I've only had the lathe for a couple weeks and I know that I have a loooooong way to go, but I am seeing progress and that's encouraging. These are some of my first pieces, there were a couple more between the first and second ones but my wife gave them away and I don't have any pictures.. The first one was turned using a carbide turning set that I bought with the lathe. I have an engine lathe that I have had for years and use mostly carbide insert tooling for that, so when this tool set poped up as a suggestion it seemed reasonable. In hindsight, it has its place but not as a primry tool. Way too thick, but was as far as i was comfortable with at the time.
The second one is from a chunk of firewood that came with my house. I have no idea of its age or even what kind of wood it is. I'm assuming that it was cut from my property, 15 mostly wooded acres, and can rule out Pine and Oak. Maybe Pecan? I have quite a few of those. This was not intended to be anything but lathe practice, and the bowl does have a couple flaws that were too deep to turn out. This was my first use of a bowl gouge. A little rough at first but by the end I ws starting to get a feel for it.
The third one is the first time I set out with the intention of making something I could keep. It's layered Hard Maple and African Mahogany. The base is large, but that is because I was not comfortable hollowing it with a 2" foot, it is a little over 9" dia, so I got a set of 100mm chuck jaws to hold it. Could always turn it down later if I decide to. I toyed with the idea of turning a step in the bottom (inside) and cutting down into the mahogany, but decided against it. I think that would have looked odd. I hollowed this with a bowl gouge too and was feeling more comfortable with the tool by the time I got done.
These are all finished with tung oil. My biggest problem right now is tear out. The bowl gouge was an improvement and with practice I'm sure the finish quality will improve. I followed the gouge with very light cuts with a sharp scraper, but it seems like I am still getting more tear out than I should.
Whadaya think?
The second one is from a chunk of firewood that came with my house. I have no idea of its age or even what kind of wood it is. I'm assuming that it was cut from my property, 15 mostly wooded acres, and can rule out Pine and Oak. Maybe Pecan? I have quite a few of those. This was not intended to be anything but lathe practice, and the bowl does have a couple flaws that were too deep to turn out. This was my first use of a bowl gouge. A little rough at first but by the end I ws starting to get a feel for it.
The third one is the first time I set out with the intention of making something I could keep. It's layered Hard Maple and African Mahogany. The base is large, but that is because I was not comfortable hollowing it with a 2" foot, it is a little over 9" dia, so I got a set of 100mm chuck jaws to hold it. Could always turn it down later if I decide to. I toyed with the idea of turning a step in the bottom (inside) and cutting down into the mahogany, but decided against it. I think that would have looked odd. I hollowed this with a bowl gouge too and was feeling more comfortable with the tool by the time I got done.
These are all finished with tung oil. My biggest problem right now is tear out. The bowl gouge was an improvement and with practice I'm sure the finish quality will improve. I followed the gouge with very light cuts with a sharp scraper, but it seems like I am still getting more tear out than I should.
Whadaya think?
