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This is my latest attempt at an off-center turning to produce an oval shaped tool handle. This was done out of ash. Be kind, I am still learning, as can plainly be seen.

These are what I have come up with as a new project for the off center chuck. The colored rim platter is about 8 inches of pecan. Originally I tried to cut with point tool and burn the circles——not good. Tried several tools and found that my new Hunter Viceroy with a #1cutter works superbly with no tear out on cherry nor on pecan. Had to do something to highlight the cuts as they just did not stand out plain. Painted with acrylics then sanded the over painted area. Pecan one may get liming wax later, but for now has lacquer on rim and Watco on center. The painted areas were sealed with shellac. The cherry will get Watco over shellac.

This is the first try with the off center chuck. This is green bradford pear and for this did not do well, so will sand. And after some sanding is better but blurred some lines. It did not show a a three axis turning well until I centered and turned the bottom and top. More on this later.

Cold and windy today, a great day to be at the lathe. Unfortunately computer repair calls kept that from happening! Our Patriot Turners- @DAB and @Woodbutcherbynight added some really nice additions to last week's "Wednesday's..." DAB posted a sweet cherry bowl- And Woodbutcherbynight is preparing a nice looking hand wheel for a project- @Steve Krumanaker is preparing for a demonstration he will be giving to the woodturning club to which he belongs. One of the turning items he will show is a "Knitting Nancy". Steve describes his preparation and topics in his post- @Gerald continues to keep us up-to-date with his new off-center lathe chuck. Gerald talks about which lathe tools seem to give the best results in his post- What’s Coming Up- Woodturners Wonders has posted their 2019 Symposium schedule- Click on the above image for the link to their site and products. For The Newbies- We recently posted a video about keeping the lathe Morse Tapers clean. Mike Peace added another video with more information concerning various accessories that can be used in conjunction with the Morse tapers Expand Your Horizons- I know that @Steve Krumanaker turns some bird houses and even creates tiny birds to occupy them. Recently Mr. David Reed Smith made available a tutorial for making his version- Mr. Smith's approach to any project is always unique. You can read the tutorial at- http://davidreedsmith.com/Articles/Birds/Birds.html New Turning Items- Woodturners Wonders has a new, small, air powered sander- Check out the details at- https://woodturnerswonders.com/products/pro-mini-variable-speed-random-orbital-sander Everything Else- Rick Turns has the December YouTube woodturning videos summarized- The Woodturning OnLine newsletter arrived this past week. One of the articles had a simple little lathe project- The tutorial is here- http://www.stevefreemanonline.com/2017/01/tooth-pick-holder-shape-mushroom-wood-turning-projects-beginners/ The entire newsletter is at- https://www.woodturningonline.com/ I finished up a late Christmas present. It was the bowl I had been using as a test for the Wonder Weave sanding screens. It is finished with beeswax and mineral oil combination. I found that I need to make/buy better sanding devices for the inside of bowls. I have a 3" pad- but it doesn't do well on the inside of the bowls at the bottom corners. I've made some sanding balls (from Mr. David Reed Smith's tutorials) that use sandpaper but was thinking of something that I could test the Wonder Weave products. Need to think on it. Safe turning

Ran across this video of a young turner. Handled his tools well while turning a tea light.

I have only turned one off set center turning. I started by drilling a couple of holes that were off center line. I kept turning , routing and inventing as I went.. I finished it off with a yellow hart head and base. My daughter always admired it and I gave it to her for Christmas this year.