all. You don’t have to know different grinds or the difference between a bowl gouge and a spindle gouge. You don’t have to know about sharpening at all. Craig’s success ultimately led to many more folks being willing to get started in wood-turning because it was so easy. What if it took longer and didn’t give as good a surface finish? They could still turn beautiful pens, pepper mills, bottle stoppers, turned-lidded boxes, bowls, and anything else one can make on a lathe. They were tuners just like everyone else. Many of the folks who started with carbide-tipped tools later went on to acquire High-Speed-Steel tools and the associated sharpening station after all. But if they had not first begun the easy way with carbide-tipped tools and got hooked on turning, they would never have made it to this level. Rather than ruin a whole generation of woodturners, Craig Jackson’s Easy Wood Tools actually increased the number of turners adopting woodturning as a hobby. I saw Craig a few years after our first meeting and apologized for my lack of vision. I thanked him for expanding our membership in the woodturning fraternity. Craig eventually sold Easy Wood Tools and went back to being an expert machinist. Thanks, Craig! My advice is don’t hesitate to start someone out with an inexpensive set of carbide-tipped turning tools. HSS tools can come later. Make it as easy and affordable as possible for them to get started in turning wood. It may well lead to a lifetime of joy in the workshop. I see turning clubs offer free pen turning at public events and they almost universally offer a radiused square carbide-tipped tool to each total novice. And they get excellent results indeed! Safe turning
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Congrats to all of those who participated in this summer's annual fund raiser. Thanks for the donations and the help in keeping our site alive. As @Gerald pointed out last week, we are in the summer doldrums. Not much turning taking place. This week's post is all about videos. Hope you find something interesting among them. Our Patriot Turners- What’s Coming Up- Something from Todd Raines- Click on the image for the link to registration. For The Newbies- A bandsaw is probably the turners second most used power machine. Kent Weakley offers this video for Bandsaw safety. As turners, we typically reach for the "old standby" tool for a specific task. Turning a spindle? Spindle gouge. A bowl? Bowl gouge. Here are videos that use some not so typical tools for turning- Richard Raffan- Craft Supplies USA- Expand Your Horizons- August brings another installment of the "4 Ways" series. This month the topic is turning a wheel. From Tim Yoder- A short video on using colors to enhance your turnings- New Turning Items- From Mike Peace, a 6Pc M2 Cryo HSS Woodturning Tool Set Review- Everything Else- From Ron Brown's Newsletter- In A World Full Of Problems, Be The Solution- There is plenty to complain about every day. I am issuing a 7-day challenge: every day for the next 7 days address a problem that has been bothering you and implement a solution. Here are some common challenges that every woodturner faces. I bet you can think of plenty non-turning problems you can fix too. 1) If you are having difficulty because your tools need sharpening and you are not very good at sharpening them yourself, find someone to teach you how to sharpen them properly. If you need a sharpening jig, buy one and learn how to use it. 2) If you always get catches with a skew chisel, watch some YouTube videos or spend a minute with someone who knows how this tool works. Then practice until you can show someone else without getting catches. 3) You always get torn grain on the inside of a bowl and sanding to remove them takes forever. Watch some videos on shear scraping and practice until you can sand the surface beginning with 180-220 grit. You might have to learn to use a negative rake scraper to get the results you expect. 4) You would turn more but the wood is too expensive. Visit the owners of a tree service company and make a deal to get free green wood in exchange for a few salad bowls. This is a perfect solution when you have more time than money. 5) Your shop has so much sawdust that you can’t walk. Take time to sweep up the shavings and save them for your flowerbeds. Be careful with each dustpan full, there might be long-lost treasures (spur drives, sockets, T-handle Allen wrenches, scroll chuck jaws and/or screws!) 6) Your scroll chuck is hard to operate, open, or close. Take time to disassemble and clean your chucks and jaws. Re-oil and reassemble. 7) The banjo sticks and is difficult to move. Clean and wax the bed ways often. I prefer ceramic car polish. Turning green wood coats them with a lot of moisture. You might have to do this every day or two if you turn a lot of wet stuff. 8) Your tools stick and don’t slide on the tool rest anymore. Dress the top of the toolrest with a file to remove the nicks. This is basic maintenance. 9) Turned-lidded boxes are always a crowd favorite with threads or without. You can use exotic timber, branchwood, glued-up blanks, or domestic timber, they all look marvelous. Practice until you can get a suction-fit lid or, if you are up for the challenge, learn to hand-chase the threads. 10) If nobody participates in show-and-tell at your turning club, bring extra things yourself. If you have trouble getting guest presenters, volunteer yourself. These are obvious issues, but the point is that someone has to do something, it might as well be you. Safe turning
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Tomorrow is the 80th anniversary of D-Day. There are so few of the brave men and women who served in World War II left to honor their sacrifices to keep our country free. The Greatest Generation is almost gone. Our Patriot Turners- @StaticLV2 posed a question to our members concerning turning if you are a "Lefty". Specifically, dealing with hollowing out the bowl's inside. If you van help him, please see his post and provide some input- @Masonsailor has been building doors for a while. Paul got a chance to sneak over to his lathe to turn several of these door related items. Check out his post for the details! @Fred W. Hargis Jr posted his turned box for use to drool over. First partially finished and then completely finished- More information and descriptions at- And @Gerald finished up his work on an urn for his daughter-in-law's father. It is a beautifully done piece and a fitting resting place for a loved one. Gerald's post includes some process images and description of what he has done- A week or so ago, @RustyFN showed us some turned lidded boxes he made from boxwood. Rusty's friend does chip carving and he embellished the two boxes with amazing work- Check out Rusty's post to see the complete series of pictures from start to finish- Once again, our turners have come through with an amazing collection of work for our "ON/OFF" the lathe posts! Thank You!!! From "ON"- @Gerald and @calabrese55 worked on hollow vessels- Lots of great comments. Pick up where we left off last week at- And from "OFF"- @StaticLV2 and @kreisdorph created some amazing work segments and bowls- Here's the link to catchup with all the action- What’s Coming Up- https://www.neowta.com/press/kirk-deheer-demonstration-and-classes/ For The Newbies- Popular Woodworking made available several turning articles. https://www.popularwoodworking.com/projects/turn-your-first-bowl/?oly_enc_id=7454G3912223B7R https://www.popularwoodworking.com/tools/carbide-tools-unlocking-woodturning-potential/?oly_enc_id=7454G3912223B7R https://www.popularwoodworking.com/tools/the-woodturning-scraper/?oly_enc_id=7454G3912223B7R Expand Your Horizons- Craft Supplies USA has a nice tutorial for turning a utility box- It is just after the first of the month and the "4 Ways" collaboration videos were posted. This project was a little different as each turner made their own favorite project. Mike Peace- Richard Raffan- Sam Angelo- And Tomislav Tomasic- New Turning Items- Not new but I use this bandsaw blade for resawing inserts for my rolling pins. Thought maybe some of the other turners here may do similar cutting- https://www.highlandwoodworking.com/wood-slicer-resaw-bandsaw-blades.aspx?utm_source=Advertiser+Promotion&utm_content=FW+Dedicated+Offers&utm_medium=Advertiser+Promotion Also, last week we posted a new jig from Ron Brown's Best. @HandyDan noticed that one of Ron Brown's jigs was a hollowing stabilizer. Dan said he was unfamiliar with the tool. This is a simple design and has limited depth capabilities compared to the ones used by Tim Yoder or Lyle Jamieson Everything Else- Safe turning
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Looks like a thunderstorm brewing off to the west. Garden could use a little water. Our Patriot Turners- @Headhunter posted a couple of beautiful segmented bowls he created using a Ringmaster! These became gifts for friends. He tells us more about them in this post- Our What's ON/OFF Your Lathe again had some gorgeous content! From "ON"- @kreisdorph worked with several different species of wood to produce these lovely pieces- New items start here- And from What's OFF Your Lathe- @kreisdorph and @User74 showed us what they are doing! You can catch up and see more images here- What’s Coming Up- Just a reminder that this Friday, May 24, Cindy Drozda and Todd Raines are having a free Sharing Q&A Session on Zoom. Here are 2 links for signing up for the Zoom meeting. https://www.cindydrozda.com/html/Signup.html https://woodturningtoolstore.com/event/sharing-session-free-and-live-on-zoom-4/ If you don't have Zoom on your computer/phone, here's the link for the free download- https://zoom.us/download For The Newbies- Mentioned before that Sam Angelo has started a new YouTube channel to assist the new turner. This video compares and contrasts the spindle and bowl gouges. New turners are often confused why/where to use these two gouges. This is the opening lecture from a nine-hour seminar on how woodturning tools work, from Jim Rodgers. Lots of good information on the various HSS materials. Craft Supplies USA has a nice video on chuck maintenance. Although this video is for a specific brand/model, much of the information is common to all scroll chucks. Expand Your Horizons- If you have watched Richard Raffan for any length of time, you've probably noticed most of his turning tools have been resharpened many, many times! Not one to let tings go to waste, Richard repurposes an old spindle gouge. I remember @Gerald using various painting schemes and came across this method of creating a Cosmic Clouds motif with iridescent paints. I think this was done by Tim Yoder- Cosmic Clouds #shorts.mp4 Thinking about working with acrylics? Craft Supplies USA posted a start to finish hybrid handle. Casting and finishing tips included! Last week we posted that Niles Bottle Stoppers had their bronze threaded rings for sale. Carl Jacobson created a very stylish urn using a set of rings- If hand chasing threads is more your thing, Mike Peace recently posted this video creating threads in a piece of Palo Santo Wood, Bulnesia sarmientoi, from Argentina. Finally, the Woodworker's Journal published their Woodturner's Monthly newsletter. Here's the link to the entire newsletter- https://www.woodworkersjournal.com/woodturning-monthly/?utm_medium=email New Turning Items- OK, this is something you can create in your shop. I thought it was pretty neat as I do not have an accurate cross sled for my drill press. What is the vertex#diy #woodworkingtools #woodworking.mp4 Everything Else- A few thoughts from Ron Brown- Sharing Makes You Better Three reasons you will be better: 1) When you explain your process, you must organize your thoughts. You will discover some steps are unnecessary while others need more attention. 2) Your audience usually asks questions that spark new ideas to improve your process and ultimately the result. 3) Explaining how you do it will often uncover why you do it this way. There is always room to be more efficient and you usually discover them by accident often during an explanation. The skills you have learned are a gift and make you who you are. The laws of sowing and reaping are in full effect. The more you share what you have discovered, the deeper your understanding will become. This is true with any skill or knowledge set you have Safe turning
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Please keep @John Morris and his family in your prayers. John lost his Dad this week. Our Patriot Turners- @kreisdorph received a new toy this week- Please avoid drooling on the unpainted surfaces- we don't want no rust! Thanks everyone for the continued support of our 2 running post of "What' On/Off Your Lathe"- ON- @Gerald and @calabrese55 added their projects and some updates Catch up up here- And OFF- @User74, @RustyFN and @kreisdorph posted what they finished- More images and information about each of these projects are at- What’s Coming Up- Click on the following images for links to registration and more information- For The Newbies- Jim Rodgers demonstrates how to make a couple of helpful turning tools to add to your arsenal- Craft Supplies USA posted a nice video using some of their exotic species for making projects. Some good tips on working with exotics. Expand Your Horizons- Mike Peace demonstrates several embellishing tools- Alan Stratton turns some unique flowers for mothers day. Check out the materials he uses for the stigma and stamen! @Gerald's hollow form reminded me of this one turned by Carl Jacobson- New Turning Items- This item has been available from Woodturners Wonders for awhile. Mike shows how to set it up and runs it through its paces. Also from Woodturners Wonders, a sale on Yellowhammer HSS turning tools https://woodturnerswonders.com/collections/yellowhammer?_kx=gV5SF2As_3IwtBi5TrpHVQM0F3UvGVbQKzhWGippDlk.VJvU8R Everything Else- Trying to use up those little pieces of wind shake cherry by making tiny vases for Mimi. I tried pure beeswax on these an buffed them with an old T-shirt but they feel sticky. I think I will burnish them with shavings, again, and see what they look like. I have some Hampshire Sheen wax that might be better. My predicament now is how to reverse chuck them, to finish the bottoms. The entry holes are not identical in diameter. Thinking on making an expandable piece to fit into the holes The piece will need to be adjustable to take care of the minor variations in diameter. Safe turning
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Well, Al Jolson was certainly right about April showers! A little over 3" since Sunday evening and a little more yet to come Our Patriot Turners- Member @calabrese55 posted a great tip for protecting turnings when chucked to a set of Cole jaws. In his post, he shows us how he made these foam protectors. Thanks, Mike, for this great idea! @Fred W. Hargis Jr posted a question about the Easy Wood Tools square cutters. Our members offered lots of great information. Please check it out and share your experiences. ( @Jordan Martindale ) Member @User74 gave us a couple of interesting surveys this past week. Don is interested in our shops and our preferences for turning species. It is really nice to get to know our members on a more personal level. First off, Don inquired about the lathes we are using: LOTS of responses and we learned that @HandyDan wins first prize!! Secondly, he asked what our favorite wood to turn. Again, no one was shy about sharing their picks: We really appreciate having our members getting actively involved in these conversations. Lots of projects finished and OFF the lathe this week! @kreisdorph and @RustyFN gave us a peek at what they were up to The new posts start here- What’s Coming Up- Click on the images for links to registration and more information: For The Newbies- Sam Angelo continues to offer videos for the beginner interested in learning woodturning. This one is about considering grain direction when turning- Well, you found a nice size log along the road and you are thinking about turning it into a bowl(s). A couple of videos to get you started. First from Richard Raffan showing how to break down the log- And from Craft Supplies USA demonstrating the roughing out process- Expand Your Horizons- It is a new month and the 4 Ways collaboration group has posted a new project. Each of the turners creates a version of a mystical goblet. Another turning from the antiquities. From Craft Supplies USA, an artifacts pot. Check out the microwave tip at the end! A neat birdhouse from Carl Jacobson. Maybe @Steve Krumanaker could shape it a little more like a bee hive to add to his product line! New Turning Items- For our Canadian friends, Lee Valley is now carrying some additional Laguna equipment. Check their site at- https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/tools/laguna-tools?utm_campaign=485417_Apr3-ProdFeature-Wood-LagunaLaunch-CA&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Lee Valley&dm_i=6EER,AEJT,12YD53,1HQJS,1 Everything Else- This was originally posted in the Woodturner's Forum. In case you missed it- From Ron Brown's newsletter- Just A Few Things I’d like to talk to you about incrementalism for your turning journey. Let’s assume that you already have the basics; a lathe, chucks, spur centers, faceplate, etc. And that you have at least a basic set of turning tools including a few carbide-tipped tools. Also, that you have at least a basic sharpening station for your High-Speed Steel tools. You’ve made the major capital investment needed. Now let’s suppose you want to turn pens and pencils. You only need a few more things like a pen mandrel to hold the blanks, a drill bit to make the hole for the brass tubing, and bushings to help make the proper sizing easily. You might add a pen press and a drilling fixture if you really decide to make lots of pens, but that’s about it. What about threaded lidded boxes? There are two routes, hand chased threads, and a threading jig. A great set of thread chasers from Robert Sorby including a depth gauge is only $149.94 on Amazon. With that set you’ve expanded your repertoire to small turned lidded boxes, burial urns, hollow forms with threaded lids, etc. You can add different thread pitches for around $100 with the addition of new thread chasers. Threading jigs begin at around $250 and go up to over $500, but there is practically no learning curve and you seldom fail. Let’s say you become fascinated with turning salt and pepper mills. You need a couple of forstner bits and a drill chuck for the tailstock. A drill bit extension for the taller mills is handy along with a couple of mandrels to hold the blank between centers as you shape the body. Pepper Mill kits are inexpensive and now you have added salt and pepper mills to your arsenal for about $100. And my latest favorite, Bowls From A Board. For under $150 you can add a basic system to your collection and open a whole new world of fascinating possibilities limited only by your imagination. Think segmented turning with 90% less work. It turns out there are hundreds of YouTube videos on making “bowls from a board” so you are guaranteed a quick start. Turning wood can be daunting because there is so much to learn. Many folks claim this line, “by the yard it’s hard, by the inch it’s a cinch.” I recommend you add one skillset at a time and get the few things needed for that. Pretty soon, you will have to decide which of your passions you want to enjoy next! Safe turning
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Lots happening this past week! Our Patriot Turners- @keith long stopped by to say "Hi". He is busy with life and doing well. He had some questions about lathe parts. Check out his post and see if you can add to what has been said- Keith also had a question about what wood species would be best for making duck calls. If you make them or know what would work best, maybe you could help him out- @kreisdorph resurrected an older post about bowl drying. He added some great additional information. Check out the entire thread here- Kent also gave us a nice review on a book for identifying wood species. Thanks!!! @Gerald is recovering from knee surgery and snuck back into the shop to work on some projects. Hope he got back into his recliner before the Mrs. got home See what else he did at- Our "What's On Your Lathe" thread continues to generate awesome projects. @kreisdorph, @teesquare and @RustyFN showed us some fantastic work. Start here to catch up on all the projects- @StaticLV2 continues to work on his segmented turnings He posted this one in the "What's On Your Weekend Agenda" And, from our "OFF The Lathe and Finished' thread- @kreisdorph and @RustyFN posted some gorgeous turnings. Catch up with all these items here- What’s Coming Up- Click on the images for links to registration and more information- For The Newbies- Ask ten turners what is the best finish and you will likely get at least 15 different answers. One finish that often mentioned is shellac. This video from Kent Weakley explains why shellac is appropriate. This is the link to his article on shellac and how to mix it- https://turnawoodbowl.com/make-shellac-wood-bowl-finish/ Turned wooden boxes make nice gifts. Sam Angelo demonstrates turning one from start to finish. Looks like Sam needs to turn the heat up in his shop. I don't endorse wearing gloves, but that's just me. Craft Supplies USA has a step by step video on turning a pepper mill. Expand Your Horizons- Richard Raffan demonstrates turning one of his signature scoops. Awesome skew work and check out the shop made, lathe mounted sanding disc. Lyle Jamieson provides tip for preventing vibration when turning finials New Turning Items- Ron Brown has a new parting tool to use with his "Bowl From A Board" jig- Everything Else- This past week, in another Patriot forum, there has been a very informative discussion on liability for the stuff we make. This video, from Alan Stratton, addresses some of the regulations for a specific item. Safe turning
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Looks like things are picking up, now that the holidays are over. Let's get to this! Our Patriot Turners- @RustyFN is participating in his turning club's annual contest. He has posted a couple of images as he begins to create his entry. Rusty has more in his post at- @forty_caliber gave us a look at another one of his Hays County pecan bowls- Monty supplied some additional information about his drying process- There have been a couple of new entries on our "What's On Your Lathe" continuing thread. @calabrese55 added some process images of this - Also posted was a red oak platter- Check out all the comments starting at- @Gerald is making a design change on his little spinning tops. I really like the new design and the colors he uses. In his post, Gerald added a picture of his previous design for comparison- What’s Coming Up- Click on the images for more information and registration- Todd Raines continues his presentation on the spindle gouge- If you missed Cindy Drozda's live tool talk last week, here's the YouTube video- Also from Cindy- For The Newbies- The skew chisel is a powerful tool, once you have mastered it. Richard Raffan shows us how that done- Mr. Raffan goes further, in this video, demonstrating using the skew to turn finials- There are several ways to chuck mount a bowl. Two of the more popular ways are the Mortise and Tenon. I typically use the mortise because it allows me to finish the bowl bottom with my preferred method. The mortise, however, is not without pitfalls as Kent Weakley points out- Jim Rodgers demonstrates how to make a bottle stopper. Unlike the metal stopper kits, Mr. Rodgers uses corks to seal the bottle. Also check out the home made mandrel at the end of the video- Tim Yoder offers up a short video on turning a curve Although a chuck is a really nice piece of equipment to own, especially when making small items. Lyle Jamieson shows us the chuck is not the only way to to accomplish it. Expand Your Horizons- If you are ready to move up to bowl turning, Craft Supplies USA has a nice video illustrating the process step by step. The bowl blank in this demonstration was partially dried commercially- Never too early to start those ornaments for next Christmas! Here Alan Stratton creates an 8 point, 3 axis item! @Steve Krumanaker turns items for artisans in his area. Recently he started making "drop spindles" for a craftsperson who works with wool. I thought this might be another thing Steve could use as a money maker From Woodworker's Journal, a Three Winged Jewelry box. The how-to article is at- https://www.woodworkersjournal.com/project-three-winged-jewelry-box/ Check out what Tim Yoder does with a small 3 branch crotch piece- New Turning Items- A sale on Woodturners Wonders LED lights https://woodturnerswonders.com/ Everything Else- From Ron Brown's newsletter- You Are Called To Be A Mentor You have to know something about your subject. First-hand experience is helpful. If you can explain What, How, and Why so a 5th grader can understand it, you will be a good mentor. It only takes a very small portion of your time (15 minutes to 1 hour) here and there to show individuals or groups of folks what you are talking about. You might need to take an occasional phone call to clear up misunderstandings. In this day and age, you might need to answer a text message or send a YouTube link addressing the issue. Unless you are a paid demonstrator, you must accept that you most probably will receive nothing material in return from those you help so unselfishly. Some won’t even say thank you and some will argue that you are wrong. A few of the people you help will go on to accomplish even greater things than you did. Some of the students will indeed go on to become the teachers. You need to accept and appreciate that others gave of themselves to help you achieve the things you know. Even if you learned most of what you know by yourself (so-called self-taught), chances are that you watched YouTube videos, attended a trade show demonstration, or a club demonstration. Perhaps you were just a member of the crowd and not in a one-on-one situation. Someone took their time to show you something you didn’t know in a way that helped you be more successful. Sometimes folks will want to be paid for their advice. They are still exercising mentorship. I was very fortunate during my early turning career to encounter some very talented and generous mentors; Nick Cook was the very first and Don Russell gave of his time and energy unselfishly on numerous occasions. I hosted Chris Stott from England for a full week! That turned out to be a magnificent chapter in my turning career. Kirk Deheer of Craft Supplies in Utah gently guided me over a period of several years and I will be ever grateful for his wisdom. Mike Mahony offered guidance and freely answered my list of 20 questions over dinner many years ago. Others have given their time and energy and are wonderful examples of mentorship even when they didn’t realize it. Of course, it required me to put their advice into practice to make it my own, but, as they say, the way you get to Carnegie Hall is practice, practice, practice. A mentor simply guides someone willing to learn. It is really that simple and anyone can and should do it when given the opportunity. Safe turning
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Welcome to 2024! Our Patriot Turners- We've had some activity on our continuing thread of "What's On Your Lathe"- @forty_caliber is whittling away at his stash of pecan. In his post, he tells us a little more about the source of the wood- What’s Coming Up- Click on the images for links to more information and registration- Cindy Drozda's Live Tool Talk covering the the Arc and Sweep tools as negative rake scrapers that refine and smooth the surface to eliminate a lot of sanding. The Southwest Wood Art Expo- For The Newbies- Lyle Jamieson has a short video explaining reverse chucking methods- Lyle also has a nice little video explaining the importance of the tool rest height- Ever wonder why some lathe tools have really long handles? Tim Yoder can help, with that! Expand Your Horizons- It's just past the first of the month and the "4 Ways" videos have been posted. Not sure if these will continue but I find it interesting to see the different ways a single concept can be approached. Tomislav Tomasic- Mike Peace- Richard Raffan- Sam Angelo- I was looking at some of the social media sites for woodturners. Just trying to get ideas for something different to try. There was an interesting twist on a bowl posted and there were questions about how it was created. Following several links, I finally found this video by the fellow who has made "Wave Bowls" his passion. You all know my passion for jigs so this might just be my next attempt! The video is long but very detailed so every step is explained- New Turning Items- A couple of new things. From Craft Supplies USA, some new finishing/polishing products mainly focused at acrylics- From Woodturners Wonders, new sharpening products that mimic the actions of the Tormek system but work with the Wolverine system. https://woodturnerswonders.com/collections/tormek-style-wheels-and-accessories Everything Else- Things have been busy over the holidays, got to the lathe the other afternoon and roughed out 3 small sycamore bowls. The oak platters have just about finished losing weight in the drying box. One of them will probably not see the lathe. A bark inclusion was worse than I thought and opened up. Might be able to use a couple of dutchmen to keep it together, or maybe some epoxy? After roughing the sycamore, those bowls went into the soap/water soak for 3 days. Pulled them out today, weighed them and placed them in the drying box. What they look like straight out of the soak, pretty gnarly- Rinsed off and in the drying box- Not sure how long it will take to reach equilibrium. These are pretty small 5-6" diameter. Probably one to two weeks. Safe turning
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Thanks, Mike, for reminding us of how we have the freedoms we enjoy today- Our Patriot Turners- @Roy gave us an update on how his sphere jig is working. In his post he explains the significance of the choice of spheres. I can't imagine how he did the glue-up! @forty_caliber posted another beautiful bowl he turned from pecan He answers questions about the awesome center medallion he uses to sign his work- check this post @Gerald gave us a look at his setup for turning spoons without the aid of special jigs- He received lots of comments about his setup- Gerald also posted some of the ornaments he turned using an idea from last week's "4 Ways" Here's more from Gerald- Gerald's post got me thinking about some of the ornaments our members turned in years gone by. We had links to lots of design for ideas. Thought it would be nice to bring back some of them to stir your imaginations- https://www.woodcraft.com/blog_entries/turn-a-terrific-tree-ornament http://www.crwoodturner.com/files/how-to/ornaments.pdf http://kurthertzog.com/articles/creatingshellornamentsrev3red.pdf https://blog.woodturnerscatalog.com/2012/12/turning-a-snowman-box/ What’s Coming Up- https://community.woodturner.org/events/event-description?CalendarEventKey=a2728bff-a39d-4375-adee-018b90a311c9&Home=%2fevents%2fird-demonstrations&_zs=ceDib&_zl=rpKp3 For The Newbies- Thinking about turning duplicate parts? The December/January 2024 issue of Woodcraft Magazine's "Top Tip" in Tips & Tricks (pp 16) has a really neat lathe duplication jig. It uses your own turning tools and all the parts can be located at the Borgs. Check it out!! Expand Your Horizons- Craft Supplies USA posted a video on using CA glue as a finish. Another option for finishing some of your turnings- A nice pendant turning article from the AAW- https://www.woodturner.org/Woodturner/Resources/AmericanWoodturner/Articles-of-the-Week/2023/Tapered_Pendants.aspx?fbclid=IwAR3-6_s7nGVLEWvSgj9xpaXmybwFANI6UeAqDATbON-6HZpEGIrlh_En8io New Turning Items- Couldn't find anything special but remember Woodturners Wonders is running a daily sale- see last weeks "Wednesday's" for the list. Everything Else- I finished up the height adjust table to help accurately focus my engraving laser. It does work. Had to add up/down arrows to the adjustment knob after the pictures were taken. Finished table- Laser setup. The drill press table adjustment crank handle is visible back behind the orange laser safety shield. Very difficult to access to make focus adjustments. In action- Last week, at the local turner's club, one member demonstrated making a Christmas tree from a fresh cut limb. Thought I'd give it a try. Took longer to do the star than to turn the tree. Turned completely with Easy Wood Tools- except the star which was formed from a ball integral to the top of the tree. Cut out with a sharp utility knife. Star has gold leaf. Gonna leave the tree natural. Sort of a "primitive" item. From Ron Brown's newsletter- Curiosity As a child, whenever my mother gave me a new toy, it always came with the strong admonition “Don’t take it apart.” I’ve always had an intense curiosity for how things work, and how they do what they do. I had to see inside to understand them. So, I took them apart. I’ve been like that for as long as I can remember. In high school, I excelled in my field of study not because I was a good student, but because I needed to know what they were talking about to satisfy my curiosity. I went to work with the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe railroad at the age of 19 as a long-haul brakeman. I had endless hours sitting on a caboose, so I read Popular Science and Popular Mechanics magazines from front to back two or three times. Then I graduated to Family Handyman Encyclopedias, every volume, every page from cover to cover to satisfy my curiosity. Every new field I’ve entered is the same way; intense curiosity drives me to learn everything possible. Not because I want to be the best, but because I need to know everything there is to know to satisfy my curiosity. Enter the world of turning wood. There are so many different facets to learn that it seems almost endless and I love it! This is one field that I will never completely understand and that is why I’ve stuck with it for so many years. I would encourage you to venture out of your specialty and explore something you think you might not like or might be beyond your capability. I promise you will be surprised. Here are some areas to explore: • Bowls, Plates, and Platters o Kiln-dried wood, green wood, hybrid resin and wood, glued-up full-thickness blanks, segmented glue-ups, bowls from one flat board, bowls with defects left in, natural edge bowls, end-grain blanks, blanks from root balls, blanks from crotches, exotic species from far away countries, construction grade lumber, laminated beams, from tiny to enormous, just to name a few. • Hollow Forms o Tall and narrow, short and wide, small requiring special shop-made tools, large in diameter requiring captive hollowing rigs or specialty hollowing tools, vessels with openings so small that you have to hollow through the bottom, impossible hollow forms requiring trickery such as invisible glue lines to hide your methods, dyed and tinted finishes, hollow forms with lots of carving and texturing, you get the idea. • Spindles o Furniture legs and parts, wands and canes, pepper mills, fancy finials, mallets, gavels, gnomes, kitchen utensils, turned-lidded boxes, tool handles, lamps, Christmas ornaments, inside-out two-step globes, spheres, items with hand-chased threads or threads from a threading jig, baseball bats, I could go on. That should keep you busy for a while. Just when you were getting comfortable you discover there is so much more left to explore. You will never run out of new things to try. Every time I turn around, I find new challenges to solve and that is what keeps me fresh and drives me to invent and explore every new day God gives me to serve my fellow men and women. Thanks for your support and encouragement. Safe turning
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Missed last weeks post so this one will be have a little extra. Our Patriot Turners- @nevinc posted a couple of projects he has been working on. First, a neat little table item that would be useful in any kitchen- Nevin combined woodworking and turning to complete the project- He also posted a question and his method of storing sawdust from various species of wood he uses as fillers. He was wondering what storage method the rest of us use for storage. Check out his post and let him know your method- And, Nevin showed us some beautiful walnut bowls he had finished- He received lots of positive comments in his post- @Steve Krumanaker has been busy fulfilling orders to some of the artisans in his area. He has been working with one who sells "Bee Products" for whom he make honey dipper lids. Steve posted a couple of short videos on how he has upgraded his manufacturing process. Steve is also making drop spindles for another craftsperson. These are used in the process of turning wool into yarn. He developed a neat jig to create shop made dowels for part of the pieces. In this post, he explains why he made the parts instead of buying them- @Gerald added a project to our "Off The Lathe And Finished" thread. These beautiful ornaments got lots of great comments and a couple of questions as well. Head on over to the thread and check out more on these- Gerald was also kind enough to provide links to videos on sharpening. I must apologize for not recording who asked the question on sharpening. Gerald had entered the AAW August Turning Challenge and provided us with the link to the voting and winners- https://www.aawforum.org/community/threads/august-2023-turning-challenge-final-results.21511/ @KevTN Asked for help identifying a specific pattern for the rim of a platter. Our turners had several suggestions. If you can identify this patter, please help out Kevin- @RustyFN has a gorgeous spalted bowl on his lathe! What’s Coming Up- Cindy Drozda is live tomorrow- Thursday, October 12 at 2pm EDT. She will be discussing how do you protect your eyes, ears, and lungs in the workshop. For registration, follow this link- https://streamyard.com/watch/PsF54zh7XSVb For The Newbies- Kent Weakly's video on what tools are not suitable for bowl turning- Carl Jacobson makes an oak lidded box. Notice that Carl uses both traditional and carbide tools to complete the project- A simple bowl turning to use as a succulent planter from Craft Supplies USA From Tim Yoder on choosing your sandpaper Richard Raffan demonstrates how to make your turned bowls look really top notch by refining the bottom. Expand Your Horizons- Several articles from Kent Weakley on bowl finishes. https://turnawoodbowl.com/my-favorite-food-safe-wood-finish-waterproof-almost/?ck_subscriber_id=1577117793 https://turnawoodbowl.com/make-shellac-wood-bowl-finish/?ck_subscriber_id=1577117793 https://turnawoodbowl.com/spray-lacquer-illustrated-guide-equipment-system-set-up-technique/?ck_subscriber_id=1577117793 Jim Rodgers continues his series on hollowing- Alan Stratton posted this video on YouTube. It reminded me of a similar project that @Gerald had shown us sometime back- The Four Ways videos from the first of the month- Mike Peace- Richard Raffan- Sam Angelo- Tomislav Tomasic- New Turning Items- From Niles Bottle Stoppers- https://nilesbottlestoppers.com/product/cocktail-muddler-set/ From Woodturners Wonders- Diamond wheels for both bench grinders and Tormek grinders- https://woodturnerswonders.com/collections/diamond-wheels?_kx=gV5SF2As_3IwtBi5TrpHVQM0F3UvGVbQKzhWGippDlk%3D.VJvU8R Everything Else- From Ron Brown's Newsletter- When you share the joys of your craft with someone who has never seen shavings fly off a fresh bowl blank or get to watch a spinning top appear in just a few minutes, you might change their world. A small pebble can create a world of ripples. Members of our woodworking club have attended county fairs, woodworking shows, and symposiums which always included live demonstrations. Why? Most people can’t visualize what we do. I’ve seen people become fascinated with turning after they made a simple maple or oak pen at one of these events. I’ve seen their entire family get interested and turning became their family hobby. They’ve planned family trips around turning shows and symposiums along with week-long hands-on learning at folk schools. I’ve witnessed folks buying their first mini lathe and accessories then go on to develop a lifelong passion for the smell of freshly milled lumber and the shavings from another bowl blank. The benefit to you of doing something like that is they bring their non-turning skill sets from their regular jobs, i.e. management, leadership, and organizational skills. Many have become club officers including President. One such fellow served three terms and on a personal note, became my dentist until he retired. We’ve seen lawyers, engineers, business executives, moms, teenagers, pastors, and doctors get the turning bug all because they saw a turning demonstration at a craft fair or other public event. I’ve told the story many times of how I attended a two-hour club demonstration in a cold dark basement one Saturday between Christmas and the New Year. Nick Cook made a top, a garden dibble, a honey dipper, a toothpick holder, and a mahogany plate plus some other things I don’t remember. One couple thought that was terrific and booked a day's instruction with Nick. Then they started a turning club, then I attended, then I got hooked. Now I make a great living inventing and offering turning accessories to the turning community worldwide. During the thirteen years I was on the Woodworking Show Circuit, I was able to demonstrate turning in front of over a million people. That’s a pretty good ripple! Thank you, Nick Cook. In order to cause the ripple, you have to toss the stone in the first place. I would encourage you to invite someone to a club meeting or over to your shop for an hour or two for coffee and to make some shavings. You never know how big that ripple might become Safe turning
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ONE DAY LEEFT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Our Patriot Turners- @Gerald started a new topic for our turners! I hope we can make this one as popular as the one @RustyFN started for showing what's on our lathes! So far we've had two members add items. Let's make this topic sail to the "Most Posts" list! Our other continuing topic of "What's On Your Lathe" also had activity! @RustyFN and @forty_caliber both added some of what they are working on! Check out this post for more images! @forty_caliber also posted a nice little "catch-all" bowl. I think these bowls are so useful. Not too large to take up a lot of space but large enough to hold most small items. Great for pocket dumps! See more images here- What’s Coming Up- Click on the images for links to more information and registration Well, it happened last week, but if you missed it, Cindy has posted the video- For The Newbies- How fast should I turn is a question we often hear. There really isn't a hard and fast rule. Ron Brown has some thoughts in this video "short"- Mortice or tenon to attach the bowl to the lathe. Ask 10 woodturners and you'll probably get at least 15 different answers. My personal choice in a recess and use it to incorporate the foot. Here's what Kent Weakley thinks about it- Of course, if you don't have a chuck, there are other ways to attach a bowl blank to the lathe. Sam Angelo shares his thoughts on some methods of securing that blank- Expand Your Horizons- It's just past the first of the month and the videos from "4 Ways" is available. This month Richard Raffan, Tomislav Tomasic, Sam Angelo and Mike peace each turn their version of a natural edge bowl. Tim Yoder turns a beautiful Flame Elder platter. He eve uses some of his Easy Wood Tools in the process! It is not too soon to start thinking about making Christmas ornaments. Alan Stratton creates one that is out of this world! Craft Supplies USA has an idea for something that the ladies in your life might enjoy- New Turning Items- Ron Brown has a new Ladle Chuck System- Safe turning
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Just 2 weeks left is our fundraising drive. Please consider donating and taking a chance on wining one of our sponsors' awesome prizes! Our Patriot Turners- @Steve Krumanaker continues to supply his unique turnings for a local "Bee" business- Steve's post has more images of some of the custom things he makes! @RustyFN scored some Bradford pear and showed us his blank preparation. Looks like some awesome bowls in his future Check out Rust's post- @Gerald has been busy replenishing his craft show stock- Check out his post to see what these are! @PostalTom updated us on the chess set he made. Tom included a closeup of the turned chess pieces, in his post Tom also posted some kitchen utensil items in our "What's On Your Workbench" forum- Our "What's On Your Lathe" continues to showcase our turners' projects! @nevinc, @forty_caliber and @Gerald all shared images of what's happening What’s Coming Up- Click on the images for links- For The Newbies- A variety of topics from around the web- From Tim Yoder, a couple of short video tips- From Mike Waldt, help for using my old nemesis- the Skew! This is a live demo so it is really long- Have you ever tried to cut a round blank on the bandsaw? Not a bowl blank, but rather an end off of a cylinder shape. If not secured properly, the blade can grab the piece and even break the blade. Mike Peace cautions about this and shares a video on making it safer. Expand Your Horizons- Craft Supplies USA created a video demonstrating the use of the Easy Core One Way Coring System. This is a rather long video but does demonstrate using the system. In the description, the presentation is broken down so the viewer can select sections to view. We've noticed several discussions about finishing, on other Patriot forums, and the subject of shellac pops up frequently. This link, from Kent Weakley, is to an article on making and using shellac as a bowl finish. https://turnawoodbowl.com/make-shellac-wood-bowl-finish/ I think everyone here knows my love of carbide turning tools. @smitty10101 posted about using Easy Wood Tools ( @Jordan Martindale ) to turn a bowl. The video is from Craft Supplies USA New Turning Items- Ron Brown has been creating and posting videos, on his YouTube channel, discussing his hollowing stabilizer. You can check them out at- https://www.youtube.com/@Ronbrownsbest/videos With SWAT happening this weekend, there will probably be some new products shown. Be sure to check out the Vendor showcase listed above for live feeds of some of the products. Everything Else- From Ron Brown's Newsletter, something I think we all have struggled with from time to time- What Is It Worth? I’ve had lots of questions about pricing one or two special pieces. For the vast majority of woodturners, it is a hobby, they never intend to sell anything they make. Some folks are interested in turning as a side gig but have no idea how to price their work. As someone who has experience in just about every conceivable selling venue, I would like to pass along what I have learned. Any object is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. When I’m considering how to price anything I’ve made or plan on making, there is a formula I use: Cost of material + Time @ desired labor rate = Hard Cost Hard Cost X 4 = Suggested Retail Selling Price Hard Cost X 2 = Wholesale Selling Price Average Market Price For Similar Items; Am I Close? This is only a starting point. Determine the “Market Price” for similar items depending on the selling venue, are you in the ballpark? The Market Price in an Arts & Crafts Gallery is very different from the Market Price at a street craft fair and those prices are different on Etsy, eBay, your own website, or Amazon. Don’t forget about the associated cost for each venue. The last measure is a selling price that I feel good about. In other words, it is a Win-Win; the customer is happy at that price and I was happy to make it for them. An absolute fact of life is that everybody loves a bargain. (See the scripture below). Your “Retail Price” should be some amount above the price you hope to sell it for. Every retail store on the planet understands this and so should you. If you are selling one-on-one, you can comfortably offer a deal if they take it now and still earn what you needed in the first place. If you are selling online, this is the perfect scenario for a sale with either free shipping or a percentage discount. You must also consider why you want to sell at least some of your work. Perhaps you want to fund additional tool purchases. In that case, forget the time you put in and consider the amount of profit dollars such a sale will contribute to your “new widget” fund. If the income is important as a supplement to other household income, it needs to be worth your time. If you are thinking of this as a main income stream, you need to maximize the return on your capital and your time and this will require counsel and careful consideration. Try to pick items that are fast, easy, and cheap to make that you can sell tons of i.e. pens, bottle stoppers, pepper mills, spinning tops, utility bowls, cutting boards, kitchen utensils, etc. The bottom line is complicated depending on your specific situation. Only you can make that determination. I recommend setting your initial asking price higher than you think you should. Often someone else thinks your widget is worth more than you do. You can always lower the asking price, but it is difficult to raise it. As I said before, something is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it. Here is a true quick story. I used to sell fancy laser-cut Christmas ornament kits and made finished samples for display at The Woodworking Shows. I got many inquiries from folks wanting to buy the finished ornaments that I really didn’t want to sell. I finally put a price of $150 on each one figuring that would stop all of the questions because nobody would pay that much for a Christmas Ornament. The first year we sold 12! Don’t sell yourself short Safe turning
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Lots happening with our turners this week! Our Patriot Turners- We have a new member at the Patriot who is also a turner! @calabrese55 showed us some of his work when he introduced himself. How about this beautiful segmented turning- Check out his post and give him a Patriot welcome! He also posted another bowl in our "Monday Morning" forum- Check it out here- Our "What's On Your Lathe" was also hot this week. New posts start here- Some of the images from @teesquare, @forty_caliber and @calabrese55 @Steve Krumanaker turned a cane for his daughter and his son cast the knob. Andy his an expert on casting! See the cane and the back story in Steve's post- Our resident ornament expert, @Ron Altier, gave us his impressions on turning bamboo. Ron's conclusions are that's it's probably not the best overall species for turning. In one of our posts, there was a mention of the Lichtenberg burning process. @Gerald was kind enough to do a little research on safety when doing this. The process, when ALL safety precautions are observed, can create beautiful patterns. High voltage is dangerous when we become complacent. My neighbor, the electrical safety training officer in our borough, was electrocuted on the job. Insulation, isolation, incomplete human electrical path and full awareness are a must. This is what Gerald found- What’s Coming Up- Click on the images for links to more information and registration- For The Newbies- Richard Raffan turns a nice little shallow dish in real time. Mike Peace shows how to turn a simple but elegant lidded box. He even makes a special chuck to hold one of the pieces. Holding turnings can be challenge. Home made chucks supplement purchased ones. Sometimes adding modifications to a purchased chuck is the answer as Alan Stratton shows us. Looking for an inexpensive gift? How about salt and pepper SHAKERS. This video from Craft Supplies USA shows us how to make them- Expand Your Horizons- Mike Waldt completes a beautiful elderberry vase- Mike also demonstrates his method of turning finials. This video is from a live feed so it is a little long- New Turning Items- Last week we posted a review from Mike Peace on his new Powermatic 2014 lathe. Mike has a chance to use it and has posted more of his impressions- Ron Brown has release his new lathe mounted disk sander Here's the link to more information- https://www.longworthchuck.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=66&product_id=477 Woodturners Wonders is now a Vicmarc Dealer Check out their complete line- https://woodturnerswonders.com/collections/vicmarc?_kx=gV5SF2As_3IwtBi5TrpHVQM0F3UvGVbQKzhWGippDlk%3D.VJvU8R Some great prices, at Spiracraft, on Easy Wood Tools products @Jordan Martindale ! https://spiracraft.com/?inf_contact_key=d8ae9197ac7a87c978260b58c8e41427 Everything Else- Boy did this bring back memories! Safe turning
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Back from the beach. For those who can relate: Wife and Dog necessities- Navy veteran- Our Patriot Turners- @forty_caliber has been working on some calabash bowls- Love the grain in this one. And another one- Forty also showed us a gorgeous shaving brush turning- @Headhunter posted some more of his beautiful segmented turnings in our Ringmaster subforum- Check out his post for more examples! We've had some more comments in our on-going thread "What's On Your Lathe" and @Gerald posted his cool Dice Cups! I'm gonna have to have him teach me how he gets those spirals/cross hatches so evenly spaced! What’s Coming Up- The AAW symposium starts tomorrow! Check our post from 2 weeks ago for the Virtual Signup. Also, you can see some of the goings-on from Lyle Jamieson (and Mike OB), Joe Fleming, and Cindy Drozda. They will be live at the AAW Trade Show. Tod Raines and Steve Worcester will be at their shops in Texas. They'll all be on the Vendor Showcase Live Stream!! Don't miss it! Friday, June 2nd, 3:30 pm Eastern (19:30 UTC). It's FREE! https://streamyard.com/watch/HPPX7NfwzCzN?fbclid=IwAR1Uyxj3nbHf-v1JR55ZeXuu8ugsGIfV6a8LrVlA4Qd0oa2sZtnE-G7jN4w https://www.youtube.com/@Lyle/streams For The Newbies- Keeping the Morris taper, on your lathe, clean will assure a solid grip. You can purchase a cleaning tool or make one. Jim Rodgers shows us how- Do you use paper towels to apply finish? Tired of cutting them into little square pads? Mike Peace has a solution- Baby rattles are fun to make. This video from Craft Supplies USA gives us step by step instructions and several ideas on different shapes- Expand Your Horizons- In our last post, we listed several videos on making kitchen utensils. Richard Raffan demonstrates how to turn a spatula using my old nemesis, the skew! Mike Waldt turns a beautiful cherry goblet from a log- New Turning Items- Our last post had a review, by Mike Waldt, on the Woodcut Max 4. This is a follow up and Mike answers some questions about the product. Another coring product from Hunter. The Hunter Korpro Cartridge that retrofits onto the existing OneWay™ coring system. https://huntertoolsystems.com/product/coring-cartridge/ This vide, from Mike Peace, shows it in action- The Vendor's Showcase, listed above, may reveal some new items. Check it out! Everything Else- No shop time for me. still trying to catch up with all of the phone message requests while we were away.
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Birds chirping, sun shining, grass is green here in south central PA- probably snow tomorrow! Our Patriot Turners- @jthornton Posted a question about dust collection for his lathe. He posted pictures of his shop along with a description of what he currently has set. Please check his post and see if you can offer any suggestions to help him. JT continues to work on his "Dizzy Bowl". He has taken a lot of time to document the steps a and share the progress with us- You can catch up with his continued progress here- @Masonsailor finished up the bowl that will be the prize in his neighborhood's get-together. Some lucky family will really be happy with this- You can catchup here- "What's On Your Lathe" got a post from @forty_caliber. I think he must have hit the jackpot on Pecan! What’s Coming Up- Click on the images for links to registration and more information- For The Newbies- Ever use CA glue to fix a turning only to find out later that the CA stained the wood? This came in an email from Kent Weakley from Turn A Wood Bowl- Richard Raffan demonstrates how to modify an already turned bowl. Notice the use of the jam chuck which will be talked about more in Cindy Drozda's presentation. Another toothpick holder with a unique shape. Some spindle work and a little hollowing from Carl Jacobson- Expand Your Horizons- Alan Stratton continues to add Celtic Knots to his turnings. This time he experiments with a bowl. Embellishing a turning with color can turn an ordinary piece into something spectacular. This one from Craft Supplies USA on dying- Ebonizing may only be a single color but it can add striking effects to a turning. This article from Fine Woodworking was written more for the woodworker but can easily be "applied" to a turned object- https://www.finewoodworking.com/project-guides/finishing/ebonizing-wood-2 A video for the recipe for the ebonizing solution can be found here- https://www.finewoodworking.com/project-guides/finishing/video-ebonizing-oak-steel-wool-vinegar?oly_enc_id=7454G3912223B7R New Turning Items- Neither of these are really new. But some insights from other turners on equipment and resources. Everything Else- Been finishing up those little natural edge, flowering cherry tree bowls. Pictures to follow...
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Beautiful spring day here in south central PA. Dogwood trees in full bloom. Our Patriot Turners- @Ron Altier posted some images of his Christmas ornaments. One of his pieces was finished with his experiment using epoxy. Ron asked us what we thought about the finish. Please hop on over to his post and let him know what you think- "What's On Your Lathe" continues to show our turner's work. This week, @forty_caliber was working on some bowls- You can catchup here- What’s Coming Up- Click on the image for the links. For The Newbies- Received this information in an email from Kent Weakley- 49-Must-Know-Wood-Bowl-Turning-Terms.pdf Kent is a bowl turner and this video demonstrates making a natural edge bowl- starting with a log through to the finished piece. Mr. Weakley uses traditional turning tools. This video, from Craft Supplies USA, demonstrates turning a bowl using Easy Wood Tools carbide cutters. Lots of great tips for getting the best finish. Expand Your Horizons- Some random ideas to spark your creativity Carl gets "artsy-fartsy" Add marbling effects to a turning- Several of our members do four sided "inside-out" turnings. Alan Stratton made some with three sides- New Turning Items- Ron Brown has a new version of his chatter tool available- https://www.longworthchuck.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=23&product_id=261 Everything Else- Took a couple of days but I finally got this little elm bowl finished. Use the Easy Wood Tools beading cutters (1/4" & 3/16") @Jordan Martindale. Out of the drying box- Finished with Yorkshire Grit And from Ron Brown's newsletter- A journey of 1,000 miles begins with one step. Excellence takes time, patience, and practice. Becoming an excellent craftsman or craftswoman is possible for all of us, but we must remember that improvement comes in small bites. Every time I walk away from the shop, I ask myself what I learned from this session. And there is always something new. It might be small, but it represents one more step in my journey to excellence. “The Expert In Anything Was Once A Beginner” Helen Hayes There is joy, sometimes hidden, in every journey. It is up to you to see and understand it. In a world gone crazy, common sense is still the currency you can count on. Study, practice, and remember. Before you know it, you will have become someone’s expert just like the expert you so admired yesterday. Being in my seventh decade of glorious living, I’m often asked when I plan to retire. My answer is always the same, “This is me retired.” This is what I would be doing if I didn’t have to work at a job. Last week I read about an interview with two sisters, one 106 and the younger one 104 years old. Asked about their secrets for long life, they both agreed on a few things that keep them young; reading, staying active, meeting new people, and learning new things keeps their minds sharp and their attitudes positive. It makes each day worth getting up. You’ve all heard about the “Supply chain issue,” with Asia. We are affected by it along with everyone else. When I have issues importing a popular product, I often figure out how to make it myself right here in Georgia, USA. And while I’m at it, I look at how I can make it better. That is exactly how you got the Longworth Chuck Type 2 and, ultimately, the doughnut ring option. Each product involves new equipment, processes, and materials most of which I have not worked with before. Hence, the joy of the journey. This week, I’m introducing our Chatter Tool Version 2.0 as a replacement for an item I’ve sold many thousands of over the years. Why? Greedy foreign manufacturers forced me to figure out how to make it in my own facility in Georgia. This improved version features an ergonomic vibration-dampening soft grip handle designed to reduce fatigue, and it comes with three blades. As companies fade away and their products become impossible to find, put on your inventor’s hat and figure it out. I know you can do it with a little persistence. Remember that wherever you go, there you are. Safe turning
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Well, a day late. Yesterday got away from me and by the end of the day I was beat. Added stair rails to the deck steps. Mimi has been having difficulty navigating the steps while trying to keep control of the new puppy. First one wasn't as perfect as I would have liked- angles slightly off. Second one went a little better. Apparently my Sketchup drawing was not accurate for the stairs that were already in place. Our Patriot Turners- @Steve Krumanaker gave us an update on the platter he is making. The weave design is coming along nicely- See Steve's post for our turner's comments and more images of the platter- @Ron Altier posted one of his earlier turned ornaments- In his post, Ron explains a little on how this one was made- @RustyFNhas been really busy in his shop turning bowls, plates and refinishing. He posted two of the bowls he made This post has both along with comments from our turners- The plate, Rusty turned, got lots of comments on how perfectly it was centered- Rusty told us this one almost didn't happen! Rusty also decided to refinish a bowl he had turned Part of his finishing process included the use of wax. He explained what he did and what happen. He received lots of advice on finishing in this post- @Bob Hodge showed us some of his Christmas ornaments and shared his thoughts on spindle turning versus bowl turning. His ornaments combine several different materials and ideas- See his post for all of the details- What’s Coming Up- Lyle Jamieson has a couple of IRD's coming up- https://lylejamieson.com/product-category/live-interactive-remote-demonstrations/ Accelevents Small Turning Expo- The link for more information- https://www.accelevents.com/e/mpg-small-turning-expo For The Newbies- From the Woodworker's Journal, the monthly email for woodturners. Check out the t really neat spindle projects included in the publication. The link- https://www.woodworkersjournal.com/woodturning-monthly/?utm_medium=email Expand Your Horizons- Have you tried wet sanding using an abrasive paste? In this video, of an IRD, Mike Peace demonstrates the processes- Watch Richard Raffan turn a sweet little bowl. What we start with and what it turns out to be is can often be quite different- New Turning Items- From Craft Supplies USA, the new digital catalog- https://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/emailsales/oct-6-22.html Not so much new but a few sales currently running- From Carl Jacobson, some Niles bottle stoppers https://nilesbottlestoppers.com/product/whiskey-sample-kit/ If you are looking to upgrade your sharpening system, Woodturners Wonders is having a "Build Your Own" Kodiak sharpening system https://woodturnerswonders.com/collections/kodiak-sharpening-system Everything Else- Rick Turns list of YouTube woodturning videos from last week- Safe turning-
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Last day of August! Where did the summer go?!?!? Our Patriot Turners- Our turners have been busy this week! @Gerald posted about a novel idea for embellishing a turning. He describes the materials he used and how he obtained the neat colorization in his post- @Gunny posted this in the "What's on tour weekend agenda"- Gunny has these down to an art! @forty_caliber finished up a bowl he started a while back. The grain and color in this one is incredible! He explains the name in his post- @RustyFN posted his beautiful Calabash bowl. He received lots of positive comments and @Gerald was kind enough to post a couple of his bowls for comparison. What’s Coming Up- Hold onto your hats- lots coming up in the near future! A bunch from the AAW. Click on the images for links and information. For The Newbies- Jim Rodgers continues his instruction on how/why catches happen. In this one, Jim discusses the scraper- Expand Your Horizons- Mike Waldt turns and embellishes an ash hollow form- ...and a Yew lidded box Seems we have been really concentrating on making scoops. Another idea but quite different than the previous designs- New Turning Items- SWAT was this past weekend. Cindy Drozda took the opportunity to video many of the vendors and their products. She was live on several occasions. She has posted some of the material on her YouTube Channel. The link to her channel- https://www.youtube.com/user/cindydrozda Craft Supplies USA is having a closeout on a bunch of their products. Some good prices! https://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/Sales/20/Closeout?utm_source=csusa&utm_medium=email&utm_content=closeout&utm_campaign=22-08-closeout Woodturners Wonders Weekly sale: https://woodturnerswonders.com/collections/weekly-sale A couple of weeks ago we mentioned the 3M Xtract sand paper. Taylor Toolworks is currently having a sale on the product- https://taytools.com/collections/3m-xtract?afmc=17p&utm_campaign=17p&utm_source=leaddyno&utm_medium=affiliate Everything Else- Rick Morris must be on vacation this week- He didn't post his usual list of turning videos. Tim Yoder is always a lot of fun to watch- I've been kicking this idea around for a while. Usually, when I make a lidded container, I will use contrasting species for the lid and body. Some things like pepper mills are made from a single piece of the same species. Cutting the blank in half and then creating a tenon can cause a noticeable grain mismatch where the cut/tenon is created. I was watching one of Cindy Drozda's live tool talks and she described a technique that minimizes the material loss and grain mismatch. After cutting the blank, it is glued back together with a sacrificial piece between the halves. This sacrificial piece becomes the tenon. My first attempt at this was a miserable failure. The cuts were not clean enough to create a good glue joint. I'm thinking I need a way to ensure the pieces will look seamless when mated together. My next try was a little better. The first thing was to create a sharp cut with no tear out. I forgot to take a picture in my haste but I used a skew chisel to start the separation cut. Then used my freshly sharpened, shop made, thin parting tool. Also cranked the lathe speed way up to part off the pieces- I did not create a tenon. Instead, I decided to turn tight fitting plug that would be used as the lid tenon. Mortice in one end- Fitting the plug Glue the plug into one of the mortices- the lid on this one. Trim the plug so the two halves fit together- Carefully hollow out the insides making certain not to touch the plug mating surfaces. I did not spend a lot of time sanding the inside. My main goal was to see if the plug idea would work. Some sanding on the outside and testing the grain match- Had to play a little to fancy up the very plain shape- I think this will have a much great effect when used on highly figured wood. This was from a very old piece of air dried walnut. Quite brittle. Safe turning
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It's been a slow week here for our turners. However, Easy Wood Tools is helping veterans get started and enjoy the satisfaction of woodturning and dealing with their PTSD. You can help this awesome cause by purchasing T-shirts. Head over to the Easy Wood Tools site and order yours while there is still time- https://www.easywoodtools.com/ Our Patriot Turners- Everyone was busy cleaning their shops What’s Coming Up- Click on the images for links to more information and registration. The mid Atlantic Woodturning Symposium- From Craft Supplies USA- For The Newbies- Scroll chucks are are excellent for holding turnings but they can leave jaw impression marks on your work. In this video, Richard Raffan demonstrates how to almost completely eliminate them- A great video from Jim Rodgers on why catches occur when using gouges- Alan Stratton comes up with yet another method for turning scoops. This is a one piece scoop- Speaking of scoops, here's an old video from Tim Yoder demonstrating how he does it- Expand Your Horizons- How thin do you turn your bowls?? Here, Kent Weakley demonstrate techniques for turning really this bowls- Sometimes the turning we had in our mind isn't quite what comes off the lathe. Here, Tim Yoder makes design modifications on the fly. The results are pretty neat! If you have one of Ruth Niles' Joyner Off Center Jigs You know it can be a little frustrating imagining exactly what the final pattern will look like. In this video, from the AAW, Dawn Petrie-George shows how to create a template to help with this. Speaking of Ruth Niles, Cindy Drozda recently did a live stream on YouTube making bottle stoppers using Ruth's products- New Turning Items- Mike Waldt demonstrates a modular tool rest system. Not sure if this manufacturer is available in the U.S. Here in the U.S., there are several sources of similar products including Nova, Sorby and other woodworking outlets. Not a new item but a sale on sanding supplies from Woodturners Wonders- Check out the deals here- https://woodturnerswonders.com/collections/weekly-sale Everything Else- Rick Turns list of YouTube woodturning videos from last week- Safe turning
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I know, a day late (and a dollar short). Got volunteered to make a set piece for the local community theater group. Rush job. Our Patriot Turners- @Masonsailor posted a new mallet he made for a friend. The unique design is for a specialized function. I really think this one is too pretty to use!! Paul tells us bout the use and the materials used, in his post- Back in May, @Gerald told us about the guest speaker at their club meeting. Jeff Hornung demonstrated how embellishes his bowls/platters with the Sorby Texturing and Spiraling tool. Gerald posted some of his fantastic examples recently. I'd say Gerald payed really close attention to Jeff's demo- What’s Coming Up- Click on the images for more information- Cindy will be on her YouTube channel, too- https://www.youtube.com/user/cindydrozda From Craft Supplies USA The Art of Woodturning has a complete schedule of their events. Links in image- From the AAW- For The Newbies- More from Mike Peace with in-depth explanations of another tool. This time it's the spindle gouge- Expand Your Horizons- Know a fishing enthusiast- Need a new waste basket? Frank Howarth New Turning Items- Not new but now available from Highland Woodworking- they have Record Power Lathes back in stock Click on the above image for the link Everything Else- Rick Turns list of YouTube woodturning videos from last week- Safe turning
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Don't forget, Valentine's Day is on the horizon. Time to start dropping hints for that woodturning item you have been eyeing! Our Patriot Turners- @Gerald turned a replacement bed finial for a friend. He challenged us to see if we can tell his turning from the original- You can provide your guess here- What’s Coming Up- Lots happening as the weather warms and fear of the virus diminishes. Click on the images for links to more information and registration. Cindy Drozda is hosting an on-line event- Lyle Jamieson's latest IRD will be on turning a goblet- Lyle also posted this to his Facebook page concerning in-person symposiums during 2022- The AAW associated "Women In Turning" is presenting Tania Radda- Another AAW associated presentation is- From Craft Supplies USA- For The Newbies- Lyle Jamieson posted this tip on Facebook. Hope you can see the video without a Facebook account- https://fb.watch/b2Ksz13F-V/ If you are just starting out, Jim Rodgers creates some great tool use videos. This one covers the parting tool and fluted spindle gouge. Interested in bowl turning? Ashley Harwood helps understand the tools need. Keep in mind, Ms. Harwood sells tools. If you have been turning for a little while, this shop made sanding station can really be an asset to your shop- Expand Your Horizons- Alan Stratton continues his series on eccentric turning with more ideas using his shop made jig/chuck- Alan also, demonstrates how to turn the perfect sphere without the aid of jigs- Mike Peace added a video on the topic of toxic wood. I know many of our members have had allergic reactions to various species. Along those same lines, I came across this video of a turner, garage engineering an HEPA filtration system. Passing it along for your enjoyment This one is for @Steve Krumanaker and his honey dippers. A really cool turned and beaded "honey box" by Carl Jacobson. New Turning Items- From the folks at Woodturners Wonders- https://woodturnerswonders.com/collections/kodiak-sharpening-system Daryl Johns (Dread Knot Workshop) posted a review/demonstration of the new Robert Sorby Steady Pro for hollowing- Everything Else- Rick Turns list of YouTube woodturning videos from last week- Woodturning seems to run in fads. Everyone does bowls, then hollowing, then acrylics. Lately I noticed a lot of surface colors. I have to say, although they are amazing, I still prefer to see the natural color of the species. I found a couple of pieces of white oak left over from a gun rack I made for a friend. The pieces were cutoffs and about 12" wide and 1"+ thick. Thinking about making something- maybe a platter. Turning the years of storage dirt away, the wood was true to its name- white. The grain was nondescript. Played around a little with some coloring ideas. I thought maybe black toner cartridge dust might fill the pores- not so much- but it did make an almighty mess on the lathe. Then tried brown paste shoe polish- not bad. Then black opaque resin dye- about the same. Last was amber transparent resin dye- better. Keep in mind I was only trying to accentuate the grain pattern- not color the entire surface. Applied the color and then skimmed the surface. Brown shoe polish- Black opaque resin dye- Amber transparent resin dye- I might just use oil based poly to give the piece a nice mellow glow. Who says you can't get curlies from carbide cutters- Safe turning and stay well
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