2010-02 Wood Turning

I have recently tried a couple of wood-turning projects with one of my co-workers, Todd.  He has a wood turning lathe and has invited me and another co-worker, Bryan, over to do some projects. 

The first project that I did was a couple of pens.  Small blocks of wood are placed on a mandrel and then shaved down to whatever shape is desired.  They can be thick or thin with multiple tapers, bulb noses and even bands cut around the barrel for decoration.  Each pen takes about an hour to finish, including turning, sanding, buffing assembly and finishing.  Pen kits with the various clips, barrels and ink cartridges are available from the local woodworking stores.

The second project as a little bit more ambitious as I made a bowl.  We went to the woodworkers store to look for wood to turn.  It can be very basic wood or it can be exotic.  I found an 8"x8"x3" block of purple heart wood, which although is exotic for MN, was not nearly as expensive as some of the other pieces (over $150 for an 8x8x3 block).  It does have a purple color to it, so I thought it would be unique. 

When I got to Todd's, I cut off the corners and chucked it up on the lathe.  I then roughed out the round shape before starting to work on the details.  I had a plan in mind for the bowl, but knew that I might not be able to make it exactly as I desired wither due to the wood itself or my own competence. 

First the outside of the bowl is shaped and I was able to follow my plan for the most part, except had trouble on the base and had to change the very bottom of the bowl as I was not able to add a bead around the very bottom.  After shaping, the outside was sanded and smoothed.  The bowl was much more difficult to shape and cut due to the way you are cutting both edge grain and end grain, and end grains don't cut as easily as edge grains.  The way pens are turned, it is all edge grain.

I then flipped the bowl around and began to cut out the interior of the bowl.  I was planning on leaving the interior relatively thick as I knew if I got too thin and then ended up gouging the interior wall, I would not have a finished project.  I was glad I did as I did have some gouging problems with the inside, but had enough material left in the walls to reshape and get rid of the gouges.  Once everything was smoothed out, I sanded it down and applied a sanding sealer and paste wax. 

It is a fun hobby, although it does generate a lot of dust and debris, and you get to make some useful items in a single day on a single piece of equipment.