Archive for the ‘Tools and Jigs’ Category


Home Made Vaporizer for “Pyrography”/Woodburning

May also be viewed on YouTube – but better here! There’s still time to enter this year’s Christmas Ornament Woodturning Challenge. Follow this link for details and and this separate link for this year’s challenge playlist for all ornament video submissions. We appreciate all skill levels and all types of Christmas ornaments. As promised, this […]

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Woodturning Tool Review: Buffing System Update

May also be viewed on YouTube. After I reviewed my Beall buffing system, I received several great suggestions mainly to take it apart and mounts the buffing wheels directly to my lathe. Since the triple buff system has some utility as is, I decided to keep it as is but purchase three new buff wheels […]

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Woodturning Bandsaw Jig Keeps Fingers For Another Day

May also be viewed via YouTube. In last week’s video, I showed a bandsaw jig that I used to safely saw a vase. At first, I thought that it was too simple to do a video on but then I reconsidered due to how dangerous a bandsaw can be. So for a bit of bandsaw […]

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Woodturning Tool Review: Beall Buffing System

Video may also be viewed on YouTube. In this video, I review my experience with the Beall Buffing System to help you avoid my purchasing mistake. I like the results but feel my initial configuration was a mistake. Here’s what I would recommend: Hold Fast Long Buffing Adapter – ~$31.50 Beall 4″ Bowl Buff 3 […]

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My Home Made Scoop Chuck For Difficult Mounts

May also be viewed on YouTube. This scoop is actually my Vicmark vm120 body with wood jaws mounted to the body. The jaws are made from an 8″ by 8″ by 1/2″ piece of Baltic birch plywood(the good stuff). The standard jaws were used as templates to mark bolt holes. The holes were then counter […]

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Woodturning Celtic Knot On Pigtail Barbecue Tool Handle

May also be viewed on YouTube. In this project, I’m making a handle for a barbecue turner. But not just any handle – this one has a Celtic knot. For the celtic knot, I threw together a sliding cutting jig to ensure accuracy in the cuts that have to be just right. A Celtic knot […]

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Woodturn Simple Egg Chuck From PVC Fitting

May also be viewed on YouTube. My friend, Jerry Klug wrote an article for Cascade Woodturners on turned eggs and chucks for making eggs. This video will focus on my adaptation of these chucks for my use. One early chuck was from Dick Sing using PVC slip fitting. It works on a compression principle with […]

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Green Woodturning Techniques – Alcohol Soak & Walnut Oil Finish

I’m experimenting with two techniques for my woodturning: one for drying wet or green wood; one for finishishing. For drying a bowl after rough turning the bowl blank, I’m using denatured alcohol (DNA) for an overnight soak, then drying the bowl in a controlled environment such as a brown paper bag. For finishing, I’m following […]

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Update To My DIY Lathe Steady Rest

Also viewable on YouTube I’ve been using my home made steady rest for over a year. During this time, I’ve thought of a couple of improvements: Use locknuts in place of the nuts. Vibration in use caused nuts to come loose and fall off. Replace the base that mounts it to the lathe so that […]

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Home Made Cole Jaws For Woodturning Large Bowls

I’ve needed a set of large chuck jaws to remount bowls in order to turn their bases. I’ve used jamb chucks successfully but want to expand my options but not pay the high price of commercial cole jaws. So, I’ve made my own 17″ wood jaws to fit my vicmark chuck. Steps: Cut plywood to the size desired. […]

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