Shocking End To Bandsaw Wood Preparation
Best video viewing is right here. But, in case of difficulty, the video is also posted on YouTube and FaceBook
I accidentally cut my finger on my bandsaw but not where most of injury is. I did not see the risk near the power shutoff. Next to the off button is the return channel for the blade. This channel is open wide enough that a finger can accidentally hit the saw blade.
I had to have three stitches on my left ring finger.
For now, I am covering the return blade channel with duct tape to prevent a future repeat occurrence.
Enjoy!
Mousing Around With Woodturning – How To Capture A Mouse
This post is best viewed above here. In case of difficulty, it is also posted on YouTube and FaceBook.
I want to turn a couple of mice refrigerator magnets for small gifts. A mouse is not a mouse without a long tail. In the past I would turn a mouse and then figure out how to drill a hole in its backside for a tail.
With some advance planning, holding a mouse becomes almost trivial. But holding a mouse on a wood lathe is not the whole story. There are a couple more operations off the lathe where holding a small round mouse is important for the safety of both the mouse and me – the operator.
Let’s see what they are.
BTW my sanding pad is also mounted to my lathe using a #2 Morse taper collet to hold the 1/4″ shank of my sanding pad. Then a piece of 3/8″ all thread serves as a drawbar to keep the collet and pad secure in the lathe spindle.
Enjoy!
Woodturning Top With Spin Platform and Box
Best viewed by enabling the video above. In case of difficulty, this is also posted on YouTube and FaceBook.
Why turn a top by itself. When spinning, a top is fun and colorful. But, when not spinning, it just lays around looking weird.
Why not make the top the lid to a small box? Now it can look nice and a small treat be inside.
A bonus. When the box is inverted, it is a platform for a spinning performance.
I first saw this project turned by Eli Avisera.
Enjoy!
Woodturning Eccentric Multi-Axis Candle
In case you cannot view this video right here, it is also posted on YouTube and FaceBook.
What is the sense of turning an eccentric candlestick without a candle – especially and eccentric candle.
The two candlesticks are turned with a twist for a unique look. For this candle, I did not want a twist. It still has three eccentric axes. However, this time the axes are parallel – not skew.
The wood is hazelnut which I prize as a very white wood. It is finished with walnut oil. It is about 12 inches tall.
Please check out the last two eccentric videos.
Enjoy!
Revisit Eccentric Multi Axis Candlestick – With Jigs
In case you cannot view this post here, it is also posted on YouTube, and FaceBook.
After last week’s experience with eccentric turning, aka scary turning, I needed to turn yet another. This time with a couple of improvements.
One improvement was to have end plugs. Each plug has a tenon that fits the hole for either the metal cup or the ballast hole. On the other side, are holes for the centers to seat in. These hole give more stability to the skewed seat of the drive and live centers. These center tend to jump out due to the angles involved. With the plug there are more stable.
The second improvement was a shop-made measuring jig. A pair of dowels run between two ends designed to seat on the tenon I cut on the project spindle. A center dowel can be positionned anywhere on the dowels to measure depth of cut relative to previous settings.
In this project, three additional axes are used. All are offset from the center out to about 3/8″ in from the edge. One end is also twisted about 60 degrees.
This butternut candlestick is about 8″ tall and 2″ diameter, finished with walnut oil and buffed. A metal cup protects the wood from candle flame.
I will show the candle in next week’s video.
Enjoy!
Woodturning Tall Eccentric – Multi-Axis – Candlestick
In case of difficulty viewing this post, it is also posted on YouTube and FaceBook.
Eccentric turnings are both fun and scarey. One one hand they are unusual and interesting shapes. On the other hand, turning wood off-center is scarey. A lot of air gets sliced.
This is based on Barbara Dill’s book. She has categorized several types of eccentric turnings.
In this project, three additional axes are used. All are offset from the center out to about 3/8″ in from the edge. One end is also twisted about 60 degrees.
I believe the wood is butternut. It came from my walnut pile but does not have the typical dark walnut color.
Hand sanding was required to smooth out the spindle. For 80 and 120 grit, I used a small flat block of scrap wood that I could wrap the sandpaper around. Otherise, even machine sanding would leave nasty waves.
This candlestick is about 13″ tall and 2″ diameter, finished with shellac and buffed. A metal cup protects the wood from candle flame.
I will show the candle in a separate video.
Enjoy!
Woodturning Unique Two Piece Mushroom
In case of difficulty viewing this post, it is also posted on YouTube (Link) and FaceBook (link)
Mushrooms are a favorite project for woodturners. In fact, I did a series of posts on mushrooms many years ago.
One risk from those projects is the tight intersection between the underside of the cap and the top of the stem especially if the cap is cut back concave. Another issue is the top heavy nature of mushrooms. A mushroom in the wild has roots. A turned mushroom on a shelf does not have this convenience.
The unique birch branch provided inspiration to address both of these items. Instead of turning one solid block of wood, I cut a short slab for the cap. Then, I could treat the cap much like a small bowl. From the adjacent section of the branch. I cut a piece long enough for the stem then rip cut that in half. From one half, I turned a short simple stem with tenons on each end. The other half when trimmed back provided a base – the root system for my mushroom.
No finish for this mushroom. Any kind of finish would have distrubed the bark on the cap and the base.
In the end, I have a 2 piece mushroom with a bark edge plus a matching base
Enjoy!
Woodturning Perfect Hollow Sphere – No Expensive Jig
In case of difficulty viewing this post, it is also posted on YouTube and FaceBook.
For this project I turn a 2.7″ sphere from mesquite using the octagon method. I interrupted the octagon method to split and hollow the sphere. The sphere is finished with beeswax and mineral oil mix.
Important measures for octagon method.
- Distance from end of cylinder to nearest octagon corner
Diameter * 0.293 - Length of octagon sides
Diameter * 0.414
Cup Centers
- Any scrap wood held in a chuck with recess to hold the sphere.
Link to Basic Sphere Video
Rotating Live Center
- Penn State Industries #LTCA18
- Live Tailstock Chuck Adapter: 1 in. x 8tpi – #2MT Shaft
Beeswax/Mineral Oil Mix
- Shred 1/4 pound beeswax into double boiler.
- Add 1 pint mineral oil.
- Stir occasionally until creamy consistency. Let cool.
- Or put in hot attic for two days stirring a couple of times until creamy consistency.
- Do not use direct heat on wax. You risk a fire and burns.
Enjoy!
Segmented Woodturning Meets 3D Print In A Labyrinth Maze
In case of difficulty viewing this video above, it is also posted on YouTube (link) and FaceBook (link).
I have a 3D printer and explore Thingiverse for useful items that I can print. One very interesting item is a labyrinth maze where I have to blindly manipulate through a maze to open a box. The maze is only apparent after the box is open.
However, I was not happy with simply printing a maze. I like to customize the maze and incorporate it into a woodturning project. It took me a little while and a lot of experimenting to write Java software to design the maze, write OpenScad code to render the 3D object, and print it on my Prusa 3D printer. That was only the “soft” part. Then, for this project prepare 7 segmented rings of 8 segments each for the turning part of the project.
The labyrinth maze is about three inches diameter and five inches tall finished with shellac friction polish. The principal wood is cherry; the accent wood is walnut.
Enjoy!
Segmented Woodturning – Ring Height Makes A Difference
In case of difficulty viewing this video, it is also posted on YouTube and FaceBook.
After presenting an interactive remote demonstration entitled “Introduction to Segmented Woodturning”, I had three bowls left over. One was finished before the demonstration to show the final product. The second was completely glued up that we turned during the demonstration. And, the third was one that we glued up during the demonstration. Three bowls since we could not wait for glue to dry during the demonstration.
All three segmented wood bowls are from the same pattern, a simple pattern for this introduction demonstration.
This video uses the left over bowl to explore the impact of shorter but more frequent segment rings. The process is for emergency use only. as I prefer to size rings before gluing the rings into the vessel.
The bowls are about 6 inches diameter and three inches tall finished with walnut oil.
Enjoy!
P.S. If you would like an interactive remote demonstration for your club, please visit my Demonstrations tab for topics.