What’s on your lathe?

[Curt Vogt]

Well, maybe not on my lathe...but fresh off of the lathe is close enough. Four Magic Wands, three of
Curly Maple and one of recycled IDunno Wood. All finished with a rubbed-in wipe on poly.
Oh, and let's not forget all those woodchips that were not stuck to my socks.

 

[Jay Peterson]

During the 2025 AAW Forum Holiday Swap, Don Frank and I agreed to swap some wood. Don sent me a Cherry Burl and a Persimmon. I decided to turn the Cherry Burl first because Don said the Persimmon might be a little wet.

 

[John K Jordan]

hree of
Four Magic Wands, three of Curly Maple and one of recycled IDunno Wood.

Nice! And I need to remember the Idunno wood. I have a bunch of that.

If asked, I sometimes tell them it's North American Deciduous Wood.

 

[Bob Slocum]

I’m on a journey to turn a true sphere. Plenty of guidance on u tube, but not so smooth in person. This is 2 inches diameter. Started as 2 1/4. Crabapple.

 

[John K Jordan]

I’m on a journey to turn a true sphere. Plenty of guidance on u tube, but not so smooth in person. This is 2 inches diameter. Started as 2 1/4. Crabapple.

Good fun! It looks like you're well on the way to a perfect sphere!

Mark StLeger showed a nice trick to help refine the sphere. He cut a short piece of what looked like PVC pipe straight across at exactly 90 deg and smoothed the end. Seems like the pipe was maybe 1/2 the diameter of the sphere.

When at the stage of holding it on different axes with cup centers to refine the curves, as it looks like you are in the photo, he holds the end of the plastic pipe against the wood and moves it around on the surface to see where it needs work. When the pipe fits perfectly all over, it's done!

He turned these in a demo at a symposium, turned a round track in a piece of Corian so three spheres fit perfectly. When the top one is spun, all four go round and round! I'm honored to have this one in my display cabinet:



Many years ago I devised kind of a variation of the pipe check method, not to check, but to turn some spheres. I used a piece of steel pipe a little smaller than my intended sphere. Spun the blank on the lathe while swinging the pipe back and forth on the tool rest, sort of like a circular scraper. It quickly transformed the cylindrical blank into one with a marble-sized sphere on the end. It was so easy it almost felt like cheating!



When turning larger spheres I start with the octagon method like you probably did, then successively trim off the "corners", approximate the curve with a spindle gouge, then hold between the cup centers to refine.

JKJ

 

[DON FRANK]

During the 2025 AAW Forum Holiday Swap, Don Frank and I agreed to swap some wood. Don sent me a Cherry Burl and a Persimmon. I decided to turn the Cherry Burl first because Don said the Persimmon might be a little wet.

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Jay, It's good to see you have some of it on the lathe. I haven't done anything with the pieces you sent yet. I'd rough out the persimmon with the idea of twice turning it. Otherwise it might be a while before it gets completely dry. In the meantime your shop will smell good with the cherry burl.

 

[Jay Peterson]

Don, I will follow your advice on the Persimmon.
The Cherry Burl does smell great. However, it is proving to be a very challenging piece to turn. Sharp tools are a must.

 

[John K Jordan]

Don, I will follow your advice on the Persimmon.
The Cherry Burl does smell great. However, it is proving to be a very challenging piece to turn. Sharp tools are a must.

Be advised that wet persimmon is one of the most warping wood I've had, almost as bad as green holly. I've had boards from the sawmill twist and crook until they were unusable except for small things. Dry persimmon is fine. (Persimmon is wonderful wood to turn - hard, fine-grained, cuts lie glass). BTW, it's a species of ebony)

I cut up some more wet persimmon on the bandsaw recently. I seal well with Anchorseal, sometimes on all sides (depending) and let it dry for at leaast a while or until totally dry until I use it. When dry, even square blanks warp significantly, depending on where they are cut in the log and how the the intersect with the rings.

Persimmon is best cut in the winter to help keep it white. If cut when warm, it will often quickly develop brown/grey streaks which don't look bad.

These are persommon:


Unlike black ebony, persimmon usually has just a pencil-thin streak of black in the middle, sometime more like one of those boxes. Occasionally I'll find wood like this. When I do, I hide it from woodturners:




JKJ

 

[Jay Peterson]

It is a beautiful piece of Persimmon and I have more than enough wood to keep me occupied for sometime. The piece is flat on one side and sealed well. Right now I’m battling a California winter with temperatures dropping to the high 50s and low 60s. In a few months summer will provide kiln temperatures for the garage. I can wait until it has had a chance to dry well. I will try and listen to your advice and not jump the gun.