I’ve turned several tops on my lathe but never a tippy top. A tippy top should start normally, then flip over onto its spindle. During this process, it reverses its rotation. Physics students create monstrous equations to explain this reversal that are totally beyond me. This wood is poplar with a walnut spindle. The poplar […]
Read More...The wood for this bowl came from a friend who lives nearby. When someone gives me a bunch of wood, I like to make them something from it. In this case, I gave her a choice of a bowl soon but that may warp a little and a bowl that would not warp but that […]
Read More...Woodturning a natural edge mushroom in apricot. In this video, I continue a series exploring what difference the turning axis could make on a mushroom turning. A viewer questioned how I oriented the turning axis, so here we go with an experiment. With this second apricot branch, I’m orienting the turning axis a few degrees […]
Read More...This woodturning project is a natural edge mushroom in apricot. A viewer questioned how I oriented the turning axis on the last video. Since I didn’t have a defined answer, I decided to do an experiment. With three apricot branches, I will orient the turning axis differently in each one: one straight thru the pith; one diagonally […]
Read More...This woodturning project is a small natural edge mushroom in apricot. I saw Walt Weis at the Oregon State Fair making his version of mushrooms. The mushroom is 3″ tall, and a little over 2″ across the cap and finished with mineral oil and beeswax. The wood is green or wet apricot harvested about 9 […]
Read More...This woodturning project is a petite square bowl in cherry. It was based by a demonstration by Eli Avisera. The blank is 5″ square, 3/4″ thick, finished with semi-gloss lacquer. The challenge with a square bowl are the corners. The corners appear as shadows; it is hard to know exactly where to start cutting with […]
Read More...This woodturning project is a salt shaker or salturn in hard maple. It was inspired by a demonstration by Terry Gerros from Willamette Valley Woodturners to Cascade Woodturners. The blank is 3″x3″x6″ tall, finished with shellac friction polish, This salt shaker does not have a removeable opening or removeable top. Nor does it have holes […]
Read More...This woodturning project was inspired by a visit by Eli Avisera to the Cascade Woodturners. Eli Avisera is an Israeli woodturners. He made a small wood spin top that also served as a lid to a small box. He made it look so easy, I just had to try it myself. Fortunately, I had some […]
Read More...This woodturning project, a small bowl turned from apricot, was a nice short fun project. The wood came from urban forestry, meaning, I helped a neighbor cut down the apricot tree he didn’t want in his yard anymore. I was glad to help in return for the wood. At the beginning of the bowl turning, […]
Read More...Sometimes, we need a reminder of the risks involved in woodturning projects, particularly when turning a bowl harvested from random sources, sometimes called urban forestry. I harvest wood where ever I can hoping for a big turning blank and fantastic grain and figure. This apricot wood blank was from the main trunk, one of the biggest pieces […]
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