Day 86: Shoestrings

I roughed out 2 of the pieces I cut last night, one of the smaller ones (9") and one of the larger ones (12").

I normally wouldn't core anything smaller than 10" but the chocolate brown heart wood is exceptional so I decided to core it anyway.  The wood was exceptionally wet, I could feel a fine mist being thrown off of the blank as it rotated.

I stripped the bark off of the larger piece before mounting it on the lathe, the last thing I want is a big piece of bark to come flying off at high speed.

More of that fantastic chocolate heart wood.  It won't be quite this dark once it's dry but it will still be gorgeous.

Tonight's efforts.  5 bowls total.  Using this as a baseline the 5 logs I received could yield as many as 50 bowls.

Day 85: Sawing logs

I decided to break out the chainsaw tonight and cut up some of the Shoestring Acacia logs I got on Sunday.  I cut up 2 of the 5 pieces, and got 8 bowl blanks, 4 @ 12" and 4 @ 9" with a couple smaller pieces that will probably end up as pen blanks or lidded boxes.

The heart wood is a very dark brown with light creamy yellow sap wood.  The color in these photos is a little dark as they were freshly cut and very green.

I also did a small modification to my lathe that I've been meaning to do for a while now.  My only real complaint about my lathe (Powermatic 3520B) is that the spindle lock doesn't actually lock.  It only prevents the spindle from turning as long as you're holding the button in.  I've seen this modification before and had just never taken the time to do it myself.  The bracket surrounding the locking button is removed and a pair of holes are drilled before the bracket is reinstalled.

Then a pin can be inserted to prevent the lock from disengaging.  I'm planning to use a larger diameter pin and bending it so that it will hang down and cover the on/off button as a reminder not to turn the lathe on with the spindle lock engaged.

Day 84: Happy Birthday

Today was my daughter's 5th birthday so I didn't spend much time in the shop.  I turned a couple small pieces of Lignum Vitae.  They're supposed to be pickles for my hamburger but I'm not sure about them yet.  What I do know is that Lignum Vitae has to be one of the strangest woods I've ever turned.  The blank appeared to be dark green but a freshly cut surface is brown.  The shavings are yellow/orange in color but the sanding dust is olive green.  It's extremely dense, very oily, and cuts wonderfully, I'm just not sure about the color.  I'm told it will return to the green color eventually.

Day 83: One of those nights

Ever have one of those nights?  Tonight was one of those nights for me.  Almost everything when wrong.  I wanted to turn a couple of pieces of Lignum Vitae that a friend gave me.  They're supposed to end up as pickles for my hamburger.  Problem 1 - I can't find my double sided tape to secure them to a small faceplate.  No problem, I'll run to the store and buy some more, I also need to pick up a flat of bottled water and a few groceries.  Jump in the car and it won't turn over.  Problem 2 - dead battery.  No problem, I'll hook up the battery charger overnight and I have a guy coming over tomorrow so I need to clean up a bit and start to prepare for his visit.  We plan to do a simple pen and a small bowl.  Problem 3 - I can't seem to find the pen kit that I want to do with him.  No problem, we'll do a slimline pen and I'll prepare the bowl blank.  Problem 4 - It's late and the kids are in bed so I don't want to fire up the chainsaw.  No problem, it's a fairly small blank, I'll cut it on the bandsaw.  Problem 5 - The bandsaw blade got stuck in the blank, and in the process of getting it out I snapped the blade.  No problem, I'll cut it with my chainsaw tomorrow before he arrives.  We still need some groceries so I'll ride my bike to the store just a mile down the road.  I check my bike and find problem 6 - a flat tire.  No problem,  It's probably just a small leak, I'll fill it up and be on my way.  About 100 yards from the store the back tire starts making a funny noise and before I can stop the tube in the rear tire explodes.  So I ended up pushing my bike and the bike trailer the remaining distance to the store, purchased the groceries and then push everything back home before giving up for the night and going to bed.

It's been one of those nights.

Day 82: Turn for Troops

I spent the afternoon at Chandler Woodcraft helping out with the Turn for Troops event.  I turned about a half dozen pens that will be sent to the troops overseas.  I neglected to take any photos so I copied this one from my 8/22/09 post.  I did mostly this style, what I call a faux euro.  Done with slimline parts and omitting the center band.  I also did one with a captured ring on the top half (no clip) and tried to do one as a multi axis piece but it didn't work out.

Everyone really liked the faux euro "twist" on the standard slimline. Dwayne, the owner of this franchise liked it so much he had to make a couple himself.

I also talked to Dwayne about working there part time evenings and weekends.  I plan to put in a application in hopes that they need a hand over the holidays and I can pick up a little extra cash with a part time job on evening and weekends.

 I also ended up having some wood follow me home.  5 pieces of Shoestring Acacia that I sourced from a pen turning buddy.  His neighbor cut down the tree as it was pushing on a block wall, threatening to tip it over.  The pieces range from 8-12" diameter and are about 30" long.  Lots of good bowl and hollow form stock here.  I promised him 2 finished pieces, one for him and one for the neighbor.

Day 81: Making jam

I spent the morning out at Boyce Thompson Arboretum on a tree identification walk.  We hit about 30 different trees that woodturners in the Phoenix metro area may come across including Carob, African Sumac, Palo Verde, Desert Ironwood, Olive, and many of the various Mesquite and Acacia varieties.

Tonight I decided to make a handful of jam chuck blanks as I noticed I was running low the other night.  Here the blank has been mounted between centers, turned down to a cylinder, a tenon cut on one end for the chuck, and the other and has been faced.

Now a 1 1/8" hole has been drilled through the piece.  This is 1/8" smaller than the 1 1/4" threads that will be cut.

1 1/4" Beall tap in place.  The tailstock with a 60 degree live center is used to support the tap as the threads are cut.  The spindle has been locked to prevent the blank from rotating.

Tapping is almost complete.  Once all of the cutter head is inside the blank you can disengage the tailstock and continue cutting the threads.

The threads have been completed and the blank has been threaded directly on the spindle so I can clean up the tenon and turn a small recess on the back face to better fit my lathe.

Finished jam chuck.  The recess on the back is to fit over a small collar that's on the spindle on my lathe.

These 5 should last me a year or more as each one can be used multiple times.  I use them most often as jam chucks for lidded boxes and other small stuff where a vacuum chuck may not provide sufficient hold.

The top 2 are Ficus, the bottom 3 are Box Elder.

Day 80: Success II

Finished the twisted box tonight, sanded it out and applied oil inside and out.

Open view.  The oil really enhances intensifies the color of the wood.

I also took the time to sign 3 pieces that are headed back to Boyce Thompson Arboretum tomorrow morning.  I got the wood from them a couple of years ago and promised to give something back, I'm finally making good on that promise.  They will probably put them up for sale in the gift shop but whatever they want to do is fine with me.

Small crotch piece with a nice "feather" in it.  It has an almost 3D appearance.

A small ogee bowl that was turned green and warped a little bit.