Challenge accepted.

Tonight I finished the Eucalyptus hollow form.  I put it back between centers and took another cut from the mid point up to the rim.  This helped reduce the weight but it's still not where I'd like it to be.  Unfortunately this wood is very dense so a ultra lightweight form isn't in the cards.

This is one of my favorite parts of the whole process.  The piece has been sanded and I've started to apply the first coat of oil.  Now is the first time I get to see what the final piece will actually look like.

Top view showing the fake opening.

Bottom view.  The hollowing was done through the bottom and was then plugged with another piece of the same blank.  The grooves on the bottom help disguise the joint.

Profile view.  The sapwood on this side is lighter colored, with much less red.  It also has some small voids and a fair amount of crystallized resin.  The voids are helpful to judge the wall thickness.

Finished piece in my photo booth.  The color here is pretty accurate, and it's all natural.  The oil finish is nothing more than Watco Danish Oil.  They make several varieties, including Walnut, Cherry, and Mahogany but I always opt for the "Natural" variety.

Weekend warrior

No photos for this entry.

Saturday was my demo for the Arizona Woodturners Assoc.  I did the same demo that I did last weekend in Prescott with a few additions as I had a bit more time.  The demo went well with no major issue and only a couple of small ones that were easily overcome.

We also had a board meeting to go over the 2011 budget and action items.  Top of the list is acquiring a new club lathe.  The board added a budget item of up to $3000 to cover the purchase of the lathe and the building of a new stand and any accessories needed.  The general membership then voted to authorize this expenditure.

Our list of potential lathes is somewhat limited due to our budget and several other factors.  Because of where we hold our meetings the lathe must be portable, 110v, variable speed, 16" swing or better.  Unfortunately this rules out the majority of the full sized lathes on the market (Powermatic, Oneway, Robust, Vicmarc).  This leaves about 3 lathes in our price range that meet all of our criteria.  Jet 1642 EVS, Nova DVR-XP, and General 25-650.

I'm not a huge fan of the push button speed changes on the DVR, there are also concerns about future support for the electronics.  The size and weight are big concerns on the Jet 1642 and General 25-650 as portability is a huge factor.

I spent most of the day Sunday in the shop working on a couple of pieces.  I'm preparing a couple of entries to our club's selection for the American Association of Woodturners "Turning 25 - A Celebration" exhibit at this year's national symposium.  I don't want to post photos here as I don't want to influence the voting.  I will say that it's on of the best pieces I've ever done, having a very nice piece of wood to start with doesn't hurt.

Demo prep

More demo prep tonight.  I'm doing a shop made jigs at demo, the same basic demo I did this past weekend at the Prescott Area Woodturners.  Depending on time I may do this jig, even though it's not on my handout.

The jig is simply some scrap wood.  2 tenons have been turned on one end, one on the center axis and another with the opposite end offset by about 3/16".  A 1/2" diameter hole is drilled through the center axis of the jig.  A tenon slightly larger than 1/2" diameter is turned on the finial blank.  The blank is driven into the jig using the tailstock.  The jig is then moved into the off-center axis and the end of the blank is turned (everything to the right of the sharp transition in this photo).

The jig is then moved to the center axis and the bottom of the finial is turned.  Once complete the finial can be cut free or a knockout rod can be used to remove the blank from the jig.

I also started my demo prep for Tucson on April 9th.  I'll be doing my multi axis demo with the main portion of the demo one of my multi-axis twisted lidded boxes.  This will be my 3rd demo in 5 weeks.















In order to save time I turn the inside of the box to completion.  Up to this point I follow pretty standard box making techniques (with the possible exception of leaving the blank square).  Tenons are turned on each end and then the blank is cut in half.  I leave the blank square to make this cut easier and safer and because the triangular cross section of the finished box can be larger than the largest possible cylinder.