In my last video I turned a couple of wood balls to overcome a long running phobia – a concern that I could ever turn a perfect wood sphere. But I did it. One requirement was to have a process that I described in that video. However, part of the process required a set of […]
Read More...A gift for my parents 70th wedding anniversary. This vase is 6″ in diameter and ~7″ tall. The base is walnut; the spouts and finial are maple. It is finished with sanding sealer and walnut oil. Sorry, no video on this one YET.
Read More...One project during a week long woodturning class a few years ago was a wood ball using a jamb chuck. I failed miserably to get the ball smooth. It ended up very rough and out of round. With this failure, I feared being able to make a good ball. Since then, I’ve looked for a […]
Read More...On my lathe, I don’t think about cleaning the inside of the spindle or tail stock, but I should. Gunk can build up in the morse taper of these areas and throw off how well your drive and tail centers seat, center, and hold your work. The gunk can also cause damage to these tools. […]
Read More...In this video, I try my hand again to turn an eccentric goblet. I’ll turn the eccentric stem separately from the cup and the base just to keep things a little easier. The stem is 2×2″ maple about 6″ long. I started turning with the axis running almost corner to corner. Then as I finished […]
Read More...I cut tenons regularly to join different pieces of a project together. They’re a common element but I really hate it when I cut one too small. The flip side is stopping the lathe so often to creap up on the perfect size. Many times I’ve used a open end wrench to help size. But […]
Read More...Rather than respond to the challenge of an eccentric tea light, I choose to turn a segmented tea light with a bonus saucer to set it on. The style of segmentation is called open segment meaning that there are gaps between the segments making up the ring. However, nearly every open segment requires a couple […]
Read More...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...At the Desert Woodturning Rounding in Mesa Arizona, I saw a weird toy in the instant gallery. I studied it but couldn’t figure out how it was turned. Fortunately, the woodturner was nearby and explained both the simplicity and the critical portions of the toy. I had to make one. Unfortunately, I don’t remember what […]
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