The Things You Learn.

I'm reading David Ellsworth's, "Woodturning" as a way back in after a long hiatus, what with having the kids, building a house, and moving across the country over the past few years.

Here's a few things I didn't know. First, seasoned turners like spalted wood because it won't distort that much. As it spalts, (or begins to rot) much of the tension is removed so it won't move on you.

Second, spalted wood is wicked hard on sharpened tool edges. Because it's not wood any more; it's now a carbonized, iron-based composition.

Third, no one knows for sure if working with the spores is dangerous to your lungs. It's still up in the air, so err on the side of caution.

And fourth, you can start any piece spalting (like, say, if you wanted to design around a patch, for instance) by taping a few spalted shavings to the area you want to change, and wrapping it in plastic. Obviously, you have to wait a bit then, for Nature to do her thing.

And all this time I thought people liked turning it for it's outstanding design patterns. The things you learn. Thanks, David.

A Lesson In Thin.

Usually, I keep the walls of my bowls at about 3/8s of an inch. It seems to be the most visually appealing to me now. But there's another reason: it's a lot more forgiving the thicker you turn, in keeping a gentle curve. More, things are less likely to start moving if you stay thick.

This is a piece of Ash that had two large cracks running down the center. For fun, I repaired the cracks and started into it, and decided to try a thinner bowl; much like my favorite pasta bowl I use in the kitchen.

I was amazed the bowl moved out of round before I even turned it over to hollow it out. By easily a quarter inch. (I'm also experimenting with placing objects in the pictures to help you gauge the size of the things I'm working on.)

This is the first thing I turned bigger than 12" round. Other than that one piece that exploded in my face, requiring several stitches. But that's a story for another day. I need to make a jig so I can finish off this bowl. Currently, the jaws I have are too small. Stay tuned to see how that turns out.

There's Gold In There.

Last week I finally found a wood source. I'd love to tell you all about it, but as any turner knows, places to get wood aren't as easy to come by as you might think. Especially in a city where no one really plants trees that'll grow over 20' any more.

The place I stumbled upon has piles of off-cuts and the fella who owns the lot said I could take whatever I wanted -- as long as it was from the scrap pile. So, armed with a chainsaw and a tape measure, I began climbing all over the piles, dragging out things I thought might have an interesting grain hiding inside.

I'm not absolutely sure, but I think this is a piece of elm. It was a thin piece with lots of new growth, and a big burl sticking out of the bark.

Some cracks I glued to keep them from spreading, some I left alone.

Mostly, as I got into it, I thought the coloring was incredible. (Just think, this was in the trash heap.)

From the top, it's beautifully split in two.

From the bottom, it takes on a whole different look. This bowl's 11' by 3.5" deep, and finished with tung oil.

I was thinking I'd give this one away for a wedding present, so I chose this button for the bottom. Who knows, maybe it'll be the start of my Wedding Bowls Collection.

And if you look carefully, you can see the lip is beginning to heave after only two days. Now, we wait and see how far this things moves. Will it crack? Will it split where it's heaving. Dunno. Time will tell.

Two Years In the Making.

A few years ago while on a visit to New Jersey, I came across a cherry tree that had fallen on my wife's new mother in-law's farm. And I thought I'd like to prove it existed some how, so I asked Ashton's dad to ship a piece to me in Seattle.

When it came, I immediately roughed it out and set it aside; every so often, checking to see if it had cracked and repacking it in newspaper. When the wood reached about 16% moisture, I decided to throw it on the lathe and see what happened.

I was more than pleasantly surprised to see this bowl emerge.

It's about 11" wide and just over 7.5" deep.

I carved the outside and placed a pewter button at the base. Which, by the way, is my signature of sorts. I think it's a lot prettier than my name scrawled in the wood.

July 24, 2009

After hemming and hawing for quite some time, (actually, I don't really know what it means to literally hem and haw, but I do love the sound of the implied action...) I'm starting to chronicle my journey with my lathe with this blog.

Since most of the stuff I make is given away or sold, this felt like a nice place to keep track of it all. As well as, keep pace with my progress as I learn the tricks of what used to be a fascinating trade.

So if you're interested, read along. I'd love the company.