Here’s a bowl that I turned made out of West African Zebrawood. Zebrawood, also known as Zebron, has a figure that reminds of a Zebra with its contrasting light and dark coloring.

The bowl is almost 5″ at the top and tapers to 3″ at its base. It is about 2″ high and is finished with Ultrashine and Shellawax.

There is a dark spot near the bottom of the bowl that gives it a bit of a focus point. This might have been a branch at one time.

Here are some photos of different views:

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Here’s a Maple cutting board with Walnut accents that I recently did. It’s about 7″ square and the Walnut strips are 1/4″ wide. It’s finished with beeswax.

This was a cool exercise in creating a different pattern with the contrasting woods and something that I will be exploring more of in the future.

Back to the shop…

1. Coat screws with little bit of beeswax to make them easier to install, especially in hardwoods.

2. Sometimes masking tape will dry out over time. You can renew it by putting it in the microwave for a few seconds.

3. In addition to frequently filing your lathe toolrest smooth rub a piece of paraffin wax along it. This will allow your tools to glide more easily.

4. Use cooking oil to remove spots of polyurethane from your hands. Rub a small amount on your hands and scrub. Finish up with soap and water.

5. Household vinegar (acetic acid) makes an excellent rust removal agent. Soaking a rusted tool for a couple of hours will chemically dissolve the rust. Follow this by wiping with a neutralizer like baking soda.

These are just a few tips that I picked up over this past week. They come from a variety of sources including books, magazines, newsletters, online and some from personal experience.

There are more Woodworking Tips and Tidbits located here.

Got a woodworking tip that you want to share? Let me know and I’ll add it in a future issue of Tips and Tidbits!

Back to the shop…

Here is another collection of wine stoppers that I turned recently. As you can see, woodturning is quite addictive! It doesn’t take much time to complete a project, these taking less than a half hour to turn and finish.

Items like this make great gifts. When taking a bottle of wine to a dinner party or a barbeque I plan on taking one of these to leave with the hosts.

The process for making them is quite easy as explained here in this post.

Here are closeups of the individual wine stoppers:

Continue reading 'Another Collection Of Wine Stoppers'