Peppermill, Spinning Top and Keychain

Over the past few days I have completed a few more projects. I made a peppermill out of paduak, a spinning top out of an unknown bargain bin wood that has a reddish color, and a key chain from lignum vitae.

The peppermill was not as difficult as I thought it would be. Originally I had intended the shape to be a much more gentle taper to a narrow point about 2/3 from the base and then taper back out to the top. The gouge took a bad catch and forced me to remove more wood near the base than I had originally intended. I will have to be more careful next time. I also managed to turn it slightly out of round. It is hard to see but easy to feel when you twist the cap. Overall I am pleased with my first attempt, but definitely have some work to do. I finished it with one coat of danish oil and one coat of tung oil.

The spinning top is made of a wood that I got from Woodcraft's bargain bin. It has a nice color but apparently is rather green. As the top has developed splits. I finished it with two coats of danish oil. I may need to look into another finish to help slow the moisture loss and reduce some of the splitting. On the bright side it spins really well.

Last but not least, the key chain. I needed a new key chain for the Kubota RTV and decided a small piece of lignum vitae would be a good candidate. I really liked working with this wood. The density and hardness forces you to take your time and make good cuts. It also finishes well, it polished up well with out any oil. Although I did apply one coat of danish oil just for a little added protection.

I wonder what I can get into in the next couple of days.... I think a Jones Ranch mesquite pen might be on deck.

Pictures

Finally I took some pictures to upload.

A top I made tonight. Black walnut and a hard wood dowel. I wish I had made the stem a bit slimmer. Maybe next time.

Tonight I also made a pen out of holly. I turned captured ring on this one. While sanding the main barrel of the pen I bumped the ring a bit to hard and caused it to split. A little CA glue fixed it up. I will have to be more careful next time.

Here is a picture of an egg shaped kaleidoscope made of purple heart. I am fairly pleased with the way this turned out. I wish I had put more of the jewel/colors on the inside. I put about half of what came with the kit. I think 3/4 would make it more fun.

This is a small black walnut bowl. I it only has one coat of oil on it, thus the lack of sheen. I wanted this to be more of a utilitarian bowl and like the feel of the wood. Lots of oil or poly makes it feel more like plastic to me.

This is a bracelet I made of purple heart. It is finished with gloss polyurethane. Hopefully the poly finish will hold up to some light wear and tear.

Last but not least is the finished cedar bowl. It turned out rather nicely. It has about 10 coats of high gloss tung oil and then buffed to a finish. There are two cracks that were repaired with CA glue. The grain looks really nice with the oiled finish. There are some places that it gets curly and swirly. The last photo should give some idea of the size of the bowl. I will make more notes on this bowl at a later date.

Well now you are caught up on my most recent turnings. There are a several other bowls and pens have been given away.

An update on the shop... then Annex interior should be walled off and window installed.

Hopefully I will stay more current with pictures.

Cedar Bowl

I rigged up the Carter Circle Cutting jig on the band saw and cut out about an eight inch round cedar blank. This wood was found/cut during the first part of June of this year near Lake Texoma.

The cedar was fairly easy wood to rough turn. After I obtained an acceptable shape, I applied a coat of sanding sealer to help stiffen up the end grain. Once the sanding sealer dried, I was able to make a finish cut and then sanded it up to 240 and polished up with fine steel wool. I applied Watco Danish oil as a finish and was impressed at the speed the cedar absorbed the oil.

I will apply a few more coats of oil and then finish out the interior.

While hollowing out the interior the tenon failed and the bowl flew off the lathe. I had to remount the bowl to the faceplate and reshape the exterior and cut a new tenon that was a bit stronger than the last. Needless to say the original shape changed a bit. I also decided to go with a tung oil finish instead of the danish oil. I think it turned out all right for having bounced all over the shop.

Still need to get some pictures up.

Week 1

This past week provided several learning experiences. My first project was a small bowl from black walnut. The second project involved sawing up some red oak logs and then roughing out some bowls.


While turning the small walnut bowl, I could not achieve a smooth transition from the side wall to the bottom of the interior of the bowl. After doing some research I discovered that I was using a gouge with too shallow of a bevel. A steeper bevel would have allowed me to work through the tight curve. Also on this bowl, I used a power sander for the first time, it provided a considerably better finish much faster than hand sanding.

While sawing up the red oak my Poulan 16" chainsaw bit the dust. It could not handle the 16-18" diameter logs. I made a quick run to the local Stihl dealer and purchased a MS-290 20" saw. The Stihl made quick work of the logs, it is a much higher quality machine.

I mounted on of the half logs to a face plate and proceeded to rough out the bowl. Instead of hollowing out the interior with a gouge, I wanted to create a set of three nesting bowls using a Stewart System Straight Slicing Tool. Leaving the bowl on the face plate I proceeded to turn off the outer bowl. I found that it is critical to turn the relief cuts first, then make the final straight cut. The tool took a few bad catches,  but I finally got the bowl off. While turning the second bowl off, I was close to the the end of the cut, when I took a catch and sent half of the bowl flying across the shop. When using a straight slicer, give yourself plenty of room from the start with good relief cuts.

I will try to figure out how to post pictures later this week.

The mission

My goal is to create a weekly record of projects, notes, and lessons learned as I learn to turn wood.

Background-
I was given a wonderful gift a few months ago, a nearly complete shop of woodworking tools. My wife's grandfather gave these tools to me, and as a result I have spent a great deal of time in the shop learning how to use them.
 
I have become hooked on lathe work and have made several pens, a few useless spindles, a bracelet, some toys for my daughter, and a few attempts at bowls.

The plan is to update the blog every Sunday or more often if necessary. Sunday, being the first day of the week will allow me to review the previous week's work and provide a preview for the upcoming week.