Archive for the ‘Small Projects’ Category


From Green Firewood to Vase – Deep Hollowing Wet Wood

This video is also posted to YouTube, Vimeo, and FaceBook. Where Best? Right here! This black locust wood came from my brother in Idaho. It was freshly cut. I took it home and promptly rough turned it to a cylinder, then a rough shape for a vase, then parted it in two. Each end was […]

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Woodturning Maple Mortar and Pestle

This video is also posted on YouTube, Vimeo, and FaceBook. However, you’re already right where you need to be. A mortar and pestle has been on my to-do list for a long time. Finally, I found my “round-2-it”. I did have to look up which piece was the mortar and which was the pestle. It […]

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Woodturning & Hollowing A Vase – Not Through This Neck

This video is also posted to YouTube, Vimeo, and FaceBook. But best right here! Why hollow through a tiny hole if you don’t have to. For this long neck vase I hollowed it from the bottom then plugged the hole with matching wood. Watch out for hanging out so far from the spindle. I used […]

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Woodturning Giant Tagua Miniature Vase

This video is also posted to YouTube, Vimeo, and FaceBook. – Best Right Here! After I turned a miniature vase from tagua a year ago, a viewer, Terry, gave me a bag of giant tagua nuts at last year’s Utah Woodturning Symposium. I did not know tagua nuts could be this big. I wish I […]

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Woodturning Olive Vase – What to Teach a Novice?

This video is also posted to YouTube, Vimeo, and FaceBook. Best right here at As Wood Turns. For this project, I’m preparing for a fiend’s daughter to come have a first experience with woodturning. This is a small 5″ vase from semi-dry olive wood finished with beeswax and mineral oil. A small glass insert protects […]

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Woodturning The Vase That Refused To Be A Box

This video is also posted to YouTube, Vimeo, and FaceBook. Best right here! When I received this block of figured poplar at our club’s wood raffle, I immediately thought, Box based on its size and grain orientation. However, as I started turning and seeing the amazing grain patterns, the wood talked then screamed at me, […]

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How To Turn Perfect Hollow Sphere – No Jig

This video is also posted on YouTube, Vimeo, and FaceBook. Best right here! I’ve turned many spheres and have combined two techniques to make them perfect without a jig. But at a club demo, I was challenged to turn a hollow sphere. My response – sure. But, here’s the proof. Using the process, I’ve described […]

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How To Hollow A Tall Thin Cherry Vase

This video is also posted on YouTube, Vimeo, and Facebook. But you’re already here! For this video, I wanted to combine two useful techniques. First, to rough turn a green wood project, seal it, and let it dry. The second, to split a project in half and hollow from the middle out to both ends. […]

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Woodturning Cable Keeper – Simple Look – ?? Execution

This video is also posted to YouTube, Vimeo, and FaceBook. But why go anywhere else – You’re already here. I had an idea to make a cable keeper – the doodad that manages computer cables. But what is a wood turned cable keeper? First decision is to make the hole big enough for an electrical […]

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Sphere Challenge of 2018 – Final

I challenged woodturners to turn a sphere by the end of July. Why? Because spheres are an essential skill. I received some training years ago that just did not work. It took me years of false starts to turn my first good sphere. Since then I’ve learned and shared the techniques and process that works […]

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