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What’s on your lathe?

Joined
Dec 29, 2022
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West Central, IL
That’s my crappy almost dead light that you can see. But this was just caused by a catch. Still learning how to use a Hunter Badger tool, and got a bit light handed (and wrong angled) when I was making one of my final passes. There wasn’t a good way to fix the catch, so I just decided to scrap the bowl. Breaking it apart after was the reward for screwing up. All part of the learning process!
I hear those Jimmy Clewes mate hollowers are pretty sweet. (buy one so I won't) lol
 

odie

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Panning for Montana gold, with Betsy, the mule!
It's now past 2am, and I'm just now coming in from the shop. Didn't go out there until 7pm, though. This is Red River Gum burl, and it's a first for me. If anyone has experience with RRG, and would like to comment, or give advice.....let me know. This example has gone through my roughing and seasoning process, and a waste block has been attached. Here, I've done nothing more than bring it to round.....it's ready for final shaping and finish turning.....probably will do that tomorrow.

Good night, all. :)

-----odie-----
IMG_1669.JPG IMG_1670 (2).JPG

Common Name(s): River Red Gum

Scientific Name: Eucalyptus camaldulensis

Distribution: Australia

Tree Size: 100-150 ft (30-46 m) tall, 3-5 ft (1-1.5 m) trunk diameter

Average Dried Weight: 54 lbs/ft3 (870 kg/m3)

Specific Gravity (Basic, 12% MC): .67, .87

Janka Hardness: 2,160 lbf (9,600 N)

Modulus of Rupture: 17,940 lbf/in2 (123.8 MPa)

Elastic Modulus: 1,711,000 lbf/in2 (11.80 GPa)

Crushing Strength: 8,370 lbf/in2 (57.8 MPa)

Shrinkage: Radial: 5.3%, Tangential: 8.8%, Volumetric: 14.1%, T/R Ratio: 1.7
 
Joined
Oct 6, 2022
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Location
Brenham, Texas
It's now past 2am, and I'm just now coming in from the shop. Didn't go out there until 7pm, though. This is Red River Gum burl, and it's a first for me. If anyone has experience with RRG, and would like to comment, or give advice.....let me know. This example has gone through my roughing and seasoning process, and a waste block has been attached. Here, I've done nothing more than bring it to round.....it's ready for final shaping and finish turning.....probably will do that tomorrow.

Good night, all. :)

-----odie-----
View attachment 51792 View attachment 51793

Common Name(s): River Red Gum

Scientific Name: Eucalyptus camaldulensis

Distribution: Australia

Tree Size: 100-150 ft (30-46 m) tall, 3-5 ft (1-1.5 m) trunk diameter

Average Dried Weight: 54 lbs/ft3 (870 kg/m3)

Specific Gravity (Basic, 12% MC): .67, .87

Janka Hardness: 2,160 lbf (9,600 N)

Modulus of Rupture: 17,940 lbf/in2 (123.8 MPa)

Elastic Modulus: 1,711,000 lbf/in2 (11.80 GPa)

Crushing Strength: 8,370 lbf/in2 (57.8 MPa)

Shrinkage: Radial: 5.3%, Tangential: 8.8%, Volumetric: 14.1%, T/R Ratio: 1.7
I turned a small 1/4 sawn sample (5x3) of RRG a while back. It was pretty easy turning wood and dried with little movement. Most memorable was the smell. It reminded me of Elmer's paste that we used in grade school.
 

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Joined
Apr 29, 2020
Messages
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Location
Toronto, ON
Finished a small Marblewood bowl last night.

Workability: Tends to be difficult to work on account of its high density. Marblewood can have a moderate to severe blunting effect on tool cutters. Glues, turns, and finishes well—though there is a high risk of checking and resin exudation during drying.
Comments: The high contrast between the golden body and the much darker streaks give it an appearance somewhat similar to natural marble, hence the common name of “Marblewood” for this species. Marblewood’s overall appearance is very similar to Zebrawood, though Marblewood tends to have a slightly finer texture.
Common Name(s): Marblewood, Angelim Rajado

Scientific Name: Zygia racemosa (syn. Marmaroxylon racemosum)

Distribution: Northeastern South America

Tree Size: 65-100 ft (20-30 m) tall, 1-2 ft (.3-.6 m) trunk diameter

Average Dried Weight: 63 lbs/ft3 (1,005 kg/m3)

Specific Gravity (Basic, 12% MC): .77, 1.00

Janka Hardness: 2,530 lbf (11,250 N)

-----odie-----

View attachment 51386 View attachment 51387
Hi Odie- Is that Watco Danish oil, which you mentioned you use? If you could tell me a bit about your application process I would appreciate it. I want to give Watco a try.
 

odie

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Panning for Montana gold, with Betsy, the mule!
Hi Odie- Is that Watco Danish oil, which you mentioned you use? If you could tell me a bit about your application process I would appreciate it. I want to give Watco a try.
Hi Will......

Here is an explanation of my method here in the comment section of this bowl:


I've found that I'm being asked this question often.....good luck to you, Will...... It is a matter of wood prep for the buffing that matters in getting a good finish with Danish oil.

If you run searches for my application methods of Danish oil, you'll fine that over the years, my methods have evolved......but, the link I gave you is my latest response to this question.

-----odie-----
 
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Joined
Jan 23, 2023
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Location
Calgary, AL
My first lidded box. Birdseye maple with a walnut finial. I think the finial could have been a bit more delicate. I like the way the overall shape turned out - a bit different I think than the normal ovoid shapes. The body of the box was glued up from three pieces of stock as I didn't have any really thick birdseye maple, so the glue lines are somewhat apparent. Next time I'll try to hide or disguise them in the shape. On to the next project.
 

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Joined
Apr 29, 2020
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Location
Toronto, ON
Hi Will......

Here is an explanation of my method here in the comment section of this bowl:


I've found that I'm being asked this question often.....good luck to you, Will...... It is a matter of wood prep for the buffing that matters in getting a good finish with Danish oil.

If you run searches for my application methods of Danish oil, you'll fine that over the years, my methods have evolved......but, the link I gave you is my latest response to this question.

-----odie-----
Great! Thanks Odie!
 
Joined
Dec 16, 2022
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Location
Mesa, AZ
Turning hybrid epoxy and plum? Or apricot. For a friend/family. Lots of epoxy cleanup before the next pour. Have a consult on whether live edge or epoxy voids. I'm hopping for a good balance.
 

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odie

TOTW Team
Joined
Dec 22, 2006
Messages
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9,818
Location
Panning for Montana gold, with Betsy, the mule!
It's now past 2am, and I'm just now coming in from the shop. Didn't go out there until 7pm, though. This is Red River Gum burl, and it's a first for me. If anyone has experience with RRG, and would like to comment, or give advice.....let me know. This example has gone through my roughing and seasoning process, and a waste block has been attached. Here, I've done nothing more than bring it to round.....it's ready for final shaping and finish turning.....probably will do that tomorrow.

Good night, all. :)

-----odie-----
View attachment 51792 View attachment 51793
Coming in late again this evening. Here is a follow-up to the Red River Gum bowl I posted a couple days ago. I wasn't feeling well yesterday, so there was no time spent in the shop.....feeling better today, though. Didn't go out there until 9pm, but still was good for a 5-hour shop session tonight!

I turned a small 1/4 sawn sample (5x3) of RRG a while back. It was pretty easy turning wood and dried with little movement. Most memorable was the smell. It reminded me of Elmer's paste that we used in grade school.

Howdy Monty......not sure if our examples of RRG are comparable, but I found this piece to be very hard and dense. In spite of that, I also found it to be fairly easy to turn, with little movement in the seasoning process. I didn't detect any distinct smell to my piece, but I wasn't paying much attention to that anyway.

-----odie-----

IMG_1672.JPG IMG_1674.JPG

Note: That black dot above the inventory number on the waste block, originally lined up with the hole in the screw center chuck. If I have a catch, the bowl will tighten on the screw, and I check to see if there is a resulting alignment issue with the bowl to chuck. There were no catches with this bowl, so the only other thing that can account for the bowl tightening on the screw, is if I hog off too much wood at a time.....that would sometimes, but not always result in the bowl tightening on the screw. Regardless, I try not to do anything that would make the bowl tighten on the screw, and I didn't encounter any issues resulting from that.....so, all is good!

-o-
 
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Joined
Feb 3, 2010
Messages
384
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436
Location
Adelaide Hills, Australia
This is Red River Gum burl, and it's a first for me. If anyone has experience with RRG, and would like to comment, or give advice.....let me know.

We tend to call it River Red Gum down this way to distinguish it from Forest Red Gum.

I've turned a considerable amount of it over the years from my stockpile that was put aside almost 50 years ago, some of which was from cattleyard fenceposts that had stood for a 100 years before that. The wood that has been seasoning that long becomes darker. The older the living tree was the more likely it will have cranky and interesting wood grain. Mature specimens live for 500 to 1,000yrs...

1346d06d-f589-4769-8b59-58ded7369505_g_570.Jpeg

A few RRG pieces, the older wood on the right...

7.5in redgum - checkerboard grain.JPG 7in redgum - echidna quill.JPG
Redgum - 7in.JPG 7in - old redgum.JPG

As you can see, my preference is to leave the RRG pieces as simple as possible to allow the wood to talk for itself.

I can't think of anything in particular to say about how it turns. The old cattle yard fenceposts are usually full of abrasive grit, but that is unlikely to be an issue with your piece Odie.
 

odie

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Panning for Montana gold, with Betsy, the mule!
We tend to call it River Red Gum down this way to distinguish it from Forest Red Gum.

I've turned a considerable amount of it over the years from my stockpile that was put aside almost 50 years ago, some of which was from cattleyard fenceposts that had stood for a 100 years before that. The wood that has been seasoning that long becomes darker. The older the living tree was the more likely it will have cranky and interesting wood grain. Mature specimens live for 500 to 1,000yrs...

1346d06d-f589-4769-8b59-58ded7369505_g_570.Jpeg

A few RRG pieces, the older wood on the right...


As you can see, my preference is to leave the RRG pieces as simple as possible to allow the wood to talk for itself.

I can't think of anything in particular to say about how it turns. The old cattle yard fenceposts are usually full of abrasive grit, but that is unlikely to be an issue with your piece Odie.

Thank you for your response, Neil......:)

BTW: That's a fabulous watercolor painting with a difficult subject......yours? I've always been intrigued, and a great admirer of good watercolor, and it's related great brushwork. The artist doesn't get any second chances if he(she) screws up!

I enjoyed that as much as seeing your excellent examples of RRG bowls.

BTWx2: Even though I have never visited the land down under, I have a special regard for you Aussies. I served side by side with pilots and men of the Royal Australian Navy during the Vietnam war 1968-69. Matter of fact, my own aircraft commander (AC) was a lieutenant (same as captain in the army) and my flight platoon leader.....and a man, to this day, I have the highest respect for. I served on his flight crew as Crew Chief and right door gunner.....and, I might not be here at all, if it weren't for this man! This experience gave me a special appreciation for the mettle, common to the men who represent your country in battle.

-----odie-----
 
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Joined
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Sydney Australia
Thank you for your response, Neil......:)

BTW: That's a fabulous watercolor painting with a difficult subject......yours? I've always been intrigued, and a great admirer of good watercolor, and it's related great brushwork. The artist doesn't get any second chances if he(she) screws up!

I enjoyed that as much as seeing your excellent examples of RRG bowls.

BTWx2: Even though I have never visited the land down under, I have a special regard for you Aussies. I served side by side with pilots and men of the Royal Australian Navy during the Vietnam war 1968-69. Matter of fact, my own aircraft commander (AC) was a lieutenant (same as captain in the army) and my flight platoon leader.....and a man, to this day, I have the highest respect for. I served on his flight crew as Crew Chief and right door gunner.....and, I might not be here at all, if it weren't for this man! This experience gave me a special appreciation for the mettle, common to the men who represent your country in battle.

-----odie-----
Red River Gum is quite common and readily turned, with great age comes brittleness and hardness and its one of those ' its what it is' situations By Australian standards its not very hard, but rather stiff. Stiff as in it leave a good finish if you have a good edge, bearing mind it often has grit, dirt, rock and sand in and on it due to its age. But at the end of the day I like it and enjoy turning it even when it argues some as it will give you a great finish for those who persevere.
I would say Odie your forms are well suited to the RRG and RG as thin cross-sections and fine edges are readily damaged due to hardness it's brittle nature.
 
Joined
Feb 3, 2010
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Adelaide Hills, Australia
Thank you for your response, Neil......:)

BTW: That's a fabulous watercolor painting with a difficult subject......yours? I've always been intrigued, and a great admirer of good watercolor, and it's related great brushwork. The artist doesn't get any second chances if he(she) screws up!

No Odie, not my watercolour painting, unfortunately! Watercolour was probably my least successful subject at art school.

That painting was done by Sir Hans Heysen who is probably one of Australia's best landscape painters who is best known for his paintings of gum tree scenes like that. He lived and had his studio near to me at Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills among the red gums where many of his paintings were done. I sell my work through a gallery in Hahndorf and it is no surprise that my redgum pieces always sell well there!
 
Joined
Sep 8, 2022
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Austin, TX
Looks like the woodpeckers are alive and well in your neighborhood.
We do have a healthy population of woodpeckers but those holes are bugs of various sorts. The tree was an Arizona Ash about 60 years old and declining when we had hard freezes (for central TX) the last couple of years so it was essentially standing dead when it was taken down.
 
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Location
Spartanburg, SC
Black and White Ebony shaving brush. 600-grit,Triple E friction polish, and starting to burnish in light coats of thinned TruOil on the lathe at speed. It might take 3 or 4. I started turning so that I could turn shaving brushes to match my straight razors. I've got 6 more in different woods to do for a group of teacher friends, the finest men I know. Held in my Beall Collet Chuck with the 3/4" collet and about a 3/4"-inch long tenon.
Black and White Ebony Shaving Brush.jpg
 

Michael Anderson

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Redbud burl mini calabash. I recently acquired a bunch of Redbud; unfortunately, it had a bad ring shake problem in the heartwood. Fortunately, there are a lot of little burls that move very dramatically when they dry.
697599A7-7950-4C63-9DEF-99DC07EFC5C9.jpeg
 

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Michael Anderson

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Do you use the faceplate ring with your axminster or the wood screw puck when you initially mount the blank? I was wondering what screws you use if faceplate ring.
Hey Sam. I’ve only used the faceplate ring once. I use #10 sheet metal screws. They run a little bit proud of the faceplate ring holes, and sort of interfere with how it sits in the Chuck. Smaller screws would work perfectly. I prefer to just use regular faceplates for that anyway, as they vibrate less. I have used the screw Chuck insert many times though. The only problem with that is the screw has a tendency to come loose during roughing. Not a huge deal though, as it’s fast to tighten.
 
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West Central, IL
Hey Sam. I’ve only used the faceplate ring once. I use #10 sheet metal screws. They run a little bit proud of the faceplate ring holes, and sort of interfere with how it sits in the Chuck. Smaller screws would work perfectly. I prefer to just use regular faceplates for that anyway, as they vibrate less. I have used the screw Chuck insert many times though. The only problem with that is the screw has a tendency to come loose during roughing. Not a huge deal though, as it’s fast to tighten.
I run across a brand that the heads all snapped off trying to remove them even before turning with green wood.
#10 stainless flat head sheet metal is what I use too. I thought the #12 stuck up too far.
Grip fast brand I believe is what I have the best luck with but I only find them with phillips head at the local store and I'd like to find a good brand with a square drive.

That screw loosened in my insert too but it must have enough dust built up or something because it hasn't come loose the last couple of times.
 
Joined
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Location
Brenham, Texas
I run across a brand that the heads all snapped off trying to remove them even before turning with green wood.
#10 stainless flat head sheet metal is what I use too. I thought the #12 stuck up too far.
Grip fast brand I believe is what I have the best luck with but I only find them with phillips head at the local store and I'd like to find a good brand with a square drive.

That screw loosened in my insert too but it must have enough dust built up or something because it hasn't come loose the last couple of times.
Look for some Hillman 12x1 1/4. I get them at Ace Hardware locally. I've never had one of these break or strip the head as long as I used the right size bit.
 

Michael Anderson

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Here is the finished Redbud burl piece that I posted about earlier in this thread. It’s sort of a proof of concept for a project that is still swimming in my head. That said, I think it’s a better fit here than the actual Gallery (even though it’s no longer on my lathe lol). The base is a piece of Mesquite with the bottom section left natural.

7658F67D-3BDC-451F-943F-E14550EAFBA8.jpeg
 
Joined
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Torrance, CA
Here is the finished Redbud burl piece that I posted about earlier in this thread. It’s sort of a proof of concept for a project that is still swimming in my head. That said, I think it’s a better fit here than the actual Gallery (even though it’s no longer on my lathe lol). The base is a piece of Mesquite with the bottom section left natural.

View attachment 51924
Makes me wonder how a bent wire (as opposed to straight) would look on this piece. It might add some greater flow to the piece! Perhaps this piece could use some ED (or Peyronie‘s Disease), lol!!
 
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