This month’s meeting of the Nova Woodturners Guild was a long time in the making and it certainly was worth the wait! If you remember, back at our first meeting of the season members were given a 6″ X 6″ X 3″ piece of African Red Mahogany for our Annual Fun Turn. Well, this meeting was the one where everyone brought in their finished pieces… and let me tell you, there was a slew of them! There were big pieces, small pieces, multiple pieces and tall pieces. There were bowls, hollow forms, sculptures, a piece that could rock and a piece to take for a walk. So many great examples of art and craft.

What is always amazing is that there is always such a wide variety of finished pieces – there are never two pieces alike! Sure, you’re saying that everyone is different but the thing is that we all start with the same type and sized piece of wood. Pretty incredible, I’d say!

The rules for this yearly event are quite simple – to have fun and turn anything of your choice using the block of wood (you can even use additional wood to accentuate your piece) . Did I mention to have fun? Yes, it’s all about the fun.

And fun it is. From the time we get the block of wood and place it in our shop it sits there, beckoning us (threatening us? ), demanding from our every waking moment the question – “What will I turn this block into?”. Then we wait for it to speak to us… we wait… and wait… and wait… Then, if the lathe gods are smiling and the wind is blowing just right, at the very last minute it does speak to us and it’s a mad scramble to get our pieces finished on time (sometimes the finish is even still wet when it’s brought in! ). Ah, finally, it’s done, woodturning bliss. Oh, there are some that the wood speaks to immediately but do they really get to enjoy the anguish and turmoil that this block of wooden fun brings? LOL!

Seriously, the Fun Turn is a great opportunity to try something different, perhaps even turn something that you wouldn’t normally turn. This, of course, can take your skills to another level.The biggest enjoyment I get is just by participating in the camaraderie of this event. Yep, it really is a lot of fun. It really is.

I believe that we all outdid ourselves again this year. Here, see for yourself:

Continue reading 'Nova Woodturners Annual Fun Turn'

Here are a few more woodworking tips that I have collected in the past month:

1. To remove construction adhesive try using baby oil. Pour it on and let it soak in then work it into the adhesive. Once the adhesive has been removed wash off the baby oil.

2. To get a quick and accurate 90 degrees on your miter gauge just turn it upside down in the miter slot and then butt the gauge face up against the table edge. Tighten the gauge head, turn it over and use.

3. To get other accurate angles on your miter gauge use an electronic tilt angle tool. First, loosen the gauge head from the arm and then hang the miter gauge over the table edge with the gauge face on the table. Zero the tilt tool on the table top and then attach it to the side of the hanging gauge arm. Swing the arm until the desired angle is achieved. Then tighten the gauge head and use.

4. To straighten out a bowed board tape a piece of angled aluminum the full length of the concave edge and run it through your tablesaw with the flat edge of the aluminum against the fence. Then remove the aluminum, flip the board and run it through the table saw with the new straight edge against the fence.

5. When drilling a hole in a ceiling you can use an empty coffee cup to protect you from falling debris. Just drill through the bottom of an empty coffee cup and then drill your hole in the ceiling. The coffee cup will catch the falling debris.

These are just a few tips that I picked up lately. They come from a variety of sources including books, magazines, newsletters, online and 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…

For a recent woodturning project I required a spindle steady rest. I couldn’t find anything locally that would fit my lathe and the ones I found for sale elsewhere were lathe specific or way above what I was willing to pay so I decided to build my own. Boy, was I glad that I did because it was really easy to do!

A spindle steady is used to steady a long spindle while turning. The smaller the diameter and the longer the spindle is the more likely it is to vibrate and ‘whip’ back and forth, making it pretty much impossible to turn. The spindle steady, using clamping pressure with a series of wheels, tames this erratic motion allowing you to turn your piece as normal. Basically it minimizes the distance of support on your workpiece.

Making your own steady rest is rather straight forward and easily finished in a day, though an afternoon and a few hours the following morning is preferred since this will give time for the glued pieces to dry.

Here’s how I built mine:

Continue reading 'How To Make A Spindle Steady Rest'

Here’s a wooden canister that I recently made of Ash. The 9″ sides are tapered slightly from its 4″ diameter base to an approximate 3″ diameter lid, which is topped with a Cocobolo knob.

It was finished with tung oil and then buffed and shined with the three step Beale system.

The grain of the Ash really accentuates this piece, making it appear taller and the sides more tapered.

The lid fits perfectly into the base with a 1/4″ tenon. It’s not too tight and not too loose.

Here’s a few more photos:

Continue reading 'Ash Canister With Cocobolo Lid Pull'