What’s on your lathe?

[Phil Hamel]

Hi Phil. I’d suggest the base could be a bit thinner and streamlined. These are cake platters but the same base would also work well on a bowl like this. View attachment 84942

Thank you!

 

[Curt Vogt]

Well, this is what's on the lathe tonight. It is never too early to start working on Christmas Ornaments. This Curly Maple finial will go on a yet to be made ornament globe.

 

[Steve Gray]

Green single-turned silver maple burl natural edge bowl catching sunlight. Off to dry before sanding and finishing.

 

[Bob Hall]

Green single-turned silver maple burl natural edge bowl catching sunlight. Off to dry before sanding and finishing.View attachment 84987

Very nice, what is your drying process?

 

[Steve Gray]

Very nice, what is your drying process?

Thank you. In this case, it will be a week in a paper bag in the house and then after a week out of the bag it should be ready to sand and finish. This should be pretty quick to dry and unlikely to crack because: 1. Winter downed tree with less moisture 2. Thin turned 3. Burl is less prone to crack/split. I'll be sure to post a pick in two weeks if it turns into The Liberty Bell!

 

[Joel Daniels]

Cherry Burl. I was really worried it would blow apart - but it hung in there.

 

[Kent Reisdorph]

Persimmon

 

[Norm Marentette]

Kent just wondering what tool do you use for hollowing the inside of the top part of your form while using the Trent Bosch system. I have the same but think I need to buy an adjustable cutter of some description. Perhaps like a Jamieson cutter? Nice form Kent.

 

[Kent Reisdorph]

Kent just wondering what tool do you use for hollowing the inside of the top part of your form while using the Trent Bosch system. I have the same but think I need to buy an adjustable cutter of some description. Perhaps like a Jamieson cutter? Nice form Kent.

Thanks, Norm. I bought a cheap set of carbides that included a swan neck. I use that for the top part and general smoothing pass.

 

[Pat Wisniewski]

A few days ago I quickly turned a cherry rattle to show a younger turner the concept. After hollowing the head of the rattle I added a few kernels of popcorn for the rattle effect before gluing it.

I thought mung beans might be another good choice but haven’t grown bean sprouts lately, so had none in stock.

What do you all use inside this type of rattle?

Yesterday she made her first captive ring rattle. Quite good for her first time. Sent her home with two more hard maple blanks with which to practice. I didn’t think to get a photo of her turning…

 

[John K Jordan]

What do you all use inside this type of rattle?

I haven't made rattle but when I do I thought about using plastic ball bearing balls:
www.amazon.com/uxcell-Bearing-Plastic-Precision-Frosted/dp/B0FHKQLTZV

Or a few steel ball bearings might make a nice feel and sound.
And it seems like either a harder wood or one with good sound properties, such as Sassafras, might be nice. Have to experiment.

 

[Darryl Fective]

I finally got some time in my shop yesterday. Things have been busy with plowing snow, repairing our wood boiler, and helping my son buy his first home. I took some walnut from my firewood bin with the intent of just turning some simple bowls for an Empty Bowls event in May. It was wet wood, (yes, I burn wet wood) so I wasn't sanding any of them, just making shavings.

I've started to sometimes take photos during stages of more production (less artsy) type of work. The first piece somehow had a natural edge wing/rim around, so I deviated a bit to see how thin I could comfortably go and not get too bogged down. Pat Carroll did one in his demo for our club's May meeting. He also had 8 of us doing them in a hands-on class the next day.

My slight deviation to a little artsy was fun and good practice. It's nice when you have wood that you really don't care if you ruin it. It's about 3mm thick everywhere and came out OK. I was pleased that it just took 59 minutes. I did the other 3 bowls in the hour afterwards.

One tool that has really helped make me better (and faster) at turning bowls, is a scissor caliper that Pat left for me. I had wanted to buy one for a while, but didn't, but he gave me one for putting him up and showing him around northern Michigan a bit. (BTW, he's a great demonstrator and houseguest, so if you get the chance to have him, do it)

 

[Ric Taylor]

I haven't made rattle but when I do I thought about using plastic ball bearing balls:

Or a few steel ball bearings might make a nice feel and sound.
And it seems like either a harder wood or one with good sound properties, such as Sassafras, might be nice. Have to experiment.

John, safety is paramount. Little kids are destructive little critters, and to be on the safe side it's good to assume that they will figure out a way to break a rattle. What many turners do is put dried corn kernels inside of rattles. The sound is nice, and if they happen to be ingested by the little critters then no harm is done.