First bowl turned at David Ellsworth's class.

[Mark Hepburn]

Hi All.

This is the first bowl I turned at David Ellsworth's class a couple of weeks ago. Actually, it's the first bowl that I didn't blow up, send flying across the room, or turn into a funnel

Turned green from poplar in his woods, brought it home, let it dry and then finished the outside. Finish is basic oil paint, straight from the tube, blended from Cerulean blue at the top to whitish at the base. Thinned a bunch with linseed oil and painted on the lathe. Dried it in the oven (and old thing I used to do with my canvas back in the day). Oven drying worked pretty well and I was able to top coat with a few sprays of shellac and then buffed it a bit.

I was thinking about the brilliant blue skies in the desert since I'm going to the symposium, and thought why not?

Anyway, thank you for any comments, criticism, questions, etc.

Thanks for looking!

 

[john lucas]

Wonderful bowl and nice color

 

[Mark Hepburn]

Wonderful bowl and nice color

Thanks John. I really appreciate all of your feedback and advice.

 

[Bill Boehme]

Absolutely beautiful work. Your background in painting will be a great asset in woodturning. I noticed in the third image that there is some "bleeding" of color over the rim. You could use a black Sharpie to put an accent ring on the rim and also cover the bleeding. Next time, coat the wood with a clear finish before painting to prevent that problem.

 

[hockenbery]

Great! Now when you get back, say June 17-20 turn 8-10 more to internalize the process.
Work 4 hours a day. Don't rush or set production limits but focus on bowls.

Very likely when you get get started you will end up something like

1 on the 17th
3 on the 18th
6 on the 19th

This will take enormous discipline as you will want to turn 3 dozen things you see in Phoenix.
Have fun.
Al

 

[Mark Hepburn]

Absolutely beautiful work. Your background in painting will be a great asset in woodturning. I noticed in the third image that there is some "bleeding" of color over the rim. You could use a black Sharpie to put an accent ring on the rim and also cover the bleeding. Next time, coat the wood with a clear finish before painting to prevent that problem.

Thanks very much Bill. I did have a bit of bleed. Hadn't considered it at the time but a clear coat would function as a frisket and since I'm going to use the oil as a sort of glaze I wouldn't have any issues with transparency.

I thought about using a cobalt blue line at the edge for an accent, but decided my hand isn't steady enough. Yet.

 

[Mark Hepburn]

Great! Now when you get back, say June 17-20 turn 8-10 more to internalize the process.
Work 4 hours a day. Don't rush or set production limits but focus on bowls.

Very likely when you get get started you will end up something like

1 on the 17th
3 on the 18th
6 on the 19th

This will take enormous discipline as you will want to turn 3 dozen things you see in Phoenix.
Have fun.
Al

Thanks for that Al, and I'll take that advice and practice the same form repeatedly. I happen to have a bunch of green wood I can use, and just ordered the Robust live center that I was using in class.

Making any object is still a conscious walk through process for me and you're right that I need to internalize it. Waaaay back when I was painting, I reached a point after a couple of years that I didn't think so much about process if at all, and focused on composition, etc. I'm looking forward to that kind of creative freedom with turning.

What I'm hearing you say is that this is the same thing, just a different medium. And no doubt I'll have a bunch of ideas - already saw some very interesting things on the auction site.

 

[hockenbery]

After a while you just focus on form and surface.
The mounting the the tools the cuts are all 2nd nature.

 

[Mark Hepburn]

After a while you just focus on form and surface.
The mounting the the tools the cuts are all 2nd nature.

Looking forward to that day

 

[Bill Boehme]

Thanks very much Bill. I did have a bit of bleed. Hadn't considered it at the time but a clear coat would function as a frisket and since I'm going to use the oil as a sort of glaze I wouldn't have any issues with transparency.

I thought about using a cobalt blue line at the edge for an accent, but decided my hand isn't steady enough. Yet.

That sounds like a great accent color. In lieu of a steady hand, you can jam chuck the bowl and adjust things until it turns true then with your hand on the tool rest, you can use a brush to paint the rim. I don't know how slow your VB36 will turn, but I can slow mine down to 2 seconds per revolution. That is slow enough to do a decent job as long as the bowl isn't terribly warped. Another option is to just hand rotate the handwheel. This would enable you to deal with warped bowls.

 

[Mark Hepburn]

That sounds like a great accent color. In lieu of a steady hand, you can jam chuck the bowl and adjust things until it turns true then with your hand on the tool rest, you can use a brush to paint the rim. I don't know how slow your VB36 will turn, but I can slow mine down to 2 seconds per revolution. That is slow enough to do a decent job as long as the bowl isn't terribly warped. Another option is to just hand rotate the handwheel. This would enable you to deal with warped bowls.

Hand rotating would work. I can slow the lathe down to 30 rpm but that might be a mite fast for that.

.5 rpm? That's amazingly slow. I can see where that would be awfully good to have.

 

[Bill Boehme]

.... .5 rpm? That's amazingly slow. I can see where that would be awfully good to have.

Two seconds per revolution is the same thing as 30 revolutions per minute -- not 0.5 RPM. However, I do have a Baldor motor and controller that can go down to one RPM at full torque. It is part of a stalled project that might some day become a reality.

 

[Mark Hepburn]

Two seconds per revolution is the same thing as 30 revolutions per minute -- not 0.5 RPM. However, I do have a Baldor motor and controller that can go down to one RPM at full torque. It is part of a stalled project that might some day become a reality.

Duh. Read it backwards. Well, no not even that...

That's why I'm not a nav system designer (or an engineer of any kind, which makes me the odd man out in my family).

 

[Hu Lowery]

Nice!

Mark,

A very nice bowl! Wish I had been there with you in that class. Maybe someday for me. About turning the hand wheel while trying to paint, might be the time to put an assistant to work. They would probably love the project!

Harbor fright sells magnetic dial indicator bases fairly cheaply, very cheaply on sale. I think I owned a half dozen or so at one time. Attaching a paint brush to one of these with a couple rubber bands and locking it to the lathe bed or chassis would allow you to turn the wheel yourself as another option. I have put the old fashioned double pen stripe on many an automotive steel wheel just that way. Reminds me, HF did sell pen striping brushes too if you don't have a suitable one laying around. Unknown quality but probably fine for that project.

Never tried it but a very low RPM motor that would probably work as an auxiliary motor for a lathe for painting and slowly rotating as a finish dries comes with many barbecue pits. The rotisserie motors few ever use usually turn about six to ten RPM. Only rated one tenth horsepower or so but they turn a whole pig just fine when it's time to roast one.

Hu

 

[Mark Hepburn]

Mark,

A very nice bowl! Wish I had been there with you in that class. Maybe someday for me. About turning the hand wheel while trying to paint, might be the time to put an assistant to work. They would probably love the project!

Harbor fright sells magnetic dial indicator bases fairly cheaply, very cheaply on sale. I think I owned a half dozen or so at one time. Attaching a paint brush to one of these with a couple rubber bands and locking it to the lathe bed or chassis would allow you to turn the wheel yourself as another option. I have put the old fashioned double pen stripe on many an automotive steel wheel just that way. Reminds me, HF did sell pen striping brushes too if you don't have a suitable one laying around. Unknown quality but probably fine for that project.

Never tried it but a very low RPM motor that would probably work as an auxiliary motor for a lathe for painting and slowly rotating as a finish dries comes with many barbecue pits. The rotisserie motors few ever use usually turn about six to ten RPM. Only rated one tenth horsepower or so but they turn a whole pig just fine when it's time to roast one.

Hu

Hey Hu!

Thanks for the compliment.

I can get my grandson to be a handwheel turner. Right up his alley. I have all my old, very good brushes from back in the day. Lots of sables and faux sable, camel hair, probably a buzzard feather or something

I would worry about sticking the brush to the rest because of any wobble at all and also having to take it off to reload. The wood soaks up the paint pretty quickly, partly because I thin it with a good bit of linseed oil.

Still gotta get up there soon. Take care and give Tuco a pat on the head.

 

[Bill Boehme]

About those motors

... Never tried it but a very low RPM motor that would probably work as an auxiliary motor for a lathe for painting and slowly rotating as a finish dries comes with many barbecue pits. The rotisserie motors few ever use usually turn about six to ten RPM. Only rated one tenth horsepower or so but they turn a whole pig just fine when it's time to roast one.

Hu

The kind that come with some of the low-cost backyard grills -- the ones big enough to hold a couple chickens or, more likely to be used for hamburgers and hot dogs, use what are known as phono motors. Their name comes from the fact that they were universally used on record players. They are in a class known as shaded pole induction motors. The best thing about them is that they are/were cheap. I don't know about their power output, but it isn't much, perhaps 0.01 horsepower or not much more than that. Did I hear somebody ask what is a "record player"?

 

[Mark Hepburn]

The kind that come with some of the low-cost backyard grills -- the ones big enough to hold a couple chickens or, more likely to be used for hamburgers and hot dogs, use what are known as phono motors. Their name comes from the fact that they were universally used on record players. They are in a class known as shaded pole induction motors. The best thing about them is that they are/were cheap. I don't know about their power output, but it isn't much, perhaps 0.01 horsepower or not much more than that. Did I hear somebody ask what is a "record player"?

That's telling about the demographic of this forum. Apparently, we ALL know what a record player is.

 

[Douglas Ladendorf]

That's telling about the demographic of this forum. Apparently, we ALL know what a record player is.

Still have my B&O.

Beautiful work Mark. I love the contrast between the interior and exterior, and the shape is very pleasant.

Doug

 

[Bill Boehme]

I was able without hesitation to say, "Bang & Olufsen". Is that sick, or what?

 

[Mark Hepburn]

Still have my B&O.

Beautiful work Mark. I love the contrast between the interior and exterior, and the shape is very pleasant.

Doug

Thanks Doug. I really appreciate that.

Back in the day I sower to myself I'd get a B&O or a transcript or because they were so great and looked so futuristic. I'm assuming you still have your vinyl collection?

 

[Mark Hepburn]

I was able without hesitation to say, "Bang & Olufsen". Is that sick, or what?

You're a sick man, Bill.

But you know your audio gear.

 

[Hu Lowery]

"phono"

The kind that come with some of the low-cost backyard grills -- the ones big enough to hold a couple chickens or, more likely to be used for hamburgers and hot dogs, use what are known as phono motors. Their name comes from the fact that they were universally used on record players. They are in a class known as shaded pole induction motors. The best thing about them is that they are/were cheap. I don't know about their power output, but it isn't much, perhaps 0.01 horsepower or not much more than that. Did I hear somebody ask what is a "record player"?

Bill,

Not very sporting of you to further confuse the youngsters if any exist swapping from "phono" to "record player"! Could have at least said phonograph, or put it in parenthesis.

The motors on the rotisseries around here were rated a tenth horse I believe. Hanging it near vertically they didn't have a problem turning a pig that dressed out to seventy or eighty pounds. Definitely overkill for the rotisserie and I was surprised they worked to turn pigs but I made a note.

Talk to you later, going crank up the victrola and listen to some music.

Hu

 

[Bill Boehme]

It took me a while to discover the connection between phono and phonograph because we only had a record player when I was growing up. A phonograph was something fancier than our record player with its cactus needle (oops, just dropped another confusing term) and a hollow arm that acted like a megaphone (another antiquated word). A real phonograph was a fancy affair with a turntable (another Jurassic word) and vacuum tube (did I mention that when I was a kid that dirt was still large rocks?) amplifier.

 

[Hu Lowery]

vacuum tubes

It took me a while to discover the connection between phono and phonograph because we only had a record player when I was growing up. A phonograph was something fancier than our record player with its cactus needle (oops, just dropped another confusing term) and a hollow arm that acted like a megaphone (another antiquated word). A real phonograph was a fancy affair with a turntable (another Jurassic word) and vacuum tube (did I mention that when I was a kid that dirt was still large rocks?) amplifier.

My uncle was a TV repairman, owned his shop. He hated it when vacuum tubes went away. They were job security in a big way!

An instructor of mine was one of the youngsters changing out vacuum tubes on one of the first computers. Stepping and fetching and using some special roll around stairs that are common as dirt now they could keep the computer up for a couple minutes sometimes! His parents talked him out of going into computers, said they were just a flash in the pan and would never be practical! More computer talk, my brother worked on logic gates. They were about 3"x5". Flip them open, clean or polish whatever was needed and flip them closed to go again. That is my younger brother, but it was an old computer. A pretty important one, can't talk about it still.

Hu

 

[odie]

Hi All.

This is the first bowl I turned at David Ellsworth's class a couple of weeks ago. Actually, it's the first bowl that I didn't blow up, send flying across the room, or turn into a funnel

Turned green from poplar in his woods, brought it home, let it dry and then finished the outside. Finish is basic oil paint, straight from the tube, blended from Cerulean blue at the top to whitish at the base. Thinned a bunch with linseed oil and painted on the lathe. Dried it in the oven (and old thing I used to do with my canvas back in the day). Oven drying worked pretty well and I was able to top coat with a few sprays of shellac and then buffed it a bit.

I was thinking about the brilliant blue skies in the desert since I'm going to the symposium, and thought why not?

Anyway, thank you for any comments, criticism, questions, etc.

Thanks for looking!

View attachment 7505View attachment 7507View attachment 7509

Howdy Mark......how did I miss this thread until now?

That color really looks nice.

I didn't read all three pages, so pardon me if someone has asked.....how well did the oil paint dry? I've got a bunch of oil paints in tubes that I haven't touched for years.....just might have to check and see if the tubes are still squishy......Ha!

ooc

 

[Mark Hepburn]

Howdy Mark......how did I miss this thread until now?

That color really looks nice.

I didn't read all three pages, so pardon me if someone has asked.....how well did the oil paint dry? I've got a bunch of oil paints in tubes that I haven't touched for years.....just might have to check and see if the tubes are still squishy......Ha!

ooc

Hey Odie. Thanks. You're the first to ask

I thinned with a good bit of linseed oil but if you want a faster drying maybe some japan drier in your thinning. I turned on my oven to 170 (lowest setting) then turned it off and opened the door a moment.

Then put the bowl in and went to work. Did this for a couple of days and it was dry. I used to do that with smaller canvases back in the day so it was just a matter of whether the piece would deform. So far so good.

My oils are quite a few years old too. Had to take pliers to open the white .