Summers Woodworking issued a challenge: Make something nice from an ordinary 2x4x8 stud. I couldn’t resist. For me, that means it would have to be round. But how to turn a 2×4 into something both round and nice? Hmmm. So I decided to make a large segmented bowl, using almost all of the 2×4. I’m […]
Read More...A little while ago, a viewer asked how he could turn a bowl without a chuck. He has a nice piece of wood and a new lathe but does not own a chuck. For many years now, I’ve consistently used a chuck when turning bowls. As it turns out, I recently purchased a mini lathe […]
Read More...For St. Patrick’s Day, I need a pot for the leprechauns to leave me a little of their gold. Fortunately, at a recent club meeting, Nick Stagg demo his bowl turning techniques. And even more, he gave me a big block of ash that he had used as a jam chuck. However, in my haste […]
Read More...A year ago, a limb of a maple tree fell on a friend’s home in a storm. He gave me some of the wood for woodturning. From the wood, I turned two natural edge bowls. The first bowl I turned all at once, finished it, then let it dry. I posted its video then. […]
Read More...I had some fun at the 2013 Desert Woodturning Roundup in Mesa, Arizona. While at a break between exhibits, a man came by offering some time to woodturn at a lathe. I said ok. Later I learned that it was a timed competition including many of the professional presenters including Richard Raffan, Michael Hosaluk, and […]
Read More...The tailstock on my full-sized Powermatic 3520A is heavy. I have to remove it from the lathe to hollow a bowl or a hollow form. It’s so heavy that I worry about dropping in on my toes or straining my back. If I leave it on the lathe, I risk banging an elbow. Ouch!. It […]
Read More...Several years ago I rough turned a beautiful 13 by 6 inch bowl from a green or wet piece of ash. I promptly waxed the rough bowl, put it in a paper bag, and placed it on a shelf to dry. I intended to leave it for about a year. More than the allotted time […]
Read More...I pruned a branch off my apple tree last winter and rough turned a small goblet. I had to dodge a lot of rotten wood to form the goblet. Then I waxed it, put it in a paper bag, and put it away to dry. In the mean time, it has lost 34% of its […]
Read More...I’ve been using wood faceplates instead of metal faceplates with wood scrap blocks. A wood faceplate eliminates the risk of hitting a screw while turning. I can have as many wood faceplates as I want and keep it on the project until the project is complete. I can make any size faceplate that may be […]
Read More...In my last video I turned a segmented bracelet using my new home made bracelet chuck. It is an expansion chuck using basic engineering principles with lathe components. It uses 2 tapered end plugs, 8 tapered side slats, 2 automotive band clamps, 4 latex tubing rings, and a little duct tape. One end plug is […]
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