Here is a bowl I just finished that is turned from Curly Birch. Curly Birch is a highly figured wood that has a beautiful, wavy grain that is said to look like ‘watered silk’. It is 6 1/2″ in diameter and 2″ tall.

I turned it with a shallow bottom that meets the side in somewhat of an undercut, creating a large, rounded rim. The bottom was turned with a scalloped relief. Overall, the bowl gives the impression of being fairly ‘hefty’ and when handled you have a tendency to grip the sides in an attempt to flex it. Rather unique.

Here are some close up photos:

Continue reading 'A Robust Rimmed Bowl Of Curly Birch'

I turned some handles for a few files and a drill chuck key today. Using the skills I learned at the recent course on Turning A Tool Handle I quickly, and easily, completed them within a few hours.

They are all made of maple with copper ferrules made from some old pipe that I got from a good friend. I left them unfinished to enhance their grip. Each one is shaped a bit different just because I wanted to have some fun with spindle turning.

The second one from the top sports some burn lines made by first making a slight groove and then holding a thin wire tightly against the turning wood. The chuck key is for my drill press and the longer handle will allow more torque as well as being a bit easier on the hand.

Continue reading 'Fine Handles For Files And Chuck Key'

I got a chance to do a bit of woodturning yesterday and made a cherry bowl. Well, actually, it’s a wooden bowl made out of cherry wood. You can put anything in it, including cherries.

It’s approximately 5″ in diameter at the top, 3.5″ at the base and 2″ tall. It is finished with Tried & True Original Wood Finish.

Cherry wood is really nice to work with, especially turning. It finishes up nice and the grain shows very well.

Here’s a photo of the inside of the bowl:

Continue reading 'A Cherry Bowl To Cherish'

This month’s meeting of the Nova Woodturner’s Guild was another fun and informative gathering for approximately 40 members. We were treated to an instructional segment on spindle turning and a ’show and tell’ of some great work by the Guild members.

Dave Wilkins conducted the spindle turning instruction, demonstrating the use of the skew and spindle gouge.

Working with just a scrap piece of wood, he turned it round and demonstrated the proper use of these two woodturning tools. Working with the skew he showed how the peeling cut can be used to remove a lot of material quickly and how the planing cut is used to smooth. He spoke of the ideal position of the skew on the wood, where using the middle of the blade is preferred. He validated this by showing us the riving action caused by using the heel of the blade and how using the toe easily causes a ‘catch’, the bane of the skew.

Continue reading 'Woodturning Spindles At The NWG'

Wanting to try out the new spindle gouge that I turned the handle for a week ago I turned a candle holder. And since I also wanted to try out the new drill chuck I decided to put a base on it:

This is made of cherry and finished with Turner’s Polish. It stands at about 6″ tall and is just over 3″ round at the base.

It was made in two parts with a tenon turned on the candle stick that was glued to the base. Here’s a photo of the two parts:

Continue reading 'Candle Holder Spindle Work'

Last night I turned a handle for a spindle gouge. The handle is made of maple and 12″ long and it was left unfinished for better gripping. I turned a large bead at the end and a smaller bead at the gouge end to accent the plain, sweeping curve of the tool.

The gouge itself is a 10mm (3/8″) spindle gouge made by Patience & Nicholson (P&N) of Australia. Their turning tools are made of hard-wearing, M2 high-speed steel and valued for their robust construction and ability to hold an edge.

I started with a piece of maple approximately 2″ square and 14″ long and mounted this between centers:

Continue reading 'Turned Spindle Gouge Tool Handle'

I had a great evening last night turning my first wine bottle stopper! This was a fun project allowing me to work on my spindle turning skills as well as learning the creation process. It is made of Cocobolo and turned from a piece of wood approximately 1/2″ square and 3″ long. I believe the Cocobolo really added to the finished product.

This was a project that I wanted to do since I started woodturning. But like a lot of things getting started is the hardest thing to do so I went to a woodturning course at Lee Valley and received instruction on how to turn one. These courses are always great.

Here are the steps I took to turn the stopper:

Continue reading 'Cocobolo Wine Bottle Stopper Topper'

The mood was right to turn a pen yesterday so I turned a European Round Top Pen made out of Zebrawood. The style I chose was similar to the Spalted Birch Pen I made back in November. It is a very pleasing shape, both to look at and to hold:

This pen came out extremely well. I am quite pleased with it. Here are the steps that I took to create this pen. First, you will need a pen blank and a pen kit:

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Yesterday, in celebration of Easter, I made, what I’m calling, an Easter Basket Plant Pot Bowl:

The bowl is made of Maple with a band of Padauk running around its center. It’s approximately 4″ tall and 6″ in diameter. Because it is to be used as a flower pot I made the walls a bit thicker than I normally would, at about 1/2″.

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I turned a small bowl today out of Curly Birch. To make it a bit different I added a base made out of Purpleheart:

Both the Birch and Purpleheart blocks were cut round and then glued together. I also glued on a tenon made of maple but this didn’t work out so well. It broke off while turning and I had to turn a tenon in the Purpleheart which led this layer to be a bit thinner than I planned. However, once completed the base was of a more pleasing size. I guess it knew better than I.

Continue reading 'Birch Bowl With Purpleheart Base'