round opinions

Ready the Band Saw for Wood Turning

2011-11-16T16:21:00.001-04:00

After the wood lathe itself, one ofthe most used tools in the woodturning workshop is the band saw. Formany woodturners, after the lathe and the grinder have been boughtand set up, the band saw is the next purchase for large machinery. Afew simple steps make it a better tool for woodturners and otherwoodworkers.

Like many woodworking machines, theband saw needs to be set up and periodically tuned for safe andaccurate use. Most such machines in the home shop are typically twowheel saws, fourteen inches in diameter. The size refers to thediameter of the wheels and not to the depth of cut which will likelybe in the six inch range.

Those wheels will look much likebicycle tires with rubber rims. While they will of course be clean ina new saw, as the tool is used the tires need periodically to bebrushed clean of dust which will cake on to them especially fromgreen softwoods. They also need to be properly lined up.

This means they need to be parallelto one another and running coplanar. There should be a means toadjust the distance of the free running wheel, that is, the one notpowered by the motor. While this may be form shims, set screws orsome other method, it should be noted in the instructions from thesaw. A straight edge spanning both wheels, placed immediately beforethe axles, should touch the top and bottom rims of both the top andbottom wheels simultaneously for the wheels to be coplanar andparallel.

Once this is done, the blade shouldrun at the center of both wheels. There will be an adjusting knob totrack the blade. With the saw unplugged rotate the wheels by hand andadjust to track in the middle. Tighten the blade so it can be moved aquarter of an inch at center or follow the instructions with yoursaw. Each blade will need to be tracked and tensioned when it isinstalled and may need periodic adjustment during use.

A band saw is useful for woodpreparation both for small projects and for large. For small, finercuts a one quarter inch six tooth blade is a good one to start withfor general use and wood up to a couple of inches thick. Heaviergreen wood for bowls and the like will require a three eighths threepoint blade or something similar. Like all saws, blades need to bekept sharp and clean for good use. Having a couple of extras on handis a good idea.

Band saws are versatile for straightor curved cuts and a valuable asset for the woodturner. They are easyto set up and use as well as being one of the safest cutting tools inthe shop.

Choosing A Wood Lathe: What To Look For When Sturdy Counts

2011-10-18T12:38:00.000-03:00

While it is obvious that wood lathesspin wood around, it is not always obvious to the first time buyerthat spinning wood, if out of balance, vibrates tremendously. Inaddition, wood lathes may be asked to spin very heavy sections ofwood and need to be able to withstand considerable force. There are acouple of simple things to look for to ensure that a lathe is sturdyenough for the work at hand.

If you have a small shop and intend toturn small objects, it may seem as if sturdiness will not be afactor, but this is simply not so. Most small lathes turn at highspeeds and have a very high minimum speed. Just as on a car, anunbalanced wheel does not seem a problem at low speeds but vibratesat high ones, the same thing happens on a lathe with unbalanced woodor with unbalanced lathe parts. While a small piece on a small lathemay not try to walk across the floor, vibration encourages poor cutsand difficulty in a good finish.

Larger lathes tend to have lowerminimum speeds and thus allow for less vibration in unbalancedpieces. However they also are generally bought with the purpose ofhandling larger pieces of wood and thus more weight. A bowl blank offorty pounds is not unusual on a lathe with a twelve to sixteen inchswing and can literally walk a light lathe across the floor of theshop.

The solution to the problem is to havea lathe sturdy enough to handle the work. It starts with a goodfoundation such as a stand that is well made and heavy enough to notmove under the forces of turning. Sand is a good vibration absorberand many turners design their lathe stands to hold hundred of poundsof sand.

The lathe itself should have lots ofcast iron and steel in its construction. Stamped metal parts tend togive little support. Good welds should be looked for. Check with yourwoodturning friends and find out what lathes they use for the type ofturning you intend to do and then find out if they are satisfied.Good bearings are a must and even more important are the bearinghousings. Bearings are easily replaced but not where they live in thelathe.

One of the best tests of sturdiness iscommon sense when looking at the lathe. If it looks solid it likelyis. This would not be just a catalogue look but rather a chance tostand at it and see if the steel is substantial and the iron castingsare solid and well finished. The mechanisms to hold the headstock,tailstock and tool rest should be strong and lock firmly. Speedcontrols should move easily and switches readily accessible.

The final test of the lathe willhappen as you turn on it. Many turners will push the envelope of sizeand speed and safety is each individual's responsibility but much ofit can be ensured with good planning and a little foresight.

Mounting Wood On The Wood Lathe: Do Not Forget The Jacob's Chuck

2011-10-07T08:03:00.000-03:00

One of the best and worst things tohappen to modern woodturning is the invention of the four jaw chuckfor holding wood. While it is a great addition to the woodturner'sasenal, it is also an expensive tool and many beginners find that itcosts more than their wood lathe. Also, like many tools a cheaperversion is aggravating and in some cases simply dangerous to use. Onething to remember is woodturning has been around for thousands ofyears and there are many ways to mount the wood without the newestfashions. The Jacob's chuck is a great tool for all turners.

A Jacob's chuck is designed forholding drill bits. It is the chuck on the end of the drill press orthe electric hand drill. As such it is often used held in the tailstock of the lathe to hold a drill bit for putting a hole in a pieceof wood in the head stock or vice versa. However, it may also be usedto hold a piece of wood for turning.

The difficulties in using a Jacob'schuck for holding wood are

its size which is generally limited to one half inch although slightly smaller or larger ones are available for some lathes
its having three jaws which make it awkward to hold onto a square piece of wood
it is made for holding metal and may well crush the wood in its jaws

These limitations are easily dealtwith.

The time to use a Jacob's chuck isgenerally to turn a spindle that needs to be held on one end only.This means that the stronger grain orientation of long grain is beingused as opposed to face grain. In such circumstances a piece of onehalf inch wood such as maple is easily strong enough to support athree inch spindle of reasonable length. It remains to mount thespindle first between centers and turn it round, allowing for a shortlength at one end to be turned down to one half inch so as to fit inthe chuck. Now it can be remounted in the chuck, trued up and finishturned.

Note that this also removes the seconddifficulty of trying to fit a square piece of wood into a three jawstructure. The tenon to fit the chuck is now round. It also dealswith the third problem of crushing the wood. This would serve to marthe wood and also to move the piece off center for turning. A truingcut will put it back on center and the tenon is considered waste woodand removed from the finished piece.

The old and established technology ofthe Jacob's chuck is not as versatile as the newer four jaw chuck butit is reliable at a much lower cost and opens new avenues of woodturning to the beginner without a lot of expenditure. Besides which,a Jacob's chuck is a welcome addition to every turner's arsenal.

Five Glues For Woodturners – Answering Three Different Needs

2011-09-22T20:50:00.000-03:00

The hardware and speciality storesabound with adhesives of all sorts these days. Confusion can easilybeset the woodturner buyer unless the needs are known for the glues.Thankfully four different and readily accessible glues are all thatis needed for ninety-nine percent of woodturning requirements.

First of all is the typicalwoodworker's glue or aliphatic resin emulsion which most callcarpenter's glue or yellow glue. It is similar to polyvinyl acetateor white glue but has a better tacky quality and less initialslippage. Both dry to a bond that is stronger than most woods, atleast when applied to side grain. It is often used to attach a wasteblock to faceplate turnings and may have paper separating the wasteblock and the turning wood. In addition, it is a good glue to usebuilding up segmented turnings.

Second is another standby of manywood shops, epoxy resin glues. This is a two part adhesive that isgreat for attaching handles or any situation where it is necessary toadhere metal to wood. It will also allow the joining together of dampwoods while most other adhesives require the wood to be dry.

Third is cyanoacrylate adhesives or“super glues” commonly called CA glue. These have become thestandard of many woodturners. Thin or watery CA is used to fillcracks in burls and other woods while the medium can be used toattach waste wood to faceplate turning even on end grain or wet wood.Thick CA can be used to fill voids in woods that might otherwise bethrown away.

The rise in the popularity of turningwooden pens has brought polyurethane glues to a similar popularity.While some pen turners use CA to attach the brass sleeves to thewooden pen blanks, others find the gap filling ability of thepolyurethane glues along with their great strength to be valuable inturning pens and similar projects. It should be noted that the foamof polyurethane glues which serves to fill the gaps has very littlestrength but the the strength of the bond where two materials meet isexceptional.

One of the least used or understoodglues in the woodturner's possible arsenal is hot glue from a hotglue gun such as the crafters use. It can used to quickly maketemporary jigs as well as to hold waste blocks to faceplate turnings.One should use the high heat and not the low heat glues.

A little common sense in the use offive types of glues should make the use of each of them reasonableand valuable to woodturners. Each has its place to play in theworkshop.

Choosing A Wood Lathe: Accessories Can Make All The Difference

2011-08-17T08:57:00.000-03:00

Buying a wood lathe is different than purchasing almost any other stationary power tool. Most come ready to use right out of the box or with only a bit of assembly such as mounting the enclosed blade. Wood lathes generally come without cutting tools of any kind. All that come with the lathe are a faceplate and a couple of centers for mounting wood. However, tools and accessories are readily available and are either needed for turning or will add tremendously to the enjoyment. Still, it is necessary to make sure the desired accessories fit your lathe as it is definitely not a one size fits all proposition.

A good beginner's set of tools will meet most of the needs of beginning and intermediate spindle turners. Generally a bowl gouge or an Oland tool must be purchased or made for spindle turning. Ensure that the tools are high speed steel and have comfortable handles. While a small set of tools makes it hard to turn large objects and a big set makes it hard to turn small ones, a medium sized set with shafts about seven inches long are commonly used for all sorts of sizes of turnings.

The typical shop grinder is easily turned into a sharpening station with a couple of aluminium oxide wheels and a sharpening jig. While some experienced turners disdain the sharpening jigs, others love them and they make life much nicer for beginners.

Accessories will include more centers and faceplates as well as various chucks and gadgets. Manufacturers have long ago noticed the buying power of wood turners and the near addiction to acquiring tools expressed by many. It is necessary to know some things about your lathe before buying.

Generally accessories will attach to the headstock or tailstock. Headstocks come in a variety of sizes expressed in terms of their diameter and screw size expressed as teeth per inch or tpi. Common sizes for beginner length are one inch diameter by eight teeth per inch and three quarter inch diameter by sixteen teeth per inch. Accessories are easily available for both but may not be for some other sizes. In the UK metric sizes may be more prevalent.

Tailstocks and headstocks will generally be bored through and then tapered, usually to a standard called the Morse taper. This will generally be a number one or number two Morse taper expressed as #1 or #2. The two are not interchangable but most accessories will be available in either size. These have been the industry standard for some time. Number three Morse tapers have been used on metal lathes for a long time and are being found more often on some of the larger wood lathes for sale.

It should be noted that having a set of accessories that meet the accepted industry standards allow them to be moved on to new lathes. A good place to start is a beginner lathe with a one inch by eight tooth per inch headstock and number two Morse tapers in the headstock and tailstock. Such standards can have a woodturner looking at the after market accessories for a long time to come.

How to Make Money With Your Wood Turning Skills

2011-07-30T22:27:00.001-03:00

As woodturning continues from beginner to more advanced levels for the enthusiast the question sometimes arises as to how to make money with these wood turning skills. For many hobbyists the dream is to make the enjoyment a money maker, perhaps to the point of it becoming a full time occupation. Here are few things to keep in mind.

First there is the reality of knowing the difference between making money and making a living. Woodturning is a very competitive business and most woodturners who are able to do so for a living have either a long experience at the trade with a great reputation, do a lot of teaching, or have a spouse with a great paying job. It is very difficult to turn full time and have a reasonable income.

On the other hand there are some great avenues for making money as a hobby turner. It is important to be faithful to the art and craft of woodturning and to realize that if you are going to sell what you make, you should price according to the value placed by full time competitors. They are trying to make a living and underselling them is not fair. Besides, if your work is not good enough to compete, it is not fair either to the art and craft to sell inferior work. If you are able to sell at a fair price, chances are the hobby will at least pay for itself and these days that is not bad at all.

Decide what products you are going to sell and ask yourself if you are willing to make them. If your enthusiasm is to turn one of a kind artistic items you will find it to be a high end market that competes with ceramics, painting, photographs and a host of other artistic work. Most woodturners who are able to make money at the craft do so by turning multiples of small items such as pens or kitchenware. Salad bowls by the carload may earn enough money to allow the turning of a few artistic items to keep the interest up.

Craft shows now abound and are a good place to sell woodturnings. If work is displayed professionally and you enjoy working with the public you can have a great time at a show and sell well. Make sure your turnings fit the show and decide to enjoy the experience.

Teaching is another way to expand the income from turning. It is one of the fastest growing area of woodworking today and people are looking for instruction. For a bit of experience show a friend or two something about your way to turn wood and determine if teaching is for you.

While some people do sell work on the internet it will probably be small items turned in multiples once again. Most artistic items will sell only if they are held and fondled first. Wood is a very tactile item in its turned form and folks want to touch before buying.

As in most cases, selling woodturnings is a case of the right price at the right time in the right place. However people have been selling turnings for a long time and it may be the right time for you to start.

Five Tips for Sharpening Your Wood Turning Tools

2011-06-23T08:07:00.000-03:00

One of the first things that woodturners realize, especially if they come to woodturning from other types of woodworking, is turning tools need to be sharpened early and often. In most cases they need to be sharpened a lot more often than other cutting tools and the skills needed are different than those to sharpen most other tools. Here are five tips to help get sharp tools quickly and easily for the wood lathe.

First of all there is the need to recognize a couple of angles, thirty and forty five degrees. Almost all cutting woodturning tools will use these angles and the few that do not will be glaringly obvious. Gouges and skews cut wood. Roughing gouges and bowl gouges are generally sharpened to forty five degrees and straight across. Many woodturners start with spindle turning and spindle gouges are sharpened at thirty degrees. Some turners try to sharpen roughing and bowl gouges to that same thirty with terrible results and are amazed when someone shows them the magic of forty-five.

Second is the need to keep things simple, especially at first. Stick to what has worked for centuries. Woodturning is over three thousand years old and most of what is done is tried and true. This is not to say that there have not been changes but it is good to start with the established norms before branching out. For instance, there is the other typically used grind for a bowl gouge that has long wings and a bevel that alters from about forty five at the edges to seventy in the center. A straight forty-five works beautifully and is a lot easier to do at first.

Then there is the sharpening of scrapers which are the real exception to what appears to be a sharp edge. They are sharpened almost square at about seventy to eighty degrees and the burr that is raised is the cutting area. It is quickly broken away and resharpening is needed often.

This brings up the fourth tip and that is to be satisfied with an edge that is sharp enough to remove wood and still hold up to the punishment of woodturning. For this a grinder is the best tool to use as a sharpening station. Equip it with an eighty grit aluminum oxide wheel and ignore the usual whet stones and honing strops. It can take a lot of time to get a razor edge that will disappear in the first second of turning.

Fourth, use a jig. Freehand sharpening is an art and craft in its own right and it is easier to learn to turn with sharp tools from a jig rather than trying to learn both crafts at once. Jigs will also teach the movements that are needed for freehand turning if the need arises. They can be either cheaply made in the home shop or purchased from just about any woodturning supplier.

Fifth and perhaps most important is to relax and take it easy in the sharpening. It is a part of the turning process and meant to be enjoyed. If an edge comes out wrong it is a simple matter to try again. A little time, a little attention and a little steel and back to the wood again.

Sharpening is not hard and woodturners have been getting a sufficient edge for over three thousand years. With a little practice you will be joining the group and the shavings will fly from a good, sharp edge.

Choosing A Wood Lathe: Make Sure The Tool Fits The Shop

2011-06-03T14:48:00.000-03:00

Wood lathes are generally substantial tools that are going to be part of a general woodworking shop. As such, some consideration needs to be given to ensure that they fit the shop well. At least three areas need to be looked at, namely the type of the shop, the size of the workshop and the woodturner concerned.

Woodworking shops come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and characters. Either form the beginning or over time they develop a personality depending on the work that is done in them. As woodturning either develops in them or is introduced, they ten to fit three large groups. One is the furniture shop, another an all purpose wood shop, and finally the dedicated woodturning centre.

For the furniture shop, a wood lathe will likely be used to turn both small items such as speciality door knobs and larger items such as table legs. A typical lathe for this shop would be one that can turn a twelve inch diameter spindle up to thirty eight inches long. It needs to be remembered that small items such as those door knobs can be turned on a large lathe but a large item can not be turned on a small lathe. The capacity to make a sturdy bench for the lathe is inherent in a furniture shop and it can be produced to hold a lot of the tools and accessories needed for turning wood.

The all purpose wood shop will likely want a similar lathe to the furniture shop but may want it to be able to turn larger pieces. Many of today's lathes allow for the headstock to swing and handle large pieces for outboard faceplate work. If this is desired, it is a good idea to get a lathe that will have a minimum speed of four hundred revolutions per minute or even lower to reduce vibration.

The dedicated woodturning centre will need at least the second type of lathe and may be better served with a family of lathes that allow for various work to be going on at various times. One lathe may be dedicated to spindle work while another without ways is designed for faceplate work alone. Still another mini lathe may be available for small work at high speeds.

With these considerations comes the need for the lathe or lathes to fit the shop. Not only does a larger lathe require more floorspace for its footprint, it also needs a fair amount of room around it for the woodturner to move in safety while turning. It will also need to fit itself around the other tools to give a good feel to the shop work flow.

Finally, every woodturner will develop his or her own style and desire of woodturning. While the first lathe will seldom truly reflect this except by chance, the second and subsequent lathes can be chosen to make the preferred choices in wood turning more enjoyable and perhaps safer as well.

Wood lathes are tools that tend to be a part of the woodworking shop for a long time and due consideration should be given to their purchase. It is an opportunity for reflection on our craft and in itself can be an enjoyable part of the process.

Power Drills In The Woodturning Workshop: From Holes To Sanding

2011-05-19T22:13:00.000-03:00

Over the years, the hand held electric drill has become a mainstay of the general woodworking shop. Recent developments have made it into a drill, screwdriver, not driver, and sander. Such a versatile tool well deserves to be in the woodturner's arsenal.

While drills are available in sizes from one quarter inch to one half inch depending on the maximum diameter drill bit they can mount, the three eighths hand drill is the most common size sold and meets all the demands of most woodturners.

Obviously, the drill can be used to drill holes of various sizes. Simple and inexpensive jigs are available to allow it to be used as a bench model drill press although the costs of small bench model drill presses allow most shops to have have both types in use. As such they are stable and accurate enough to drill pen blanks and small projects for use of mandrels and other holding devices.

One of the great uses for power drills has become their ability to serve as screw drivers and nut drivers. This is extremely handy when mounting faceplates to bowl blanks and similar work. Screws with wide centers and deep threads are needed and require a fair amount of torques to drive them. Number fourteen self tapping sheet metal screws work well. If they are obtained with a Phillips or Robertson head an appropriate driver bit in the electric drill makes fast work of the process. It is a good idea to have one of the modern drills with adjustable tension on the chuck so that the drill stops driving once the screw is seated. Pilot holes may not be needed in green wood but if they are in dry hardwood, the drill is handy for that use as well. Some of the screws come with hexagonal heads and the appropriate driver serves well for them.

Many woodturners use a four jaw chuck and have various size jaws for different purposes. While it would be good to have a different chuck for each size jaw, the costs often prohibit this. With the appropriate type of bit for the electric drill to fit the screws holding the jaws, it makes the removal and replacement of them quick and easy.

Sanding is not the favorite chore of most woodturners. Bowls and other faceplate items have large areas to sand and the grain tends to vary making the job harder and longer. A simple sanding pad for the drill allows the sand paper to move in the opposite direction to the wood, making the process go much quicker. This has become such a part of woodturning that appropriately sized disks are readily available from most woodturning and sandpaper suppliers.

While the small, drill powered lathes on the market are viewed as little more than toys by most woodturners, the electric hand drill still has a rjole in the woodturning shop. Most woodturners would do well to have couple at hand.

Simple Chainsaw Bar and Chain Maintenance for the Woodturner

2011-05-09T23:13:00.000-03:00

While the chainsaw is a valuable tool for the woodturner it is usually used intermittently. Maintenance is necessary as it is for all tools and can be easily accomplished.

It should be noted that chainsaws are extremely dangerous as tools go and should be treated with respect. Instruction in the use of the saw is necessary before using it and safety is the concern of the user. Protective clothing should be worn along with proper face, ear and eye protection. A well maintained saw is a safer saw.

First of all, examine the bar and chain of the saw. The chain should be sharp with all teeth the same size. Sharpening the chain involves two procedures, filing the teeth and filing the depth gauges. The teeth are easiest to file using the recommended size file and a guide that both holds the file and ensures that it cuts to the right depth. Each tooth should be the same length when finished so if one is duller than the rest and requires more filing, file the other teeth to the same length. One tooth longer than the others tends to pull the bar in its own direction and can cause binding. It is a good idea to touch up the teeth at every filling of gasoline or, if the saw is electric, every couple of hours of use. If the saw hits the ground or something other than wood, consider it dull and sharpen the chain. Some sawyers like to have their chains professionally ground at regular intervals and file in between.

The depth gauges are projections in front of the teeth and prevent the teeth from taking too great a cut and possibly catching and kicking the bar back at the user. If they are too high, on the other hand, the teeth are not able to cut to depth and quickly dull from rubbing the wood. Again, a simple jig from your chainsaw supplier allows for easy measuring and ensuring that each depth gauge is filed to the proper height. Depth gauges should be checked every few chain sharpenings.

The bar should be straight, clean and tight to the saw. There are adjustments for proper tension on the chain and it should be set according to your manufacturer's instructions. Too much tension can lead to over heating and ruining both bar and chain while too little tension can cause the chain to catch and kick the saw at the user or to fling the chain off and cause injury. Generally, all that is involved is tensioning a set screw until the chain moves easily on the bar. The bar is held in place with a couple of nuts that need to be checked every filling or at frequent intervals as the vibration of the saw may cause them to loosen.

One of the most obvious things to check and one that is too often not done is to make sure there is plenty of bar oil in the reservoir. This is different from the oil that is mixed with the gasoline and appropriate oils should be used in either case. Bar oil gets flung off by the movement of the chain but helps greatly in keeping the bar cool and in smooth cutting. Most saws are designed to need the reservoir filled with every filling of gasoline. Woodturners tend not to run a saw long enough to run it dry and may forget to fill the bar oil reservoir.

Routine maintenance should become just that, routine. Once the habit is formed, it ceases to be a chore and instead becomes an enjoyable part of the woodturning practice.

Basic Equipment You Will Need to Start Woodturning Projects

2011-04-14T14:56:00.000-03:00

While it is easily understood that a wood lathe is needed to begin woodturning projects, there are a few other necessities before starting. Many of these are already found in the typical woodworking shop while others will need to be purchased.

The basic wood lathe comes with one or two faceplates for bowls and other large work; a spur center and tail center for holding spindle projects; and a couple of tool rests for different sized work. No cutting tools are generally supplied with the lathe.

While experienced turners will purchase individual tools, it is advisable for the beginner to get a beginning set. This will contain the necessary tools for spindle work. Usually this will be a roughing gouge, a couple of spindle gouges of different sizes, a couple of skews of different sizes, a couple of scrapers of different sizes and a parting tool. Such a set should be high speed steel, not carbon steel which is cheaper but does not hold an edge very long compared with high speed. Later on bowl and faceplate tools can be purchased or made. If the beginner is anxious to begin turning bowls, a one quarter inch bowl gouge will get them started and different sizes can be purchased later on.

Once the tools are purchased there needs to be a means to sharpen them. Woodworkers new to woodturning will be amazed at how often turning tools need to be sharpened. The usual means to a good edge is a grinder however most shop grinders have wheels too coarse to give a good edge on high speed steel. An aluminum oxide wheel of appropriate size should be purchased. It should be around eighty grit and a wheel dresser to keep it round and clean is really a necessity.

While some turners consider a sharpening jig to be a luxury, for a beginner it is almost a necessity. Sharpening woodturning tools freehand is a skill in its own right if not an art. Learning it at the same time as trying to learn woodturning is difficult and learning to turn with dull tools is almost impossible. A jig should be purchased or made at the very beginning.

One of the things that makes woodturning special is the ability to much of the time sand and finish a project on the lathe. Sandpaper in grits from eighty to two hundred twenty is usually found in the workshop but some turners like to go as high as two thousand grit for some projects. Generally up to three hundred twenty will be fine. Danish oil and similar finishes work well for most woodturnings and again is a typical supply of most shops.

Safety is an important part of any woodworking shop and work around a wood lathe is no exception. A face mask to protect from flying wood is a necessity as is a dust mask to protect the lungs from sanding. Hearing protectors are good to have. Most lathes are fairly quiet but saws, drills, sanders and dust collectors as well as other shop tools can cause hearing problems.

Tools to ready the wood for the lathe will likely be already in the shop. Bandsaws and table saws are often used and a chainsaw is a part of most woodturner's arsenals of tools.

A quick look at a woodturning catalogue will convince any aspiring woodturner that bits and pieces can be acquired for years to come but these should get one started. Certainly a lot of enjoyment are contained in these few simple items.

Four Glues For Woodturners – Answering Three Different Needs

2011-04-06T22:04:00.000-03:00

The hardware and speciality stores abound with adhesives of all sorts these days. Confusion can easily beset the woodturner buyer unless the needs are known for the glues. Thankfully four different and readily accessible glues are all that is needed for ninety-nine percent of woodturning requirements.

First of all is the typical woodworker's glue or aliphatic resin emulsion which most call carpenter's glue or yellow glue. It is similar to polyvinyl acetate or white glue but has a better tacky quality and less initial slippage. Both dry to a bond that is stronger than most woods, at least when applied to side grain. It is often used to attach a waste block to faceplate turnings and may have paper separating the waste block and the turning wood. In addition, it is a good glue to use building up segmented turnings.

Second is another standby of many wood shops, epoxy resin glues. This is a two part adhesive that is great for attaching handles or any situation where it is necessary to adhere metal to wood. It will also allow the joining together of damp woods while most other adhesives require the wood to be dry.

Third is cyanoacrylate adhesives or “super glues” commonly called CA glue. These have become the standard of many woodturners. Thin or watery CA is used to fill cracks in burls and other woods while the medium can be used to attach waste wood to faceplate turning even on end grain or wet wood. Thick CA can be used to fill voids in woods that might otherwise be thrown away.

The rise in the popularity of turning wooden pens has brought polyurethane glues to a similar popularity. While some pen turners use CA to attach the brass sleeves to the wooden pen blanks, others find the gap filling ability of the polyurethane glues along with their great strength to be valuable in turning pens and similar projects. It should be noted that the foam of polyurethane glues which serves to fill the gaps has very little strength but the the strength of the bond where two materials meet is exceptional.

One of the least used or understood glues in the woodturner's possible arsenal is hot glue from a hot glue gun such as the crafters use. It can used to quickly make temporary jigs as well as to hold waste blocks to faceplate turnings. One should use the high heat and not the low heat glues.

A little common sense in the use of five types of glues should make the use of each of them reasonable and valuable to woodturners. Each has its place to play in the workshop.

Making Wooden Bowls: Thickness Considerations For The Woodturner

2011-03-20T20:47:00.000-03:00

When making wooden bowls the woodturner enters a world of creation that is thousand of years old. People have been using bowls for a long time and making them just as long. The same design questions that face the potter also face the woodturner. One of these is just how thin or how thick to make the vessel walls. Some questions need to be answered to give some guidlines.

First of all there is the intended use of the bowl. Is it going to be functional such as a salad bowl or is the intention to be visual as an art piece? Generally, a functional bowl will be thicker so as to give stability and a sense of security. Artistic turnings may be extremely thin to give a sensation of lightness and perhaps an ephemeral quality. On the other hand a different artistic turning may be very thick and heavy to present other feelings and qualities to the beholder.

A third category may be a bowl made to impress and perhaps to impress woodturners in particular. In that case it may be so thin as to allow light to pass through the oiled wood. To make one of these, woodturners hang lights behind the turning piece and thin the bowl to allow an even distribution of light through the walls. It is a good test of skill and a learning experience.

Functional bowls should have walls that are thin enough to work with the intention of the piece and thick enough to seem right. As a rule of thumb and eighth of an inch of thickness for every inch of diameter seems about right with a bit more for six inches and under and a bit less for bowls over sixteen inches. So an eight inch bowl might be one quarter inch thick while a six inch bowl could be three sixteenths and a sixteen inch bowl, three eighths. Most of the time the best thing to do is not to worry about the exact measurement so much as the look and feel.

Where the bowl is to be used is also a consideration. Restaurants may have a certain criteria they want followed while a bowl turned for the outdoor deck on a summer night might have walls an inch thick. The popcorn may blow away but the bowl will still be there.

Most of the time the best thing to do is relax and make the bowl. If the lines look good and the bowl feels right, chances are the design is good. Sometimes all the practise pays off and the bowl looks absolutely fabulous. The hunt make all the turning just that bit more special.

Mounting Wood On A Lathe: Getting A Square Ready

2011-03-10T15:42:00.000-04:00

One of the more common ways for people to come to a wood lathe is a woodworker expanding their skill set by wishing to turn legs for a table. This involves mounting a square length of wood to the lathe. Such a common skill requires only a few tips for success.

Assuming the lengths are truly square it remains to mount them to the lathe so that they are truly centered and secure. This is generally a mounting “between centers.”

There are two centers on a lathe, the head stock center or spur center and the tails stock center or tail center. The spur center has a point in the middle and two or four spurs surrounding it. The point keeps the wood from shifting and the spurs engage the wood so that the head stock can drive it.

Tail centers will be either solid or will have bearings mounted so that the center spins. Such a center is called a live center and is highly recommended. Solid or “dead” centers require a drop of oil from time to time to allow good motion of the wood on them. The mid point of tail centers sticks into the center of the wood and prevents it drifting under the pressure of turning.

The center of each end should be carefully found and marked. While there are various implements on the market for doing so, the easiest system is to hold the wood upright in the bench vise and draw lines between the diagonals. The lines cross at the center. Generally the ends of the square will not be seen as the table will obstruct them so the lines are not an issue. If they become one, sandpaper will quickly fix things.

It is a good idea to take an awl and mark the center with a small indentation. When the centers press into the wood they have a tendency to move a bit to the side so the indentation helps to start them on center.

Some people like to make a small cut along one set of diagonals with a saw so as to give a groove for spur center to settle into. This is not necessary and it is simpler and faster to put the center in place off the lathe and strike it smartly with a mallet to seat it into the wood for a good drive. Once the spur center is in the lathe and in place in the wood, the tail center is brought up and the point is pushed into the center depression in the wood. Next the tail center is locked in place and then the center is snugged up. Now things are ready to turn.

Squares are mounted to the wood lathe for many reasons or projects such as candle sticks, rolling pins, potato mashers and table legs to name only a few. Mounting between centers can look flimsy at first but a few episodes will quickly build confidence and craftsmanship, adding to the great enjoyment of turning wood.

Chainsaw Use For The Woodturner

2011-03-05T20:34:00.000-04:00

Very quickly, woodturners learn that one of the difficulties of woodturning is the acquiring of wood large enough for faceplate turning. It is both difficult and expensive. However, there is often a good supply of local wood in log form if the means to deal with it are available. A chainsaw makes the handling of logs and their processing into turning blanks readily accessible.

One of the first things to know about a chainsaw is its danger. A chainsaw is one of if not the most dangerous power tools in the woodworker's arsenal. The working part of the saw is a bar covered with a moving cutting chain that is designed to crosscut through hardwood. As such it will not even pause for flesh. In addition it is a simple matter to catch the tip of the bar in such a manner so as to make the saw kick back or jump at the user with amazing speed and power. With this said, there are many people who use a chainsaw day in and day out without problem. While the risk of using any power tool rests with the user, it is a good idea in this case to get instruction from an experienced user before handling the saw on your own.

Chainsaws come in a variety of types and sizes but for most woodturners there are some simple considerations to think of when buying. Saws are sized by power and bar length. As a general rule subject to all the dangers of generalities, a sixteen inch bar will be long enough for most turners and twelve will be a little short at some point in the woodturning career. Another general rule is to buy the most powerful motor you can afford. It is easier on the user and the saw assuming the weight is also good for the user.

The power source will be either electric or gasoline. Gasoline is more convenient outside the shop but there is a danger form carbon monoxide when running an internal combustion engine indoors not to mention the huge noise from the motor. Electric saws require heavy extension cords and in general cut slower than gas saws, but are quieter and get the job done.

The turner should learn to sharpen and maintain the saw. Chains dull quickly if they hit rocks or nails in the wood and sometimes they touch the ground when cutting logs to length. A chain that hits the ground is dull and needs sharpening. This is not difficult to learn and files for sharpening are cheap. If the saw is kept with the bar oiled and the fuel for a gas saw mixed properly, a routine maintenance check by a good repairman or dealer is all that will be needed for long saw life.

Chainsaws need not be fearful for the woodturner to use and will make the gaining of bowl blanks and the like much easier. Good instruction can make all the difference in the pleasure added to getting ones own wood for woodturning.

Choosing A Wood Lathe: Remember The Budget

2011-02-24T14:38:00.001-04:00

Buying a wood lathe sounds like a simple proposition. Check the budget, look at the lathes in the budget category, choose the one that seems good and away we go. However, like most things in life, it is not that simple. One of the more difficult things for the beginner or first time buyer, is knowing how to gauge the budget in the first place.

Wood lathes are more individual than many other woodworking tools. While there are certainly many models of tools such as table saws, for example, there are certain features expected in particular price ranges and the saws will be fairly uniform in that range. It is expected that one may purchase one, put it in the work shop, and go to work. The wood lathe is a different proposition.

While most wood lathes in a given price range will generally be similar in quality this is not always so. A mini lathe will usually be better quality than a full size lathe in the same cost bracket, for instance. Two lathes of the same price may have different mechanisms for controlling speeds and overall quality of the lathe with the more expensive speed controller will likely be less than that of the other machine. It is necessary in the budget to question what is wanted in the lathe for weight, quality of construction, type of speed control and size among other things.

All other things being equal among lathes, there is the extra strain on the budget to consider. That table saw will be ready to work right out of the box, but not so for most lathes. The typical wood lathe comes with the basic machine ready to run and with centers and a faceplate to hold the wood, but without tools to cut the wood nor any means to keep them sharp. Again in contrast to the table saw that came with a blade that rarely needs sharpening and then by a professional shop, the lathe comes with no tools and no means to sharpen them even though they will need frequent sharpening. It often comes as a surprise to a beginning wood turner that in some circumstances tools need to be sharpened every couple of minutes.

So the budget will need to stretch to a set of woodturning tools, a grinder and a set of aluminium oxide wheels at the very least, not to mention sundries like sandpaper and finishes. All of these should be allowed for in the budget before shopping for the wood lathe. It should be noted that a decent set of woodturning tools or a four jaw chuck may each be more expensive than a beginner's wood lathe.

It is possible to get started turning wood on a modest budget. Some reasonable planning is necessary but many woodturners have begun on light lathes and used them for many years.

Sharpening Woodturning Tools: Making Sense Of Grinder Wheels For Sharp Wood Lathe Tools

2011-02-17T15:57:00.000-04:00

Getting a good edge on a wood lathe tool is one of the great difficulties for a beginning woodturner and an ongoing concern for intermediates and experts. While the grinder is the tool of choice for woodworkers sharpening tools for wood lathes, getting it set up with the correct wheels can be a confusing challenge. It need not be with a couple of simple steps.

First it is necessary to move in thinking of the grinder as a sharpener. Many people come to woodturning from general woodworking where the grinder is used to remove lots of metal in a hurry so as to grind away nicks and breaks in chisels, plane irons and the like. Water stones and honing implements are used for final edges. Woodturners move from the grinder to the wood. Most shop grinders are not set up for this and the problem is largely the wheels.

Thus the second consideration is to replace the grinder wheels. While it is agreed that since woodturners generally use high speed steel tools they should have aluminium oxide wheels, there is a lot of confusion in the catalogues as to what color wheel to get and what bond to have. The color reflects individual manufacturers attempts to make choosing between grades of their particular wheels and has little to do with other wheels on the market. Consideration then should be given to grit and bond.

The bond of a wheel refers to how friable the material is that holds the aluminium oxide together. More friable bonds allow the material to break away quickly thus leaving a sharp cutting and cooler grinding surface. Unfortunately, the most friable bonds manufacturers recommend for woodturners groove, pit and wear quickly requiring a lot of wheel dressing and expensive replacement. Thankfully, almost any aluminium oxide wheel generally available to the home market is sufficiently friable for good sharpening with good wear so making sense of the friable numbers of bonds is not necessary. Just get a good wheel.

Third is consideration of the grit. While it may encourage argument, a good setup is a fast cutting wheel of about 46 grit on one side of the grinder and a sharpening wheel of eighty to one hundred on the other. With a good jig especially, this will meet all the shaping and sharpening needs of the woodturning shop.

Simply put, a couple of inexpensive aluminium oxide wheels of appropriate grit will give a lot of sharpening satisfaction and help to make a lot of shavings for a long time to come. Keep it simple and keep it fun.

Beginning Woodturning: Four Tips Before You Get Started

2011-02-11T19:47:00.000-04:00

As you look at a bewildering display of turned wood objects and an even more bewildering display of woodturning tools, it can quickly get discouraging to consider getting started turning wood at all. However if you look at the wide array of people who turn wood you quickly realizes that woodturning is an accessible hobby for just about anyone. The real question is how to get started. Here are four quick and easy ways to begin the entry into the world of wood turning and working on the wood lathe.

First take your time. Do not rush out and buy the first lathe you come to just to find out it is not suited for the objects that you would like to make. Read a few books on woodturning. Most libraries have one or two and maybe even a video to watch. It may be for a more advanced turner but will certainly give you some ideas of what you are getting into. Look for the basics such as what tools are needed and what kinds of wood lathes are available. Remember that you are starting out and all the bells that whistles that the pros like are probably not necessary for you.
Once you get a feel for the basics, consider what you might like to make for your own purposes, be they gifts, table legs for other projects, pens or whatever. Think of what accessories you might need other than the lathe or turning tools. Budgets start to come into play here. You might be able to find specialized books on your choices or even classes at the local community college or school dealing with this particular interest.
Consider taking a class in woodturning. Many woodworking classes in night school will have a lathe available and may have an instructor that knows how to use the machine. In addition look for a woodturning club in your area. A lot of communities have them and most have a fair number of watchers and even members who do not turn but are considering getting started. As a rule, woodturners like to demonstrate their skills and introduce others to the art and craft.
Stay safe as you start. Get a face shield and dust mask and use them. Hearing protectors are great too. While most lathes are fairly quiet wood shop tools, most wood turners will use chainsaws, band saws, planers, drills and the like with all the noise they provide. Safe woodworking is by far the most enjoyable.

These simple tips will get you started as you begin the interesting and compelling art and craft of woodturning. Soon you will be giving tips to someone else with the same interest.

Wood Everywhere

2008-11-12T14:06:00.002-04:00

November is here already. As a matter of fact, it is almost half gone and the stores are all Christmas nutty. One of the things that is happening around my part of the world; Nova Scotia, Canada; is the sudden appearance of wood piles as folks get in next year's wood.

The idea is to get green wood this year to cut to length and split for next year's fires once it is dry. Some folks even go a couple of years ahead. However, this is a woodturner's dilemma. What wood to turn and what wood to burn?

Advice? Keep the best looking stuff. Crotch wood has some great grain but can be hard to dry. So what? If it splits it is fire wood. No loss. The same with twists and turns and burls. Look for some good grain and if you find it while splitting, keep the logs from near it. If you keep your eyes open, there are some great finds in the wood pile.

By the way, keep some of the plainer, straight stuff for some kitchen spindle work and the like. Clean wood is great too.

Bandsaw Cut

2008-11-08T10:14:00.002-04:00

One of the most used tools for some woodturners is the band saw. In fact, I would recommend the band saw over the table saw for most turners while for cabinet enthusiasts the table saw is the first choice. However, while I consider the band saw to be one of the safest saws in the shop, safety is still an issue.

In particular there is the cut through a cylinder, not an infrequent need for many projects. Cylinders roll. If a cylinder rolls while being cut on a band saw, chances are excellent that the blade will get crimped and either draw a hand into the blade, snap the blade, weaken it to where it will snap the next time it is used or so damage it that it will come off the wheel. Of course any combination of the above is also possible.

At best, a piece of wood is damaged and at worst a serious cut is obtained with blood everywhere. Incidentally, if a catch happens it is extremely fast and a band saw for turning usually has at least a 1/2 and likely a 3/4 horse motor. There are very few people in the world strong enough to hand the wood and prevent an accident. Safety first.

Lately I had to cut off a section from a cylinder that had two diameters. For safety reasons I wanted a level cylinder. All that took was a shim under the smaller diameter. To keep the wood from rotating I simply took a clamp that rode on the table and used its holding power to grip the cylinder far more strongly than I could by hand. The arm of the clamp prevents rotation and what might have been a catch simply becomes a cut. Take your time through the cut if the wood is green especially.

Band Saw Safety Cut

Sticking to Woodturning

2008-11-06T14:04:00.003-04:00

There is some debate over the most important additions to the woodturner's arsenal in the past century or two. I am not going to pretend to have a definitive answer, just a couple of observations. Tool innovation has really only made small changes to hollowing, cutting and scraping tools. The four jaw chuck has made life easier in holding work but can be worked around by other methods.

I think one of the great advances has been the improvement in glues. Cyanoacrylate or CA glue in particular is used by woodturners on a daily basis. Thin CA can be dripped into a crack followed by fine dust from the same wood and the crack is almost invisible after the finish is applied. Some people use thin CA as a finish on small objects. Thicker CA is used to glue in brass tubing for pens and other projects. It is also unique in that it can make an almost instant bond with wet wood and can be used to hold a green piece to a waste block for turning.

Still, one of my favorite uses for CA is to simply hold wood together for turning. This CA dripped into a punky spot will keep it hard enough to turn. Thicker CA can glue together a piece that would otherwise split off.

CA has helped us to become better users of rare resources, pretty woods.

Thnks to the Old Timers

2008-11-04T19:31:00.001-04:00

Maybe "Old Timers" is a poor phrase to use here. many of the old time turners are not old. Some of them have only have only been turning for a year or two. What makes them "old timers" is simply that they have been turning wood longer than others.

However, what sets woodturning apart from most other crafts is the desire to share information. Old Timers are more than willing to bring a new comer under their wing and get them started on woodturning addiction. There is a sense of camaraderie that needs to be extended into more parts of life.

Most of our woodturning meetings have a couple of sharing times. During one, someone who is advanced in a technique shows the rest of us how they do it. Another more informal sharing time is the show and tell. People who have been turning for a few weeks or a lot of years bring in their latest pieces and talk about how they made them. Comments are almost always encouraging and often the old timers will quiz the new guys on how they did something.

questions, encouragement, sharing, friendship, humility

Who would NOT want to be a part of this? Maybe this is why a number of our club do not turn, they just like the meetings.

Another Use for Bottom Jaws

2008-11-03T08:19:00.002-04:00

Woodturners have variations on how to turn the bottom of bowls. Most use a donut jig or some sort of chuck jaws such as ones with plans on my web site, Bottom Jaws. However, any of these methods can also answers what has been a problem for many of us, how to save a bowl that has become a funnel.

By this I mean the times that I have had a bowl almost finished to find that a lapse in attention has caused me to turn through the bottom into the waste block I commonly use. I know; using a depth gauge would have prevented the difficulty but so would hove not permitting my mind to wander. However, I do know that I am not alone here, most of us have some pretty kindling with nice bowl sides and a hole in the bottom.

One way to solve the problem is to glue on a separate piece of wood to the bottom of the bowl and turn it cleanly. The difficulty is remounting to the lathe so as to leave everything centered. The answer is a flip.

1) glue the new bottom in place and about 1/4" too thick.
2) mount the bowl in the bottom jaws
3) turn a tenon on the bottom
4) FLIP the bowl over so as to hold the tenon in regular chuck jaws
5) turn the inside, sand and finish
6) FLIP the bowl into the bottom jaws
7) remove the tenon
8) turn and finish the bottom

hope it helps

Simple Tool Rack

2008-11-02T21:46:00.002-04:00

I had a question lately about making a tool rack for woodturning tools. Generally I have seen three variations on the theme.
1) a series of tubes on end to take the tool shafts. The tubes may be in a bucket or box.
2) a box similar to a shallow drawer, sometimes literally a shallow drawer with dividers to keep the tools from rolling into one another and ruining the edges
3) a board with holes drilled into it to accept the tool shafts. The board is usually fastened to a wall or near the lathe.

I like the latter concept as it is quick to make and convenient to use. However, even easier is to pick up one of those tool holders at the discount bin of the hardware store. They seemed designed to hold all sorts of screw drivers and wrenches or the life but the holes seem to fit things life standard lathe tools, knock out bars, tommy bars for chucks, lathe wrenches and the like.

Poppy Hint

2008-10-31T18:40:00.005-03:00

Here in Canada Remembrance Day is just around the corner, November 11, and poppies are being presented for donation reception by our Legionnaires. Lots of other
countries celebrate the same day under different names like Armistice Day or even Poppy Day. When I was serving as Legion Padre in Perth-Andover, New Brunswick, we would gather at the cenotaph in Perth for 11:00, move to the the cenotaph in neighboring Aroostook Village to conduct their cenotaph service, and then go to Fort Fairfield, Maine to assist the VFW in their service as they did not have a padre. Besides, some of our memberes had served in the American forces.

As a pastor, nephew of veterans, former Legion padre, and part time services padre, I encourage everyone who can to donate to the work of the Legion and VFW and to wear the poppy to commemorate the day and be thankful for the peace we enjoy. Take time during the day to pray for our vets and for the new ones being created in so many parts of the world. Of course I am thinking today of Afghanistan and Iraq in particular, but our men and women are fighting in many parts of the world and still lay down their lives for God, family and country.

Here is hint for the poppy wearers. I am one of those people who can lose a poppy just by thinking about it, or not. So, if you are one of those woodturners who makes ear rings and has a stash of ring backs, put one over the pin of your poppy so it does not fall off. Other wise go to the cheapie display of jewelry at the discount store and pay a buck or two for some gaudy junk you would not be caught dead wearing or knowing that giving it to your wife may be an act of suicide. After all, why toss the good stuff? Dump the ear rings and keep the backs for poppies. Now you can afford to give extra for the poppy because you know you only need one and fewer will be wasted. Better for the environment and everyone else.

By the way, for extra brownie points get a really nice pair of earrings, hide them until after Remembrance Day, use the backs for the poppies, get the extra back from your wife and then give her the earrings. That of course is for the fellas. Ladies can find their brownie points on their own.

In Flanders Fields
by John McCrae
Written in Flanders on May 3, 1915

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Sharpening: Halloween Helper

2008-10-29T15:23:00.002-03:00

Here is a quickie for people struggling to picture the shape needed for a spindle gouge and in some cases a bowl gouge with swept back wings. It is also the shape I sometimes use for an Oland tool, especially for bowls.

Some people call the shape a lady's finger nail. The other day I saw a perfect example in a local dollar store. The Halloween stuff was up for display and among all the clown paint and fake blood there were some packages of ridiculously long fake nails. They looked the perfect shape for a spindle gouge at 60*

Not a bad sharpening aid for the price. Sure, some folks might look at you funny when they see long, red, plastic nails by the grinder, but the cuts should be good.

Have a nice Halloween and may all your tools be sharp.

Sharpening, Once Again

2008-10-28T18:35:00.002-03:00

I have been catching up on my emails to be answered and one question that comes up over and over again is that of sharpening. Really this is not surprising. After all, dull woodturning tools make for lousy and frustrating woodturning. Add to this the prevailing argument over free hand or jig sharpening and you either get a frustrated newbie who

can not get the hang of freehand sharpening that we who have turned for a while learned after only two or three years
decides the only way to go is to get a jee whiz bang jig and then finds out that it adds a hundred or two to his after lathe cost of tools, grinder, special wheels, sanding pads, and whatever else

Years ago I built my $2.50 sharpening jig with the understanding that if it worked well for me, I would get a commercial one. You see, I was not convinced that I wanted to go from free hand to jig sharpening. The jig worked so well that I never got around to replacing it. One of these days I may, in a fit of energy, remake it in metal, but I doubt it. It works so well, why fix it?

jig with spindle gouge

There are not so much plans since every grinder is a bit different, but rather a discussion of building with photos over at sharpening jig. If you keep going to the last page there are videos of it working. For a couple of bucks, it is worth a shot.

Hope it helps. Keep turning.

New Video in the works

2008-10-27T12:09:00.002-03:00

Sorry to be so long in posting. I am working on it as life settles down into the new church, a different schedule for karate, and less time at the lathe. A question that has been raised to me a few times now is where to begin turning?

By this most woodturners to be seem to wonder if they should start by making table legs or spurtles or bowls or whatever. I think the best thing to start with is making a stick and a bunch of shavings. In fact, I think it is good for an experienced turner to make a stick and a bunch of shavings every now and then.

It teaches us or reminds us from whence we come. Take a log and mount it onto the lathe between centers and start removing stuff. First a rough object is reduced to a smooth one. The features of the log are revealed; knots, weak wood, insect holes and the like. Practice is given in entering at a precise place, cutting downhill with the grain, riding the bevel and so on.

Besides, this is fun and a lot of shavings are obtained for the compost pile.

I have shot the footage of me turning down a 10" diam by 16" log and should have it edited and uploaded soon. I will let you know.

Back to Burl

2008-09-25T12:45:00.003-03:00

At the moment there are a lot of things going on in life, but for now we are back from vacation, I have not started my new church and will not for about 10 days, and the garden is sort of getting past. There is still the fall yard clean up, but that will get done eventually. For now I plan to get back to the lathe a bit.

That burl is still on there and is ready to come off. It has been hollowed and is dry as dust. What remains is to remove it from the faceplate and turn away the waste wood while finishing the base. Then the sanding needs to be finished and the finish applied. The fun part is deciding how to turn away the waste considering that the top is not even. This is just one of those things that makes burls fun.

Great Legs from Paris

2008-09-18T23:31:00.005-03:00

I'm back. In fact my wife and I are back from a week in Paris followed by a week in the Lake District of England. The trip was great except for having my wallet lifted in Paris. Thankfully there was little cash in it and I canceled the cards before they could be used. All it amounted to was a nuisance.

While we were in Paris we saw hardly any turnings in the shops. There must be some somewhere, but I failed to see it. However, when I went to the Louvre there were a couple of turnings in the Egyptian section. All the way to France to see turnings from Egypt, this is a small world.

Notice the legs here

These are well turned with mortises cut for stringers and beads to decorate the feet. What is remarkable is the similarity to something we might turn today but these are from the New Kingdom, around 1550-1069 BC, say around 3000 years ago. Talk about nothing new under the sun.

Then there was this table (sans the top) from the same time period.
In fact, the work is so similar that it may have been the same maker. On the other hand, it could just have been the style or for that matter a request to duplicate the existing furniture.

There was some other wood around but no other turnings that I saw. It is remarkable to me that wood has lasted 3000 years. On the other hand, there may have been lots of turnings in the Louvre. Only a part of what is on hand is displayed and it would take ages to see just the displays.

Lots of fun and lots to think about.

The first pages are up

2008-05-05T12:43:00.003-03:00

I have gotten the first pages up about this new spruce burl. I think this one will be a vase shape. The top will be a challenge because the opening is larger in principle than it is in practice. That is, the shape of the opening looks like it should give more room to get a tool inside than is really the case. This will make more sense as the piece progresses.

Next Burl

2008-05-02T23:19:00.002-03:00

So here is a picture of the next spruce burl on the lathe. it was wrapped around a branch as you can see. One of the things I think is going on in the branch is tension that may lead to a split, but that should not matter in a decorative piece like this will be. There are a lot of worm holes in this one. I suspect the spruce bark beetle. It has decimated some of the stands around here although nothing like the pine bark beetle has done out west.

This one is a lot of fun. I will try to get a couple of pages up on the web site in a couple of days.

Wood turning today

2008-05-01T18:19:00.002-03:00

Things have been quiet in the shop. On the weekend we took a trip to Ontario to visit our son and daughter. It was a great time and I saw a lot of trees, but there was little time to turn any wood or to meet with fellow wood turners. Maybe next trip. When we got home I had a raspy throat which did not bode well, especially since I had a funeral to handle the next day. Sure enough it developed into a terrible head cold. I got through the funeral as if there was a choice, but no time in the shop. Today was the last day of a weeks vacation but it was all I could do to get out of my own way. Tomorrow I hope to get back to a piece that is on the lathe, another spruce burl hollow form. I will try to get some pictures up soon.

Remounting the Natural edged Bowl

2008-04-14T11:27:00.003-03:00

I have managed to get a video up on YouTube regarding remounting the natural edged bowl, preparatory to finish turning. This one illustrates well the use of a hot glue block.

There have been some questions raised as to the use of hot glue with a glue block.

it is the same glue the crafters use. I have used heavy duty but find it no better.

make sure the gun is hot

the wood surfaces need to be reasonably flat or very slightly concave

the surfaces need to be dry

These are just the precautions you would use with any glue block. However, with hot glue there is no real need to clamp and you can turn right away.

Work in Progress : Done The Spruce Burl

2008-04-08T19:18:00.003-03:00

Let the bells ring out and the banners fly or fry or whatever they want. I finally got the spruce burl finished and it looks good if I do say so myself. Any comments are appreciated here. I like to learn.

This was a lot of fun and I have another one on the go. Soon I will get some pictures and stuff up about it too.

These burls allow for a lot of reflection as they turn, both the light from them and the light that dawns as considerations are given to the next cut or sanding pass. The nice thing about spruce burls in our neighborhood is their commonality. Lots of them and most are just thrown away so they are fun to play with and if one blows apart, there is usually another to hand. come to think of it I have not ruined one in a long time. Maybe I am not pushing the envelope enough.

Work in Progress : hollow form bottom

2008-03-24T20:08:00.002-03:00

I got the bottom sanded and done. One of the questions I get asked frequently is about doing bottoms, as in "how to?" It turns out (all puns intended) that one of the easiest ways to accomplish a good bottom is not to turn it but rather to sand it. The motion is to mount a sanding pad to a lathe, drill press or other motor and work the wood against the pad.

Start with a motion that begins in the middle and works its way to the edge. Concentrate on sanding almost to the edge. You will actually get right to the edge and the start in center will leave the bottom concave so it will sit right.

I use a wood burner to put my name, the type of wood and the year along the bottom. Indelible ink pens like an ultrafine Sharpie work well here also. The page is found at working the bottom

work in progress: burl on the lathe - remove the block

2008-03-20T10:17:00.003-03:00

I have put a couple more pages up on the web site dealing with turning the spruce burl. The piece has been flipped end for end and the glue block removed. This is one of the things that throws people at first but it is fairly simple. Just take your time.

It is easy to rush things this near the end. Unfortunately, that can make a catch happen and there is not a lot of wood left on the piece. One good catch and boom she goes. While there is a lot said about riding the bevel and making sure the edge is sharp and all that other true stuff, the big thing is to take your time. There is no need to rush.

Think about the cut.
Make the cut.
Look at the result.
Do it over.

Remember that the fun is in the doing and the result is just nice to see. Ok, a lot of the fun is in the result too, but take the time to enjoy the cuts. Chances are, none of us enjoy the catches.

Have a good Easter.

Darrell

work in progress: burl on the lathe - outside prep

2008-03-14T19:50:00.003-03:00

I have managed to finish hollowing the vase or hollow form or whatever this burl is, and I have gotten the outside ready to finish. see it here
It introduces one of the questions that may hit several times as you turn a burl that allows a glimpse into the interior, "how much of the interior should be revealed and what do the edges of the opening look like?" A lot of the time the change from one thickness to another at the unsupported edge of the openings will allow a very thin membrane of wood to extend over the opening or negative space of the burl.

Those membranes can be left or removed. Each change alters the amount of light that enters the vessel along with varying shadows. The style of edge affects shadows and depth perceptions. How shall these things be done so as to leave the natural look of the burl but also expose its beauty to the viewer?

Hopefully I have begun to answer the questions.

work in progress continues: hollowing

2008-03-08T15:48:00.003-04:00

I have had a couple of hectic weeks of funerals at work, annual meetings, and computer problems. In fact I am writing this on my laptop because my desktop, and favoured computer, is in the shop.

I did get a bit if time in the shop and also some time to write up a couple more pages on the spruce burl. One of the things I noticed as I was hollowing the piece is the drilling of the center with a 1/4" gouge. This is something I learned from Maurice Gamblin who has been turning professionally for twenty years now. Still I do not see many others doing it. I have used drills for the purpose but the gouge is easily as fast and more versatile. In fact, many vessels can be hollowed using only the gouge.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pages

work in progress: burl on the lathe 2

2008-02-27T22:47:00.003-04:00

The work on the burl continues after a day or so hiatus. I had a funeral and that takes precedence over everything, even turning. Nice fellow, but sixty years of heavy smoking catches up with you. Lung cancer. Take care of yourselves and use those dust masks when sanding.
Anyway I got the piece roughed and attached a faceplate and glueblock to be able to use all the burl. I have used epoxy which is likely overkill, but I like overkill especially when I take the chance of throwing something at my face. You can see the work as it continues if you would like to take a look.

Spam warning

2008-02-24T14:47:00.002-04:00

Hi
I just checked my blog here and found a comment by Tojagal. Clicking on it immediately led me to one of those obnoxious registry scanner programs designed to scare the crap out of anyone who does not know better. Total spam. The comment has been deleted. Do not click on comments by Tojagal. Spam, spam, spam. Now back to wood turning.

work in progress: burl on the lathe

2008-02-22T16:04:00.003-04:00

I managed at last to get a chance to get a couple of pictures and thoughts up about the first spruce burl. It is about 10" x 10" but will likely produce an 8" hollow form given the vagaries of burls. So far I have been able to make some design decisions and find out some of the difficulties it will throw at me. I expect to use the regular hollowing tools for this one, but it has introduced some interesting problems in mounting. The wood is soft and displays some of the common punky and spalted woods that are often found in spruce burl. On the other hand, it also has some of those bark inclusions, sap pockets and incurves that make these so much fun. Challenges are only design opportunities after all.
starting the burl

New Work in Progress

2008-02-17T19:44:00.006-04:00

I have been having some difficulty with uploading to YouTube so the next installment on the natural edged bowl will be a while, but at least I am trying. Meanwhile I have started another work in progress. This time it is deciphering a pile of wood that is mostly burls.

One of them, the large spruce burl has to made into a fruit bowl, I think with the natural edge obvious. The folks who own the big burl, I think maple, want a piece made with the burl surface obvious or emphasized. Other than that, it will be whatever the wood and I want. To start with I am going to do something with one of the smaller spruce burls.

This should be fun.

Sharpening Wood Turning Tools (3)

2008-02-13T18:58:00.006-04:00

One thing a wood turner must do is rid oneself of the notion that the tool in the shop is a grinder, at least most of the time. For sharpening things like plane irons and chisels we have all sorts of things like sandpaper of various grits, oil or water stones, strops and who knows what all. To each his or her own.

For wood turning tools, we generally go straight from the grinder to the lathe. However, in this case the grinder is the sharpener. It is set up differently from that of a general shop worker or metal worker. Instead, it is set up to work with wood turning tools so as to give them a good edge and get quickly back to work.

For this I like a general purpose grinder available at most hardware stores. Mine is a high speed grinder, 1350 rpm. I realize that some like a slower sharpener but again to each his or her own. The reason stems from older tools make of carbon steel and also from a lack of experience. Improper technique on a fast sharpener tends to build up heat that will destroy the temper of carbon steel tools. Today's high speed steel (HSS) tools will be fine. Good technique makes a world of difference as in almost everything else.

Most grinders come with wheels well suited for grinding, not sharpening. One is likely coarse and the other medium. I like to put the medium one on the right side for grinding away nicks or dents in tools or to shape them when necessary. I do not like the little tables that come on most grinders and made a larger one for mine.

The left side becomes the sharpening side with an 80 grit or 100 grit aluminum oxide wheel. Some people like the white wheels but I find them too easy to wear and prefer a normal consumer wheel which for some reason wears better and costs a lot less.

Keep the wheels clean and round with a wheel dresser. I have used both a diamond dresser and a star wheel dresser and both work well. Clean wheels cut better and cooler.

On the left side goes a jig for sharpening. I simply find it gives a better, more easily repeatable grind. While some people like the jig for eliminating facets on the tool the best reason for using it is the repeatability of the grind. This allows your body to become used to the angles and learn to turn with the same tools, building habits of control. This is especially important for beginners. Once a lot of practice has been made you can more easily compensate for a different grind.

Sharpening Wood Turning Tools (2)

2008-02-04T14:11:00.000-04:00

As Derek was saying (see his site by the way at Seafoam Woodturning )The motions used in freehand sharpening are similar to those we use in turning. For instance, to sharpen a roughing gouge one

presents the tool resting on the grinder table (that rest in front of the wheel) with the flute up and the tool not yet touching the wheel.

if right handed the handle is held in the right hand against the right hip

the left hand steadies the tool on the grinder table

raises the handle until the heel of the bevel touches the wheel gently and a hair more until sparks move over the edge

roll the tool to the right as sparks move over the edge

roll the tool to the left as sparks move over the edge

In theory the tool has moved through the same motions as cleaning a fine shaving right and left. The sparks coming over the edge indicate that a sharp edge has been formed and you are ready to turn.

In reality I find this is the time turners move the tool in wide arcs as they inspect the edge for sharpness and for facets on the bevel. If you are unsure of your sharpening enough for this to happen, you will likely consider

the edge not good enough

too many facets on the bevel

the angle has changed

and back to the grinder you go until you have really messed things up or give up in disgust and go to the work anyway and find the edge works fine, but could have been better.

One of the big problems is simply you moved before returning to the wheel. The practice is sound but it needs practice. Try a couple of things.

practice the motions with the grinder off. Feel the bevel on the wheel and do it several times. So it takes a few minutes; hopefully you are going to do this for the rest of your life.

ignore the facets. No one else will see them and they will not really affect the final cut no matter what the jig using people like me say.

ignore the angle. You have not likely changed it enough to matter. A degree or so is not the damage most people think. If you are off five degrees or more you really need a coarser wheel to reshape it and that is another subject.

most important of all, do not move your hands from their anchor as you look at the edge. The left stays on the tool shaft and the right on the handle at your hip. That way you become the jig and the tool returns to the same place each time

I hope this helps. More thoughts to come.

Sharpening Wood Turning Tools

2008-02-03T16:27:00.000-04:00

There has been a discussion in progress over rec.crafts.woodturning dealing with some of the ins and outs of sharpening wood turning tools. I thought I would post a few of my views.

First of all, there is no definitive way to sharpen out tools and the same person will use different methods of sharpening say a skew versus a roughing gouge. I, for instance, would sharpen a skew free hand but use a jig for the roughing gouge, at least most of the time. A bowl gouge I would almost always sharpen with a jig for long wings but likely freehand for straight across but sometimes would reverse that. While I would like to give coherent reasons for doing so it probably depends more on mood than logic.

One of the problems that beginners have and continue having as they begin turning is the mastery not of sharpening, but of sharpening turning tools. Many turners begin their woodworking careers with flat work of some sort. There router bits and table saw blades are generally sent out for sharpening while chisels and plane irons are sharpened with an assortment of stones or sandpaper and possibly a few jigs. There also tends to be a fairly long interval between sharpenings. Not so with wood turning.

A wood lathe simply moves wood over the edge of the tool faster than does most other wood working methods. Wood turners also tend to use wood that is rougher than flat woodworkers and it may still have bark and grit in it. The edge of the tool simply does not last for very long under such circumstances.

Flat workers tend to use grinders to remove large amounts of metal under circumstances such as dents and nicks that call for a tool to be reshaped. A wood turner uses a grinder to quickly sharpen and get back to work. The fine edge of the wood plane simply disappears under the speed and fury of the lathe but the edge from the grinder lasts sufficiently well and cuts sufficiently well to be considered more than adequate for the job.

So a grinder should be thought of as a sharpener and only enough metal should be intended to be removed so as to leave a good cutting edge. For this reason some turners think a slow speed grinder is best for the job as it is cooler to work with and supposedly removes less metal. Others such as myself like a high speed grinder as with high speed steel heat is not an issue and I only intend to remove enough steel to leave a good edge. Enough is enough whether one uses a fast or slow grinder.

Over the next few days I will add some thoughts on free hand sharpening versus the jig.

Natural Edged Bowl - Roughing Inside

2008-01-30T12:35:00.000-04:00

Ta Dah! this is the 100th entry on the blog. Applause please. Now that we have that over, I have managed to get another video up on YouTube dealing with the natureal edged bowl. This is the fun part, roughing the inside. This is also the quickest part, especially here with so much air to turn. Air turns fast. Duh! As always, comments are appreciated.

Back to Basics

2008-01-25T22:41:00.000-04:00

I have been working on some things for the new website in answer to questions specifically from beginners. More and more I am convinced that we need to get back to the fundamentals of turning. In some ways the direction of turning today seems to reflect the direction of education.

Our educational system in North America appears to be ranging away from the fundamentals of societal need to move toward specialization without foundation. By that I mean for example that students are preparing term presentations with video cameras before they can write a script, or for that matter a coherent sentence. Algebra appears to be on the curriculum for students who cannot handle basic arithmetic without a calculator. It used to be that employers considered a high school graduate suitable for training for managerial positions. Now they hope that college graduates can read, write, and balance a check book, but there are no guarantees. Many colleges and universities have entry level courses, mostly non credit, to teach the basic skills of reading, writing and arithmetic to incoming students, some of whom were A level graduates of high schools but lack basic skills.

In the same manner, I hear people having bought lathes to turn salad bowls for a living or baseball bats for the team, but have never used the machine before. Many a would be turner goes to the lathe for the first time, puts on a length of construction 4x4, and watches his tool be kicked over his head by a whirling menace. Fundamentals are necessary to learn and practice. The old adage of "walk before you run" works well here.

Wood turnings all work alike; prepare, turn, sand, and finish. The preparation may range easily from chainsaw and log to band saw and board or drill press and pen blank, but wood must be prepared to go on the lathe. Segmented turners will cut and glue for ages but it is all to prepare the wood to go on the lathe.

Turning may be for spindle or faceplate work but tools are still needed to be sharp and presentation needs to be clear. Different woods cut a little differently and need to be learned and approached in their own manner. Too many a new turner has been discouraged with the common spruce or pine of the flat worker to later be amazed at the nice cutting qualities of a piece of maple or ash. Each style of tool requires a slightly or greatly differing approach, but they are all able to be learned and familiarity with one makes the next easier.

Sanding is as important to the wood turner as to any other wood worker. The person who looks at the final piece looks at the surface, not the work in it. Finishing can be as elaborate or as simple as one likes, providing it fits the piece. Some call for dyes, painting, carving, piercing, pyrography or a combination of these and other embellishments. For others it would be gilding the lily.

The fundamentals well learned will let us approach that beautiful piece of hideously rare and possibly expensive wood with confidence. Learning is good.

Embellishments on Turning

2008-01-24T23:25:00.000-04:00

We have been having a lot of fun lately over the rec.crafts.woodturning new group over the question: When is a turning not a turning?

Got me, but in some people's eyes, if a turning is pierced, painted, cut apart, glued up, torched, or a combination of any of the above it somehow ceases to be a turning. Actually a turning per se is often a glue up but still regarded as a turned piece and has been for ages, even by the naysayers of today. Candlesticks are often a turned base and riser glued together and some even glue on a separate cup. Still, even the stalwarts of traditionalism consider it a wood turning. Mallets and gavels usually have the head glued to the handle, yet again are called turnings.

On the other hand, some quibble if today a piece is glued to an obviously turned piece that it has ceased to be a wood turning and is now a something else. We are not sure what.

Legitimately, some wood turnings have become canvasses as such for some to paint on. While some may not call them wood turnings, I think starting with a pretty canvas gives you one up on most people. After all, DaVinci painted the Mona Lisa on a small piece of wood, poplar of some sort I recall, but may be in error.

Surprisingly, most would call this piece a turning, even the traditionalists. Actually the idea to burn a picture on wood is an old one. This was really what we call a "save" as opposed to tossing the piece in the fire. It cracked during drying as hollow forms often do and would have been waste. I glued a crack and burned an image into it, then a few more strands to camouflage the first and so on. Ash is not the easiest wood to burn in this fashion, but it seemed to work. Anyway, it was fun.

Maybe folks just need to lighten up and turn more.

Natural Edged Bowl - Roughing Outside (3)Finding the Curve

2008-01-19T18:41:00.000-04:00

For me, one of the things that keeps me coming back to the lathe is the everlasting hunt for the elusive curve. Every piece turned could be a little different with a subtle change in the curve of the bowl.

Here I have the fun of hunting in a spot where the curve changes dramatically as the bowl rotates. The line of the end will disappear around the side because the wood is simply not there. So the quest becomes a search for a curve that exists in different configurations at different spots. An ogee at one spot becomes a simple curve at another because half the figure is gone.

This is simply fun. The other side of all this is the wood is cheap to use. As I recall the pin cherry for this turning came from a tree that was too close to Dad's shed and was dying from black knot so it had to come down. Once I got it down, it was too good to toss so here it is.

Drawing the Bowl

2008-01-15T13:48:00.000-04:00

One of the more difficult things for a wood turner to learn is where to watch the lines form for a turning. Most of the time we like to look at the tool edge to see where the action is and likely to watch out for a catch.

One of the problems with this is the tendency to over compensate for a cut that is not quite right and make the wrong move with the tool. This produces a dig that needs to be cleared up and produces more work than necessary. What is desired is to be able to see the lines of the piece develop and to make small adjustments in the line of the result. An artist on paper would tell you not to look at the pencil tip but rather at the line.

So a wood turner needs to look away from the tool and seek instead to watch the line of the developing piece. This would then appear somewhat as in the accompanying video. The tool is not seen, just the "ghost" of the piece. This is quite dramatic in this instance as determined by the shape of the piece.

In a very real sense, this is drawing in three dimensions. The only thing is, once a line is in place, it can not be erased except to make the piece smaller. It also leads to a style of turning similar to the broad styles of sketching.

Some artists sketch with a bold line from the top of the subject to the bottom. Others work in short lines. Generally both refine after the main idea in in place and perhaps ink and color as well. Similarly, some wood turners make broad and long cuts down the side of a vessel while others nibble away in small sections and blend it in later. Most of us combine the two.

In a case like this I seldom have a final idea of the shape of the piece except in general terms. This is after all, a bowl and not a vase. However, there may be undercuts or ogee curves or opportunity for carving or piercing or the like as the piece progresses. This is simply the fun of the turning.

Natural Edged Bowl - Roughing Outside (1)

2008-01-12T18:38:00.000-04:00

One of the things, if not the thing that makes turning these natural edged bowls fun is simply the amount of air in the mix. That is especially true for one like this that is longer than it is wide. Of course this brings up complications. For one thing, there is really not firm bevel to ride. You depend on the speed of the wood to make up for the gaps and just go for it. As the video goes on you can see the difference in tool movement as I go from the sides with gaps to the bottom with solid wood. The other thing is the difficulty in viewing the bowl. There is so much air that it can be hard to see the wood once it starts turning. I am turning here at 1200 rpm. You need a decent speed to contend with the huge gaps. If you are not comfortable turning a bowl at that speed, just practice on a few regular ones first.

Turning a Natural Edged Bowl - Mounting

2008-01-09T14:47:00.000-04:00

I have been playing with a video of turning a natural edged bowl. These are always fun to turn because so much of the turning is really air, not wood. For this one I am using a piece of pin cherry of which I have a lot. I tried to keep the bark on but did not make it this time. It is sort of a crap shoot to keep the bark, depending on when the tree was cut and how long it has been down and likely whether you hold your nose just right. Anyhow, I will put sections up on YouTube and eventually have the whole thing available for download. Hope you enjoy it and as usual any comments and critiques are welcome.

Happy New Year

2008-01-01T08:48:00.001-04:00

Time just keeps moving on and I seem to play catch up a fair amount of it. While checking the web site for a major rewrite, I found a couple of projects or at least the bones of them, that have not as yet been put up. So I managed to get a beginner project up on the site. It is based on the Milton and Wohlers book that is also on site. Eventually I will have instructions for most of those projects. Some are pretty dated but they all teach the skills of wood turning.

This project gives a handy tool for the shop, a scratch awl. I think the ferrule and striker cost me about 5 cents so you can make a few to keep them handy. The pages are over at scratch awl project

All the best to you and yours. Keep the turning turning. I will try to get the video for this shot and up shortly.

Time to Turn - Almost

2007-12-28T22:34:00.000-04:00

Christmas has gone, I think. At least I am back to work even though the girls are still home on break. We are having an open house for the church on New Years Eve so I will be tied up getting the cooking done for that, but I hope to get some turning in.

There are some plans for the web site in the new year. I expect to get some contributor's pages up for one thing. Some really neat pictures have come to me from some of the readers and people should see some of this stuff.

Also there is more demand for video on the site and I plan on doing more of it. Some of the pages need a real rewrite and on my end the site has grown so much that I need to redo a lot of the organization. Not hard stuff, but it requires a fair amount of time.

In addition, there is a real need for step by step instruction for beginners and I have begun a web book course. the first pages will be up soon and I will announce it here. The plan is to develop the skills needed for turning using a project based approach. I think folks will like it. It will follow the format of Around the Woods but more systematically and will deal more with what it is reasonable for other people to turn rather than what I turn myself. Anyway, it sounds like fun and should keep me busy for the next few years.

Take care in the New Year. All the best to you and yours

Christmas Giving

2007-12-22T11:15:00.000-04:00

Back in May, Arnie had been given a lathe and some tools by his wife Maggie who thought he was too much underfoot and this would be a good birthday present anyway. After all the kids could give him tools and funny woods for the next twenty years. What to give a man who does nothing is always a problem, but a man with a lathe, the local club told her, always needs something.

Arnie was captivated. The shop in the basement was quickly too dusty and too small so the Ford found a new home in the driveway and the lathe set up housekeeping in the garage. Strange logs appeared in the driveway and a chainsaw found its way into the picture. Bowls and candlesticks began to find their own way into the house.

As Christmas neared one of Maggie's problems was solved. Money was tight and presents were going to be hard to come by, but Arnie's turnings had become quite suitable for gifts. There was, however, the other problem.

She had always gotten a turkey from work but this year the company had decided to give an assortment of ecologically correct gift wrap and bags. The idea was the company was going green but she thought it might be that the packages were a lot cheaper than the turkeys.

It turned out that Arnie had a solution to the problem and the answer had sort of just grown. He had shown his old pal Charles (never Charlie), the butcher down the street at the farm market some of his turnings over the last few months. Charles wanted a couple of gifts for his wife and daughter and was not averse to barter.

So a couple of days before Christmas Arnie took a burled salad bowl and an ash hollow form to Charles and returned home with a lovely free range turkey (ecologically correct thought Maggie to herself) and a long link of sausage. Years ago Maggie had started wrapping the turkey with a sausage as it roasted and traditions started are traditions kept, especially if they taste good.

"I don't know, Arnie," she said as she looked at the meat. "Bartering for the turkey is one thing, but I think you should have paid for the sausage."

"Why," asked Arnie. "Charles thought it was great trade."

"I'm just thinking about his family," said Maggie. "The turkey is one thing but Christmas is an awful time to cause a man to take a turn for the wurst."

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year folks.
Keep on turning and may all your finishes be swirl free.

Something good comes along

2007-12-17T16:34:00.000-04:00

The saga of the EBay stuff continues. The guy pulled the DVD with my free stuff on it but has put up another one with other people's turnings and woodworking. He does not seem to get the idea that stuff on the web is created by someone and that they therefore own the copyright. I guess he just wants to profit form someone else's work. Why he does not make his own videos is beyond me.

That said, I hope it is in the past. One thing that has happened is a few requests from people for me to put some of the videos together on a DVD and sell it as such. I will think about it. One of the things about the site is that the info is freely shared. Besides which, most of the videos are made to accompany a written page. If I was going to collect and sell them, I would need to reshoot for a more complete package. Time, time, time. Let me know if there is interest. Keep in mind that the same stuff that would on a DVD would also be available an the site. Around $15.00 for a DVD versus free on the site. We'll see what happens.

Appreciate the support.

Notice of EBay Scam

2007-12-14T10:53:00.000-04:00

Will the greed of people never cease? I got an email from a great guy who had unfortunately bought a DVD from Ebay. The DVD was just a collection of free videos from folks like me who had posted them on YouTube or our own sites for folks to see free of charge. This guy had made collections and was selling them on EBay. Not only is this a violation of all the copyright laws around but it is also an attempt to profit from other people's work and generostiy.

Trust me, it takes a lot to make even a home video if you want it to turn out decently. But this is fine for me because I enjoy it and I like people to see how I do stuff. Hopefully they improve on it and we share the info. That is one of the great things about wood turners. If you do not share, you have not gotten the idea of turning in the first place.

A while ago at a show I was asked by a turner how I made a particular piece. This is an entirely different question from a wood turner than from a regular customer. He thanked me for sharing my "secrets" with him. There are no secrets in wood turning. Just good techniques and practice.

However, there is a big difference between sharing for free while giving credit where credit is due and the idea of selling free material to people while giving the understanding that this is good value.

Enough rant. I am going to turn.

The Sanity of Wood Turning

2007-12-10T12:06:00.000-04:00

This seems to be a good day to ramble so I thought I would. As a pastor of a small, rural church, we had regular services yesterday morning and a special Christmas service last evening so there was little time for me to be in the shop. Actually there was none so I decided to at least write about wood turning since I could not do it.

The night service was dedicated as a time of sharing with one another about the people who will not be with us at Christmas. Some have passed away this year, some have moved to other parts of the world, others have new commitments in life that have taken them away, and still others have Alzheimer’s or similar problems that have removed them from the normal picture.

There is a lot of stress in people’s lives today and pastors share it. Not only do we deal with many if not all of the same stresses, but we also try to shoulder other people’s as well. This is not a pity trip. We choose to do this work and most of us either love it or can not picture doing anything else. After all the rewards are fantastic. We also get to participate in weddings, baby dedications, baptisms and great moments in people’s lives.

The simple point is pastors have the stresses that other people have and need to cope with those stresses. One of the thing that has occurred to me recently is pastors seem to have a hard time relaxing. Again this is not unique to pastors and more and more I am observing that people have too few hobbies and interests outside the work place.

I have found woodworking in general and wood turning in particular to be sanity savers for me. They answer two big criteria for me as far as relaxing hobbies are concerned. The first is the need to extend themselves to other people and the second is the capacity to be absorbing.

Wood turning tends to produce a lot of output, especially as I like to turn small objects. Most of the time a small object is faster to make than is a large one although excessive detail can take time on some pieces. There are three choices at least with all these pieces of wood.

The first is to simply accumulate them at home. While we do keep a few around, it seems that they can have the ability to overflow all available flat surfaces in a hurry. Simply having them in a box in the shop does not make a lot of sense.

So the second solution has become to sell some of the turnings. This is great because my wife and I enjoy going to shows together and meeting the people who shop. Most of the time we are at only high end shows and only do a few a year so the events do not become stale. Unfortunately this means there is still a lot of product.

The third answer has been to give gifts to a lot of family and friends. There is a real pleasure in taking a piece of landfill or firewood and turning it into something someone else will treasure. Christmas or birthdays often finds my wife and I going through boxes in the shop, looking for the perfect gift someone special. When the kids are home they often declare it to be “gift time” and hunt for their own. My son’s wife could be a tournament judge. She has an incredible eye for the turning finesses.

One thing that has happened in recent years has been my tendency to donate pieces to local charities who are having fund raising auctions. Not only do I get the satisfaction of turning, but I am also able to help someone else.

Wood turning has been called by my wife my “time machine.” I can go into the shop for ten minutes and come out two hours later, sure that only ten minutes has passed. Some of the absorption certainly comes from the dangers of any woodworking endeavour. After all, anything that cuts maple will certainly cut me and I like having all my body parts, such as they are.

Still it is the work itself that demands concentration. A piece can be ruined by a curve being just a little bit off. Measurements need to be exact even though most measuring is not done with a ruler but rather by feel, experience and intuition. Sometimes the most important cut is the one that is not made but rather left alone after some thought.

More and more I realize that we need these hobbies. They are a release from the tensions of life and yet move us into other realms that touch other people. Art, craft, appreciation, absorption, life.

Roughing a Bowl, Video 7; turning the inside (b)

2007-12-04T11:47:00.000-04:00

Here is that second part to roughing the bowl inside. Mostly it is finishing the bottom and removing the tenons including a catch and a flying bowl. Ooops. Any way, hope you enjoy this. I am amazed how many videos I can watch of wood flying in all directions.

Roughing a Bowl, Video 7; turning the inside (a)

2007-12-03T09:40:00.000-04:00

I know this is dragging out but it takes ages to get a decent video out especially being the amateur I am. Besides, YOuTube only lets me put up so much in one clip and it is the easiest way to get the stuff out that I have seen so far. I will eventually get some of these on a file for download to a CD or DVD if anyone is interested.
The bowl is continuing on. Unfortunately for me, clearing the inside is one of the fastest parts of roughing a bowl and is also one of the most fun. This five minute clip in real time flips the bowl to remount, measures the sides and bottom for good drying and narrows the tenon for later release. The tools used are a 3/8" and 1/4" Oland. This is likely one of the reasons that I have a lot of bowls waiting to be refinished but that is a later project time and another video.

One of the things I have in mind is a set of short videos on Oland tool cuts, again if anyone is interested. At present I am in the beginning stages of video and pictures of a Wood Turning Basics web book based on the Milton and Wohlers text and I will bounce back and forth from doing that and other projects for the next year at least until it is done.

Anyway, enjoy the video or at least watch it and as always, any comments are welcome.

Roughing a Bowl, Video 5: Mounting on the Lathe

2007-12-01T19:26:00.001-04:00

Here is the quick and easy video 5, mounting on the lathe. I like to mount a bowl between centers if at all possible for roughing cuts. It is quick and easy and allows for the wood to be moved later if necessary. The big negative for me is the tendency for the spur bit to pretend it is a spade bit and try to drill its way through.Since this just means tightening the tail stock on a periodic basis, this does not really matter.

Roughing a Bowl, Video 6; turning the outside

2007-11-30T08:12:00.000-04:00

I am continuing the video series with the outside turning. It gives an idea of using the Oland tool on some green wood. The video is real time of course. I had to remove about 70 seconds of time in order to fit it to YouTube's length allowance but it gives a good approximation of time involved for roughing a bowl. I will try to get the inside turning up in a few days. I suppose this means I need to shoot the finishing video for a bowl as well, but it will likely wait until after Christmas.

Sunday Greetings

2007-11-29T14:30:00.000-04:00

I know it is after Sunday, but I just wanted to tell you what happened at church. One of the guys took his grandchildren home after Sunday School and came in to tell me he had brought me something from home. While he was out he had picked up a couple of maple burls he had cut off his firewood for me that week. They were sitting by my car door. One is about 12" long and the other about 8. These should have some great color in them. There are some great folks in that church and they treat me well. Have a good one folks.

Roughing a Bowl, Video 4: Knocking off the corners

2007-11-27T13:44:00.000-04:00

Once the blanks are marked I like to cut off the corners before mounting on the lathe. First of all it tends to give a better balance without all the extra wood. There is also a chance to cut off any extra bits and pieces that might otherwise give balance problems. Second it allows for a bigger bowl to be placed on the lathe. The diagonal of the blank is about 1 1/2 times as long as the diameter of the blank. Actually about 1.4 times for all you fussy mathematician types. Getting as much of the extra wood off the corners as possible allows me to turn a 16" bowl on my 16" lathe instead of only a 10" to 11". Finally, the chainsaw is a bit faster than the lathe at the wood removal.

Roughing a Bowl, Video 3: Marking out the circles

2007-11-23T11:59:00.000-04:00

I like to cut away as much as possible of the blank before roughing the bowl. Some turners with larger and more powerful lathes like to throw on the half log and turn but I find the chain saw faster to work with. Also, the better balanced the blank the easier and safer to turn.

Actually, for larger bowls, say 10 inches and over, I usually cut an angle at the ends to match the slope of the sides, but this is a more dangerous cut for the inexperienced so I left it out of the video. Hope you enjoy.

Roughing a Bowl, Video 2 : ripping in two

2007-11-21T11:05:00.000-04:00

In this part I rip the log sections in two to create 2 blanks per section. This is one of the safest cuts for a chainsaw but also a hard one on the saw. Maintain an angle of about 60° through the log and allow the shavings to clear. Chainsaws are intended for crosscuts and the long shavings of a rip cut can cause the saw to bind. They can also interfere with the oiler so make sure that there is sufficient oil for the chain. I just use a regular sharpening of the chain. The saw buck with a channel here is superior to the "X" shape buck which would cause the wood to bind when the cut is completed and the two sections slid down the sides of the "X" to the center, trapping the bar between them.

Roughing a Bowl, Video !

2007-11-20T18:40:00.000-04:00

A while ago I shot some footage of me roughing out some ash bowls. Having come across the film, I decided to edit it and get it on Youtube as well as on the web site. This is the first in what will be 8 or 9, I think. They are fairly short to get them on You Tube but I may have a longer version on the page for download.

Squirrel Distractions

2007-11-17T16:47:00.000-04:00

This is one of those days when I can not seem to get any turning done. Wood had to be cut for winter warmth, I have both a church service tomorrow and a friend's funeral to prepare, and the phone keeps ringing. I glanced at the pine tree outside the window just to be thinking of wood when another distraction hit, or chewed.

A squirrel had managed to chew one side of the bird feeder so at to loosen the cap and then get it off so the feeder hung from one side. I got some cool pictures of the we beastie having the meal of his life before I went out and fixed the feeder.

Persistence is necessary if you plan to turn wood. Mistakes teach but only if you take up the gouge or skew or what have you to make another cut or a whole new piece. The squirrel is a good argument for try and try again. I wonder if he could be trained to sand bowls?

We will not mention the cats who are still trying to get the squirrel. :-)

Hanging the Icicle Ornament

2007-11-15T07:47:00.000-04:00

So how does one hang an ornament that is only 1/2" in diameter and has the head tapering to 3/16" or less? You drill a 1/16" hole in the end and insert a small screw eye. Which of course begs the question of how to hold the thing in order to drill it. In this video there is jig that answers the question. Actually it is the jig I use to hold pen blanks for drilling and I just drilled another hole for the ornaments to fit. Once you see the video that should make sense. I will have the whole video on the web site with better resolution for downloading some time in the future, but for now these Youtube ones are not bad.

Ball and Icicle Christmas Ornament

2007-11-14T10:43:00.000-04:00

I just finished a few of these for a Christmas show coming up this weekend. They are a lot of fun and reasonably quick to do. Most of the turning is done with a straight chisel made from a carpenter's bench chisel. I read about the straight chisel in Peter Child's bood The Craftsman Woodturner some years ago and ground one from an extra 1" scraper that was lying around. These are great.
Some of the head work is turned with a 1/4" round skew made from a tool bit I got from Enco. This one I was shown by Bob Rosand a few years ago at a show in New Hampshire. It is a gem for small work. I also used a 1/4" skewchigouge (sorry about the name, it was not my idea) made from another of those tool bits. In my opinion it is better than a detail gouge.
Unfortunately I have not had time to shoot videos of the process but I will try to get a chance in the near future.

Christmas Icicle Ornament

2007-11-12T11:49:00.000-04:00

I am still working on the web page but the video is shot and there is an example here from YouTube. The page will have a full video, about 15 minutes, of the turning as well as the usual explanations and pictures. These are a lot of fun especially if you have a time budget. I tend to have a box of offcuts cut to fit so I can go into the shop this time of year and turn one of these whenever I have 10 minutes or so. It only takes five to turn one but I have to get to the shop and back.

Pen Video

2007-11-08T12:36:00.000-04:00

A friend wanted a pen turned for him in the European style (what I used to call Mont Blanc until Cross got upset over a trade marked name). I took the opportunity to shoot some video of it. They are on YouTube and will shortly be on the web site as well. Fitting the center band is simple but seems to give people difficulties. All you have to do is ignore the bushing and turn the thing to fit. A few cuts with a parting tool and on it goes. I find it the same as fitting a ferrule to a handle.

Sharpening a band saw blade

2007-11-06T00:12:00.000-04:00

Here is a quick one for all of you use a band saw. Mine is an old (over 25 years) 10" Rockwell/Beaver. With a sharp blade it will cut through 5 1/2" of hardwood. The trick is that sharp blade. Considering the wood we cut which has bark inclusions, grit from the ground where it was felled, and some exotic oils, it is amazing that the edge lasts at all. For most of us the blade dulls long before the end of the useful life of that blade. So I sharpen mine using an idea from Steve Russel.
With the blade still on the machine I can sharpen it and be back to work in about 5 minutes or less. This is for a 3/8" 3 pt hook tooth blade. I get anywhere from 3 to 6 sharpenings per blade. I am sure it is not as sharp as a new blade but it sure is a lot cheaper and it still does a nice cut through 5 1/2" hardwood.

Maple log: ornaments

2007-11-03T18:12:00.000-03:00

Well the saga of the bird's eye log continues. I have not found much bird's eye but the wood is great. It varies from a cream sap wood to a dark heart and there is some nice spalting here and there. Because of deep surface cracks most of it will end up as ready spindles. I turned a couple of Christmas tree ornaments to try some of it. It is lovely to turn. In another day or two I will have a page up on making these icicles. Each one is just under 5" long with the largest diameter about 1/2".

More on that bird's eye

2007-11-02T10:24:00.001-03:00

I got started on the bird's eye log. With all the cracking in it I decided that it needed to be moved into blanks and boards. The boards are going to be short since I am working free hand with a 16" chain saw and a small band saw. I took a 24" section and began to cut it down with the Stihl and then moved inside to the electric chainsaw and the bandsaw. Just after starting I realized that I had to sharpen the bandsaw and put a quick edge on the blade. After a bit of work I got the log into some blanks ready for spindles. The ends are sealed with Anchorseal and I will leave them indoors to dry a bit more.

Burly Friends

2007-10-30T14:56:00.000-03:00

sometime good things just happen. A friend to whom I owe a favor dropped by with a coupe of burls, one spruce and one maple. The small one is about 16" diameter and she wants a fruit bowl turned. The large one is from a friend of hers and she just wants something interesting.The price is later to be determined. Beautiful wood and this should be a lot of wood turning fun.

Craft Fair

2007-10-28T08:52:00.000-03:00

Yesterday my wife and I attended a craft fair at one of the local churches. Sales were ok but the day was fun. I always enjoy meeting the people. Christmas sales are looking good. One of the folks there is coming over this week to put some items in his Farmer's Market. I thought you might like a look at the display. You can get a fair variety on a small table.

Sharpening Bandsaw blades

2007-10-26T13:40:00.000-03:00

just a quick note today folks. I put a video up over at YouTube on how I sharpen bandsaw blades on the the saw a la Steve Russel's method. It works great. I figure a 3 pt 3/8" blade takes me about 5 minutes including set-up. I will have more info on the web site at Around the Woods in a couple of days.

Wood Turning Friends

2007-10-22T11:31:00.000-03:00

One of the great aspects of wood turning is the friends you make along the way. One of the fellows at church was talking about things with another friend as they stood by the wood pile. As the friend commented on how dry the wood was he picked at a piece of bark to real bird's eye underneath. The log was about 12 feet long and around 9 inches at the butt. My friend said I could have it if I wanted. Now the log was 2 years old and had surface cracks but I still said, "sure."

I took out the saw and cut it into manageable pieces and brought it home. Even though the log was 2 years old I Anchorsealed the ends.

One of my intentions is to document the using of this log to give folks an understanding of how you might work with something like this. Everyone does it a little different but it should be fun to compare notes as I go.

New Project: Whisk Handle

2007-10-16T10:13:00.000-03:00

Hi folks. I am attempting to write a new section on the web site for
beginners. Here is a project for it that has a way to center a handle on a
tool while making it. The project is a whisk handle for the kitchen and a
simple stocking stuffer to make.
Whisk handle
One of the great difficulties that wood turners run into is making sure the hole for a handle is concentric to the handle and fits the tang. This method of using a very simple friction drive ensures that the handle is properly on center.

Tools for a Beginner

2007-10-12T13:42:00.000-03:00

As I was considering the roughing tool, I was also thinking of the perennial question of what tools a beginner should get, since most lathes come without tools. The following article has a few suggestions.

Wood Turning Tools: getting good ones may be beginner’s Luck

As wood turning has become more popular in recent years the manufacturers of wood working tools have developed a bewildering array of tools for the wood turner. This already bewildering array has become even more confusing for the beginner than for the experienced turner who has a few special tools that are used all the time. Beginners have yet to discover what direction their turning will take them and what tools to use on the journey.

Wood turning is split into two general fields, spindle and face plate turning. While most lathes come supplied with the rudimentary holding devices for the wood, they rarely come with cutting tools. A good, general, beginner’s set would include:

a 3/4" or 1" roughing gouge for making spindles round

a 3/4" or 1" skew for making those round spindles smooth

a 3/8" or 1/4" and a ½ “ spindle gouge for beads and coves

a 1/8" parting tool for separating work

a ½" to 1" round nosed scraper for some finish cuts

a 1" straight scraper for facing off some work

a 3/8" bowl gouge for face plate work

Most beginner sets on the market will have some combination of the above although they seldom have a bowl gouge included. Again, most beginners start with spindle turning and become proficient at it before attempting bowls. There is no particular reason for this and a basic bowl is no more difficult to turn than is the typical candle stick. While a 3/8" bowl gouge may cost as much as some beginner’s sets, an Oland tool suitable for the beginner and advanced turner alike is easily made in the home shop and a simple on-line search will bring up the directions for construction and use.

One of the greatest changes in wood turning tools in the last hundred years or so has been the metal used to make the tools. Unfortunately it has also become a source of confusion for inexperienced turners. There are three main groups of steel used for the tools; carbon, high speed, and powdered. The best buy for both beginners and experienced turners is M2 high speed steel, usually written as M2 HSS. Since this is also the most common type available it is easy to buy and a good deal. Carbon steel is harder to sharpen without losing its temper and powdered steel is likely overkill at a premium price.

The important thing to do is to get the tools and start making shavings. Some experience will develop a preference for certain tools in certain settings and will also develop a lot of enjoyment.

Once again feel free to post the article elsewhere as long as due credit is given.

©Darrell Feltmate,<a href="http://aroundthewoods.com">Around the Woods (aroundthewoods.com)</a>; used by permission

will work well in the html code or just

©Darrell Feltmate, http://aroundthewoods.com, Around the Woods, used by permission

in straight text.

Roughing Gouge: getting started

2007-10-10T15:52:00.001-03:00

I am beginning a section on the web site about Wood Turning Basics. Here is an article I wrote about the roughing gouge which will be updated with pictures and video for the site. Any comments are appreciated.

Wood Turning Tools - Roughing Gouge

The wood turning tool first reached for by most beginning wood turners is a roughing gouge. While it is obvious that most things produced on a wood lathe are round, wood tends to arrive in a more of less square fashion. Even it comes to the shop in the form of a log, it is generally cut more or less square before mounting on the lathe so it must be roughed round. Hence the use of a roughing gouge for the first wood turning tool.

It should be pointed out that the roughing gouge is a spindle turning tool, not for bowls and other face plate work. As most lathes come with a spur center and a tail center for spindle turning and most beginner sets of wood turning tools do not contain bowl gouges, most people begin their wood turning obsession with spindle turning.

A roughing gouge will look semi circular when viewing it from the tip. It should have a deep flute and even thickness walls. For normal turning needs seventeen or eighteen inches from handle end to cutting tip is good and a 3/4" or 1" width should made a good general purpose tool with the 1" more versatile for most turners.

The tool should be sharpened straight across with a 45° angle. Every part of the edge can be used by rotating the tool. In past years the wood turners would continually roll the tool and found that there was more time between sharpening sessions because the work was distributed over so much of the tool tip. With the advent of modern high speed steels this is not as great a need because they stay sharp so much longer than the old carbon steels, but it still gives a greater length of time between sharpening the tool.

For your first cuts with the roughing gouge

a wood block about 10" long and 2" to 3" square is mounted securely on the lathe

you are wearing a face shield

the lathe is set to a low speed, between 400 to 600 rpm

with the lathe OFF, place the shaft of the tool against the tool rest with the tool nearly vertical and the tip of the tool well above the top of the wood

rotate the wood toward you with your left hand while holding the tool with the right

notice the tool does not cut the wood

continue to turn the wood as you slowly raise your right hand pivoting the tool on the tool rest. When the tip of the tool is about 45° to the floor, the tip will begin to contact the wood and cutting will start.

repeat the motion with the lathe turned on. The tool should be approaching the wood about 1/2" from the right side of the wood.

as the wood begins to cut, roll the tool to the right while slightly raising the handle and the wood will cut

continue with another cut beginning a bit farther left and a bit farther left and so on until you are about 1" from the left end of the wood

repeat the motion but rolling a bit to the left starting from the left end of the wood

At this point you will likely find that the wood is not yet round but is a bit far from the tool rest for comfort. With the lathe off, move the tool rest closer to the wood and repeat the above exercise until the wood is round. Very likely the surface of the wood will be fairly rough from the roughing gouge. While experienced turners can get a fairly smooth surface from the tool, it is better at first to use the roughing gouge as its name implies and quickly get a round albeit rough surface.

Feel free to use this article as long as acknowledgment is given.

©Darrell Feltmate,<a href="http://aroundthewoods.com">Around the Woods (aroundthewoods.com)</a>; used by permission

will work well in the html code or just

©Darrell Feltmate, http://aroundthewoods.com, Around the Woods, used by permission

in straight text.

Wooden Spoon video (7)

2007-10-05T12:51:00.000-03:00

One of these days I have to get my life in order. There are too many things to fill too few hours. Finally I got the last video up about turning the spoon. Next I have to get some prepared on carving the bowls, maybe. Along with sanding, this one has the parting off of the spoon from the lathe. I like to do this with a skew and I like to part from the drive spur. Simply, once the piece is cut from the spur drive it stops turning whereas, if the spur has forced into the piece too far or hard and you part from the tailstock, it keeps turning and you have an awkward moment of trying to turn the lathe off while holding the turning piece or of pulling the piece from the turning spur center. I am awkward enough without working on it to be more so.

Lately I have been turning a couple of whisk handles. This is a great beginner's project and I will get a page up soon.

Wooden Spoon Video Part (6)

2007-10-02T09:51:00.000-03:00

As I continue on with the wooden spoon, the handle is finish turned and decorated with a couple of burn lines using a wire. Interestingly,as I look at the video again I realize that I have used the chuck for this spoon and somtimew "forgot" and simply turned between centers for others. What can I say, both methods work well. I often get asked by beginners about what chuck to buy, given the high cost. Generally, I point out that the chucks are very recent additions to at least a 3,000 year old craft and not really necessary. Nice but not necessary.

Ready for mallets

2007-09-26T13:36:00.000-03:00

So lately I have been turning mallets. Yesterday I took out the chain saw and cut a few pieces of maple for some more. I want to do up a project page on mallets and like to practice a bit first, especially if I decide to video the turning.

Mallets, in my opinion, are a great beginner project. They allow for lots of expression in a tool that has a definite purpose and hence a definite set of restrictions so you do not turn something that simply does not work. A mallet with a 10 pound head and a thin handle is just nuts. But a mallet with a head that fits the handle may have decorative beads and grooves and the handle could have all sorts of turned decoration without removing its sense of "handle."

Plus this is spindle turning. I see a lot of turners moving from spindles to faceplate stuff and a whole set of skills is being lost. Most wood turners start with spindle turning and then leave it under the impression that faceplate is where it is at. A lot of turned objects are spindle work, handles, newels, mallets, pens, gavels to name a few. This is also a lot of fun.

On the other hand, while I was cutting the maple I found that it was spalted to the point where another winter will not be good for it. Maybe I need to rough a lot of bowls before I lose the whole pile.

Free wood turning advice

2007-09-24T13:48:00.001-03:00

A while ago I took a text book on wood turning that had been written in 1919 and reformatted it for the web. It is available for free down load from Project Guttenbergbut works better for the web with a little tweaking (ok a lot but it was fun). Lately I have seen it for sale on the web as the greatest thing since sliced bread for learning wood turning. There is some great stuff in the book and it is a good read for turners both experienced and beginning, but it is a text book. It requires someone to show you some of the dos and don'ts of turning as you go.

In fact, I think the value of the book is twofold. One is to give us an outlook on the history of our craft in the early 20th century and two is for the wealth of line drawing projects in the book. Many things are dated but they are still good. Some of the projects are things like chisel handles for chisels that have a tapered socket and for boxes to hold hat pins. But a good handle is easily adapted and a nice box is a nice box.

One thing the book is not is a primer for modern turning. Bowl gouges were not around when the book was written, nor were 4 jaw scroll chucks nor High Speed Steel tools. Sharpening jigs were virtually unknown, certainly not in the forms we now have them. Many of the modern finishes and for that matter abrasives did not exist.

This is a good book and a lot of fun, but not the be all and end all of learning to turn wood. With a good instructor and some editing it would be a good text today. Gradually, I hope to have the projects presented on the web page in some form as I did for the table lamp.

Presently I am working on the pages for a mallet based on those in the book. Some of the differences include using a set of auxiliary jaws for a scroll chuck to be sure the handle is centered correctly and making one with an oval handle. Over the years it would be good to have all the projects with pictures and at least some with video. I am also working on pages for the use of the various tools now available. It is a lot of fun, and I intend to keep it free. It seems more in the spirit of wood turning.

Wooden Spoon Video Part 5

2007-09-23T07:38:00.000-03:00

It is Sunday morning as I write this. In a short tome I will be at church. Yesterday I conducted a funeral for a man only three years older than myself. Thoughts of faith more than wood are part of today's picture.

As I got to the bowl of the spoon, most of the wood turning became air turning. You have to have an idea of line and turn for it even though most of what is whirling there is air. The "ghost" of the object is all that can be seen. Once the idea is formed and the path of the skew is committed, you just cut and trust that learned skills will carry you through to an appropriate end.

There is an expectation of result here as well, watching the wood spin. All that the cutting will do at this point is leave the outline of the bowl. It is not deep enough for the cuts to reach the bottom so all it does is outline the bowl with hopefully pleasing symmetry. A lot of carving will remain to remove the rest of the wood and leave, finally, a working example of a pleasing spoon.

Sometimes wood turning is just wood turning and sometimes it is faith. Every time I turn it is an exploring of creation and Creator. Life is good.

Wooden Spoon Video Part 4

2007-09-21T11:30:00.000-03:00

The wooden spoon continues as I get farther along the shaft and start the transition from the shaft to the bowl. This is the place where the whirling bowl can do some damage if you are not careful. On the other hand, this is the sort of thing that makes turning fun. It is also the first place where you realize that the handle is not on the same centerline as the bowl. When this comes off the lathe, the bowl will have the handle raised off the table when sitting. This simply makes the spoon easier to pick up. There is not a lot of need for huge diameters here either. 3/8" or 1/4" will certainly work although you could leave 1/2" because people think it is sometimes needed.

Wooden Spoon Video Part 3

2007-09-18T08:56:00.000-03:00

So far this video stuff is becoming quite an education. Anyway, I have the third part of the spoon up now. This is just roughing down the shaft. As I have been doing this I realize that most of the wood turning is done with the skew.
This is one of the simplest wood turning tools we have. All it is is a straight piece of steel with a handle on one end and a cutting edge on the other. No fancy curves or flutes. Still it allows for lots of plain and fancy cuts. It is the easiest tool for a smooth cut on spindles along with beads and reasonably long coves.
More and more I find myself reaching for a chisel as I turn spindles, either a skew chisel or a straight. The spindle gouges are there but they seem more awkward than my chisels. Maybe I am just lazy and hate to sand. Hope you enjoy the video.

Wooden Spoon Video Part 2

2007-09-17T01:21:00.000-03:00

I have posted a second part of the wooden spoon video. When I get it all edited I will put it up on the page for a download to CD (free of course). The interesting thing here is my using a spur center in the chuck to turn the handle fit the chuck itself. This is a regular, Morse tapered center. There is no need to purchase a special center for your chuck, the usual one works fine.

Garden Dibber: Oval Handle

2007-09-14T10:53:00.000-03:00

I was fooling around making garden dibbers with tapered oval handles and put up a page on the site. This is an intermediate project just because the handle needs to be turned from three centers and becomes offset. In other words, a lot of the time you end up turning air. A dibber is used in gardening and this time of year some people use them for planting bulbs. Oval spindle turning is not difficult but seems to be something we have left out of our present turning vocabulary. Basically, if you can turn a regular spindle you can also turn an oval. Just be sure the wood is held strongly between centers as the tool will rattle it with every revolution.

Wood Turning Tool Thoughts

2007-09-13T10:05:00.001-03:00

One of the few "standard" tools that I use a lot is a roughing gouge. For all you who turn spindles, this is likely a standard for you as well. One of the considerations for lathe tools is simply cost. The rise of high speed steel (HSS) in recent years for the manufacture of wood turning tools has elicited the development of powdered metal tools and cryogenically treated tools and likely some that have people doing strange dances in the light of the full moon over weird alloys and configurations. All this seems to be either in pursuit of the tool that never needs sharpening, that cuts the wood on its own, or makes a lot of profit for someone.

I turn wood and some of it has embedded rocks, the occasional nail, once or twice a bullet, and often grit and grime that along with various silicas in the wood oil itself, dulls a tool. Smacking a nail at speed with a tool ruins an edge whether the tool is old carbon steel, new HSS or one of the fancies. Never mind searching for the elusive never sharpen edge, make or buy a sharpening jig and get back to turning.

The thought of having a tool that cuts wood on its own destroys the whole process for me. I turn because I like to. There are easier ways to make money (my hats off to all you pros)and cheaper sources for bowls and pens and the rest of the stuff we make. Not better and most of the time not nearly so good, but cheaper sources are out there.

I understand people making profit and long may the wood turning supply people do so. It will keep them in business and our supply of tools available. However, you need to ask yourself what tool is reasonable to buy? Remember, every tool and every purchase is a compromise of sorts.

For me, tools of M2 HSS make sense. They hold an edge that is both sharp enough for efficient cutting and easy to sharpen. Carbon steel takes a sharper edge that may be better for final cuts but I sharpen them on the same grinding wheel so the difference is minimal. HSS holds the edge a lot longer and is much more forgiving in sharpening. The other metals are more expensive than I need.

Back to that roughing gouge. I bought it as part of a set from Record. Nice tools all. It has a good shape and sufficient metal thickness for wear and use. I replaced the handle because I like a longer one than the one it came with. When I replace it in a couple of more years of sharpening I will likely get another set. Most sets have roughing gouges and for a little more than the price of a roughing gouge itself I will likely get a couple of spindle gouges, some scrapers and a skew to play with. All of them will be HSS and good value. It does not take a lot of money to have nice tools to play with.

Wooden Spoon Video Part 1

2007-09-11T09:27:00.000-03:00

I have been playing some more with the video camera and put up a bit of video over on YouTube dealing with mounting a blank for a wooden spoon. It is a nice piece of offset turning for anyone who has not done it before. Basically it is just a matter of lining things up so that the part of the handle that contacts the bowl is above center. This lets the handle be at an angle when the spoon rests on a work surface. While I define the lines of the bowl while at the angle I have a friend who turns these things commercially and he turns the bowl on center and the handle off. It remains to carve the bowls after the turning is done.

Wood Turning Project: Table Lamp in Spalted Birch

2007-09-08T20:55:00.000-03:00

Vacation is sort of underway. I anticipated doing a lot of wood turning for vacation including a 2 hour drive to see my folks and pick up an oak tree that a friend had to cut down. His description is of 2 foot thick and long blocks, but it has been down fo a while and it may be cracked. None the less, good wood is good wood and I do like a piece of red oak on the lathe. Shavings, wood lathe, turning, now that sounds like vacation time. Of course there is reality as well.
Does driving a van load (and I do mean load) of furniture 21 hours from Nova Scotia to Ontario and setting up my daughter's apartment count as vacation? While we were there my son got me to visit his kung fu school. I had to wring out my t-shirt after the workout.
Vacation? Now I am redoing a room in the house (remove the wall paper, mud and sand the walls, paint, remove the carpet, and put down laminate). Then there is the garage roof to shingle. Vacation is where you find it. Anyhow, I managed to get a page up dealing with turning a lamp for my daughter's apartment. There are no links to it as yet from "What's New" or the contents page but it is at Lamp Project
As always, any problems with the pages would be appreciated to be reported.

New Wood Turning Challenge

2007-09-03T15:00:00.002-03:00

The vacation trip is going well. We have moved my daughter into her new apartment and she has a cat, which I am told is necessary in order to have a true home. I have had little time to see any wood turnings except for a few which my daughter and my son have. I am amazed to see the pieces and realize that I have turned them. Often they look better after I have been away from them for a while. At one of the hotels we stayed at I saw an interesting lamp in some sort of mass produced porcelain. I think it will make a nice wood turned lamp when all is said and done. The body could be a hollow form to reduce weight and the top and base could be turned in contrasting woods. I think I will make the base round instead of square. Comments?

Wood Turning at the Exhibition

2007-08-26T23:48:00.000-03:00

This last week we had the Provincial Exhibition at Truro. The local historical society has a branch at the Farm History Museum at the fair grounds. -During the exhibit they try to have crafts people demonstrate some of the old crafts from quilting to spoon carving. The last couple of years they have invited me to demonstrate for a day of wood turning. I really enjoy it.
I took along a lathe and turned mushrooms, potato mashers, and dibbers. Part of the time I had various people at the lathe trying it out for the first time or just learning some stuff.
It always amazes me when turners look at the shavings coming off and are amazed at sharp tools. I get them to touch up the gouge edge at the grinder and jig I bring along and then turn. The jig makes it simple.
While there, a fellow from the local paper came along taking pictures of various exhibits, including me. I thought he might put a small one of me alongside of a feeding horse or something but instead I got about a third of a page. Some days they are just hard up for news. :-)

Wood Turned Lamp

2007-08-25T11:24:00.000-03:00

My youngest daughter is moving provinces for college and into her own apartment. She wanted a desk lamp so I turned one for her. We are moving her things up on Tuesday and will be gone for a week so I will not likely have time to get a web page up before then at Around the Woods, but I took some pictures as I went so I should be able to when I get back. This makes a great project involving faceplate and spindle turning as well as assembling a piece after turning. Since it also involves drilling a hole down the center of the lamp spindle, and at the center line of the base from edge to center, it adds a bit of complexity to the process. Besides, they make great gifts.

I turned it out of spalted birch that came from a silver birch I had to take down at my parent's cottage after it got lightning hit and was obviously not going to recover. So it has some special meaning to us as well. I think she will be happy with it.

turning wooden spoons

2007-08-16T22:58:00.000-03:00

Okay, I got the page up on turning wooden spoons. the turning is fairly simple but I put it up as an intermediate project because it has both turning air for the bowl shape and the handle is offset. It needs to be for comfortably using the spoon, which is one of the things I have against the commercial wooden spoons. They also have to have the bowls carved, a page I have not written yet. All in all they make a fun project. Along the way I took some videos too and I will see about getting it made into a project shot like I did for the mushrooms. I turned them with a skew but roughing gouges and spindle gouges would work well.

Wood turning

2007-08-14T18:25:00.000-03:00

I got back in the shop today for a while and started turning some cooking spoons for a friend. They are about 13" long with a slightly offset handle. Unfortunately, now that the turning is done, it is time to carve the bowls of the spoons. Not my favorite thing, but necessary. I will eventually get a page up about it but I am also trying to get some beginner pages up on tool selection, sharpening and the like. It is a pleasure to be turning spindles again. Maybe I will put the faceplate stuff on indefinite hold and do some more spindle work. We'll see.