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PostPosted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 1:53 am 
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Well, the lathe is up and running, hurrah!!! :D Spent 3 different nights playing with practice wood, most of it not the best type. Last night, I found a piece of basswood in the stack and tried that, much better.

The biggest challenge was getting the grind on the skew chisel close enough to actually work. :confused: I made the skew by grinding down a flat (not diamond-shaped) parting tool and shaping the end to suit. The bevel was the big challenge, had to grind it down again, re-bevel, still not right -- then tonight I found the sweet spot. All freehand. Had to use the side of the wheel to get the right finish (where is that diamond paddle anyway?!)

Tomorrow, I'm going to get some practice stock out of an alder log that's laying around. It will be nice to turn some green wood. Hubby's going to fetch some green maple from his property north of here, that will really be fun!

Thanks for listening, and for the help over the past couple weeks!


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PostPosted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 12:38 pm 
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Hi, Dennis, yep I'm having a blast!

The oval skew is an interesting approach, but I'm doing all this on-the-cheap. When I have more money (and more skill sharpening), there may be an oval skew in my future.

I'm good with the roughing gouge, LOL! My favorite tool -- hard to go wrong. :D :D It amazes me that I can touch a spinning cube of wood with that thing and nothing explodes. :shock:

Bowl's are down the road a bit, I might hit you up for another hands-on lesson when I get there. I can bring my own stock -- we've got a pretty big alder down on the property, and it will become bowl blanks very soon.


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PostPosted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 8:45 pm 
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Jamie,

If you get a chance to try and oval skew, give it a try. I have one and it makes rolling beads very easy.

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PostPosted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 10:16 pm 
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Thanks, Dennis. I can bring you some maple if you want. Nick went out to his 13-acre property today and brought back a few rounds. It was fun to work on a piece. My lathe's got some kind of ooopsie goin' on, I've got to track down where the vibration is coming from. But it's still fun.


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PostPosted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 5:30 am 
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DennisS wrote:
Jamie -

Perhaps more experienced woodturners than I can comment on rough turning green wood for spindle turned projects??


Don't know yours, but in my experience, all wood starts green, and reducing it to near-desired round dimension is a great way to get it dry. Good sense must prevail, so know your material. That rolling pin will dry faster in the round than the rough.

As to projects from wet wood which are finished except the finish, there are chair spindles, which really don't care about being oval. Some even take advantage of the differential shrink in the assembly of the chair. Mallets for the shop, "priests" to administer last rites to pike, spoons and Christmas ornaments....

Once you get a chuck - and I say get a chuck, not a faceplate - you can make all kinds of open or closed vessels from wet wood.


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PostPosted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 11:48 am 
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I was planning to go to dry wood when I actually start making things. I'm turning wet wood now for practice, practice, practice. And the spindle focus is mostly, as you say, to learn -- get the basics down and get efficient with my skills.

I do want to make some spinning tops, candlesticks, wine stoppers, for Christmas gifts (tick-tock-tick-tock......time is running out!). But bowls are definitely a goal. I've got one big alder, a healthy portion of a nice maple and some possibly spalted maple all laying around just for the taking. :D Oh, and a HUGE board of Madrone, 12" x ~4" X 10'


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PostPosted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 11:56 am 
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NB George wrote:
Don't know yours, but in my experience, all wood starts green, and reducing it to near-desired round dimension is a great way to get it dry. Good sense must prevail, so know your material. That rolling pin will dry faster in the round than the rough.

As to projects from wet wood which are finished except the finish, there are chair spindles, which really don't care about being oval. Some even take advantage of the differential shrink in the assembly of the chair. Mallets for the shop, "priests" to administer last rites to pike, spoons and Christmas ornaments....

Once you get a chuck - and I say get a chuck, not a faceplate - you can make all kinds of open or closed vessels from wet wood.


That is encouraging news. Would it be true that how successful the drying process is would depend to some extent on the shape of the object? For instance, a turned Christmas tree (with all those thin edges and thick middles) would be more likely to split and fail that the mallet??

I'll try different approaches, with wood that's fairly common and not special, after the holidays pass by and time is not such an issue. Thanks, NB.


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PostPosted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 11:58 am 
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Dennis, NB, I just had a thought. :shock: For very small objects, such as the spinning tops (several people have asked for them), could I gently nuke the block? I think I might try this.


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PostPosted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 12:01 pm 
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Congratulations Jamie. Getting a handle on the skew is a huge step. Sounds like you are well on your way down the vortex. 8)

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PostPosted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 5:30 pm 
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forestgirl wrote:
NB, I just had a thought. :shock: For very small objects, such as the spinning tops (several people have asked for them), could I gently nuke the block? I think I might try this.


Microwave with caution. You will evolve water out the end grain pretty rapidly, which means short pieces are good candidates. You don't want to get too thick in a cross-grain direction, or your insulated center will dry and heat to the point of ignition while there's water on the surface!

So slow is the way to go. It says power on the settings, but in reality it's an on/off proposition with the micro. Shorter power on and longer unpowered intervals will help give the wood time to breathe out. Don't microwave anything you've used CA glue on.


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PostPosted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 1:01 am 
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have you seen Richard Raffan, on his DVD, paring off 2 inches of wood down the length of a practice piece. Wow!!! :shock: Tons of fun! :D


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