@Russ Braun thats a good point! I have it bent a little bit at the head, but kept the wire pretty straight to give it some lift. You’ve got my wheels turning some more 
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What’s on your lathe?
- Thread starter Rusty Nesmith
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@Russ Braun good call with the bent wire. I think this version is an improvement. It's not perfect--copper work hardens something fierce, so it didn't bend easily with such a short section. But, the effect is pretty cool. Sort of reminds me of the plant from Little Shop of Horrors
Yes that does look mush better, as I imagine it being a large wooden poppy@Russ Braun good call with the bent wire. I think this version is an improvement. It's not perfect--copper work hardens something fierce, so it didn't bend easily with such a short section. But, the effect is pretty cool. Sort of reminds me of the plant from Little Shop of Horrors
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I assume you already know this, but heating and quick cool off does anneal copper really well, glued in does prevent this of course
Chunk of birch, an oak burl and my soldering iron to try my hand at basket weave. Hopefully the next one comes out better! Love the bottle top though!
I like your creativeness with different uses of wire.
Michael nice piece. I don’t know why but the way it is bent now makes me think of Little Shop of Horrors.
Thanks Rusty—makes me think of that too!
@Leo Van Der Loo you’re totally right about annealing copper. I haven’t had to do it yet…but have come close!
@Leo Van Der Loo you’re totally right about annealing copper. I haven’t had to do it yet…but have come close!
feeeeeeddddd meeeeeeee!
Another log from the firewood pile that came with my house. Rock hard in places, punky soft in others, and a pretty good crack across the bottom. Lathe practice more than anything else. 
Tried to make a better jar then yesterday but got a little crazy. Oh well! Make due with what you got!
In the love/hate relationship I have with spalted maple I'm beginning to not feel the love.
Seems that with all the effort to make a good finish it still ends up mediocre. I'm getting tired of my 80 grit gouge. Then when you do sand I end up with unevenness due to the grain being different hardness.
Time to find the you tube vids teaching "sanding spalted wood 101"!
Seems that with all the effort to make a good finish it still ends up mediocre. I'm getting tired of my 80 grit gouge. Then when you do sand I end up with unevenness due to the grain being different hardness.
Time to find the you tube vids teaching "sanding spalted wood 101"!
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Suggestion, take some scraps and offcuts of that spalted maple and chuck it up, turn it away to nothing while practicing your *sharpening* and *cuts* with the gouge, eventually you will be able to eliminate the 80 grit gouge. Just needs more practice at knowing when you need to stop and re-sharpen, and practice the curves until you can do a nice long smooth curved cut (muscle memory) - might seem tedious, but once you can achieve a final cut that you only need to start sanding at 180 or 220 grit, it may seem worth the effort.. (Hint: Ive learned when turning soft , punky or spalted wood, I got to stop and re-sharpen about twice to thrice as often as might be used to with regular green hardwoods.. or as soon as I start to see powdery dust rather than curly shavings coming up the flute)
I've been watching vids with Mark Silay. Seems like some good techniques. But I could be wrong. There are no scraps or offcuts this was a dry rough turned bowl when I started.
Only other turners can understand and appreciate how such a disaster can be seen as a positive learning moment.
Michael, I assumed too much. My #375 thread was a response to your #316 photo.
Grabbed a piece of beech off the pile today.
Turned it on three axis.
Grabbed my last piece of burl.(not sure species it was a gift)
Turned it on three axis.
Grabbed my last piece of burl.(not sure species it was a gift)
Was looking for a simple design. There is a slight taper bottom to top.
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Thanks Larry. It's never fun making mistakes like that, especially when you're near the end. BUT, you're right in that they can be great learning moments. The real challenge is not repeating the same mistake twice
@Phil Hamel I like the look of that box, and think the style may be worth pursuing more. If you don't mind, I have a couple of suggestions (unsolicited advice I know--I usually only offer it when I see some nice potential). The top of the box could use some curves going into the hollow and tapering off the sides. It would increase the complexity of the multi-axis design, and would get rid of the sharp edges that somewhat conflict with the smoothness of the rest of it. The burl stopper is beautiful (and the color is a really nice contrast to the box), but I think it could be even better if you turned it as a sphere. That would make the whole thing very stylish and would be a good way to show off the 360 degree character of the burl. All that said, you've got a good thing going!
Thanks for the input! I will try again with tapering and rounding the top. The piece of burl I had was to small to do much more with. As it is it almost falls into the box. Great idea though!
More lathe practice. Simple shape, just round. Wanted to try hollowing something of this shape. Neck gets a little stiff, at least working with the tools that I have, but it worked. African Mahogany, 7 x 2 roughly.
I like it. I don't see it very often but I've thought about giving it a try and wonder why more people don't do it but turning in reverse would make that easier wouldn't it?
Only if your lathe is capable of reverse though I guess.
I see the walnut oil in the background is that what you used on it?
I sand in reverse but would want something more than just a set screw keeping the chuck from unscrewing before I would try turning. Thought about grinding a flat spot on the spindle behind the threads but haven't done it.
Walnut oil and wax. This was the first bowl I tried it on, seemed like no matter how long I turned it in it wouldn't dry, although it did overnight. I tried the same stuff on a piece of Yellow Pine after this and it was dry right off the lathe. This piece of wood soaked up a lot of oil, maybe that had something to do with it.
Did the African mahogany have kind of a spicy scent to it? I had a couple of blanks that looked similar and don't know what they are. Had a pleasant scent though.
odie
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African Zebrawood last night:
-----odie-----
Note: There is a crack that goes completely though the wall. Repaired with epoxy mixed with Zebrawood sanding dust. Turned out well.....barely visible. This one is sale-able.
-o-
-----odie-----
Note: There is a crack that goes completely though the wall. Repaired with epoxy mixed with Zebrawood sanding dust. Turned out well.....barely visible. This one is sale-able.
-o-
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African Mahogany has a lot of variation in color, this piece is to the lighter end of the spectrum. It does not have an identifiable smell that I can notice, however this piece looks similar to Spanish Cedar which does.
This is the wood I was talking about. Maybe the second/third bowl I made after mushrooms/snowmen. Still has a nice aroma on the unfinished bottom. Probably is the Spanish cedar which after reading the wood data base makes sense because I thought it might be some kind of mahogany.
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odie
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Black Walnut bowl with undercut rim. Some minimal preliminary sanding, but it needs to dry some before anything more.
Call it the rose bowl. Grain kinda looks like a rose bud . (Or a goblet)
Regàrdless looks good!
Regàrdless looks good!
odie
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Thailand Red Amboyna Burl last night. aprox 12" x 1 1/2". I picked this one out because of the terrific figuring & contrasting colors. This is close to my minimum height requirements, but I couldn't resist the beauty of this piece of wood! Probably should rightfully be called a platter. Large enough to be called a centerpiece, though.
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Oldie where do you get all of these cool pieces of wood?
odie
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I probably have 25+ different suppliers, and they can be found with searches on the internet....except for one supplier of premium burls, and that supplier will not sell to anyone but a handpicked list of woodworkers. There is no way to get on that list....that particular supplier will find you!
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Ok @Michael Anderson. I tried making it more rounded and also made it a little taller.
No more dark wood at the moment so made the top out of the same wood.
Wife loves it and stole it as soon as I got the pics taken.
No more dark wood at the moment so made the top out of the same wood.
Wife loves it and stole it as soon as I got the pics taken.
Getting a early start with Christmas ornaments this year.
Nice @Phil Hamel , they remind me of little flasks. Glad the wife likes it/them. That's often what matters most!
Very nice. My wife is like that with lidded boxes too. She asked me to make one for her boss for her birthday. When I finished it I brought it in and gave it to her and she said “she’s not getting this.”
Rusty-I get that too, my wife asking me to keep a piece. (And some of them, you bond with and want to keep too-I'm sure y'all feel like that too with some pieces).
My wife is my best customer.