Wood Bracelet For A Girl
Several years ago, I had a bright idea to make wooden ties. I made several which turned out very nice except they were not very comfortable to wear. They only bent in one direction. I did not make any more beyond the first batch but still had a lot of wood milled out.
Now I’m using the wood for a wooden bracelet for a grand daughter using segmented turning techniques.
For this first set, I’m using four segments in a layer. Two segmented layers are glued up witha thick piece of Oak veneer in between for added strength. Woods are honey locust, maple, walnut, a probably padouk.
The blank was CA glued to a piece of baltic birch held in my scrolling jaw chuck. I turned the outer face and hollowed the middle first. Then parted off the bracelet.
I had to add another layer to the baltic birch to make a jam chuck for the bracelet. The bracelet is sealed with thin CA glue, then finish sanded, and finished with a friction shallac polish.
Rescue From A Woodturning Bowl Disaster – My Poor Maple Bowl
This woodturning project picks up from a green turning disaster a couple of months ago.
At that time, I turned a green piece of maple. I wanted the finish turning without waiting for the wood to dry.
However, in the final moments, my gouge caught the bottom of the bowl and it exploded.
Maybe I should have thrown the broken bowl away. Instead I decided to try to make something of it after all.
So, I turned another small bowl from a piece of Walnut limb wood. This walnut was very dry, having been salvaged many, many years ago. It has had ample time to dry.
I mixed up some casting resin with a little silver metallic sparkle and poured it into the walnut bowl. Then I placed the pieces of the broken maple bowl in the walnut bowl and embedded in the casting resin. I used small skewers to space the pieces of the broken maple bowl.
The end product is not a classic in my estimation. But it does have a story to tell and an acknowledgement that not all woodturning projects turn out perfectly.
Time to Finish My Cracked Green Turned Bowl – Part 3
Now it’s time to finish this bowl — years in the making because I was distracted by work and family.
But it’s also scary to finish turn a large bowl like this one. A large blank like this one is rare, very hard to come by. I rough turned it years ago and waited for it to dry. It should have been a wait of about a year to a year and a half (the walls were quite thick).
The bowl shrunk as it dried, distorting the bowl by 1/2 inch. I filled the crack with casting resin. I don’t recommend duct tape to seal the inside of the bowl before pouring the resin. The resin dissolved the tape’s sticky letting the resin leak out.
Fortunately, the original tenon was intact and suitable to remount the bowl. Ash is hard and with the distortion, turning this woodturning project was tough. This project stretch all my tools to the limit.
This was fun. It is beautiful. Watch the video and add your comment.
Natural Edge Maple Bowl From Green Wood
For this lathe woodturning project, I rough turned a piece of maple about three weeks ago. The maple was green which is very easy to turn. I wanted a natural edge bowl.
At the time, I considered finishing it in just the one mounting. However, wet wood clogs sandpaper very quickly. So, I thought I’d let it dry a couple of days to allow the surface moisture to evaporate. In the end, I waited 19 days. Meanwhile, the wood bowl lost 30% of its weight while drying. It felt very dry & I felt good about finish turning it. At least, my sandpaper would not clog as fast.
It has dried unevenly about 1/4 inch difference in diameter with the grain compared to across the grain.
The only challenge in finish turning was whether there was enough wood to true it up again. So, I was very careful to remove as little wood as possible. If it warps any more, that will be okay; it will not be much if at all. A little of the bark chipped off but it still looks great.
Not perfect but very nice. It’s a keeper.
Finish Turning Plum Wood Bowl From Green Wood
It’s long past time to finish this woodturning project. This piece of plum came originally from a tree in my back yard. Several years ago, I rough turned it, painted it with a wax emulsion, placed it in a brown paper bag and left it on my shelf.
During the drying process, it shrunk radically and almost randomly. It also opened a crack clear through the bottom and widened a rot or bark inclusion area.
The mounting tenon is definitely oblong. The difference in length versus width in the tenon was a full 1/2 inch.
The average of the difference falls into a no man’s zone in the capacity of my chuck. Too small for one set of jaws; too large for another set of jaws.
I repaired the crack with plum sawdust from the bowl itself stabilized with CA glue. The bark inclusion or rot was also stabilized with CA glue.
Although the intended lip on the bowl did not survive, I am pleased with the result.
Woodturning Projects – Help – My Green Turned Bowl Cracked – Part 2
Turning green wood is a pleasure. Shavings fly off in wonderful cascades. But, the challenge comes when the drying wood splits or develops a crack. Don’t throw away the bowl. Instead, turn it into a creative opportunity by concealing, accepting or emphasizing the crack. Creative opportunity just knocked.
Woodturning Projects – Help – My Green Turned Bowl Cracked
I rough turned this bowl on my wood lathe. Then I coated it with was, wrapped it in brown paper bags, and left it on a shelf in the shop to dry.
Then life intervened and it has been several years. I think it is a very nice woodturning project.
The bowl is now dry and ready for finish turning but developed a large split in the bottom while drying.
I want to salvage the bowl some way. I’m open to suggestions that will produce a nice result either by blending, complementing or contrasting.
Please leave your suggestion as a comment below.
I’ll make another video with the final result based on your suggestions.
While you’re at it, please register at right so I can keep you posted. Read More…
Woodturning Bowl Disaster – Green Maple to Finished Bowl in One Turning
Last week we had a late spring snow storm here. The very wet snow brought a maple limb down on a friend’s home. He cut the limb down from the tree and his house and gave me one of the larger limbs for woodturning. Now I owe him a bowl to give to his wife. Later, he plans to cut the rest of the tree down. I hope he’ll give me some of the trunk when he does.
In Star Trek, they have a “Prime Directive” having to do with not interfering with the development of societies and civilizations they encounter.
I’ve adapted this prime directive to woodturning: “Don’t tell what you’re making until it is finished.” In this case, the bowl will evolve as I see the bowl emerge or in some cases, as I make mistakes and have to adapt the design to compensate.
This bowl is green or wet maple. The limb had been cut from the tree on Thursday, I turned it on Friday. Very fresh and very wet.
I decided to experiment with grain orientation since it was not a large limb. The grain normally runs across the bowl but in this one, the grain runs vertically. The downside for this bowl is a log of eng grain which is harder to turn than side grain. I also planned to turn this bowl in one sessions. Then let it dry and warp just a little after it was finished.
Alas, in the end, this bowl was a disaster. At the last of the tooling, I wanted to thin the bottom just a little more. But, I lost focus on my gouge, nicked the bottom, and the bowl shattered. I should not have been terribly surprised since the bowl is almost all very short grain. Being wet and prone to warping anyway, no chance to salvage it.
Oh Well, better luck next time.
Register at the right & I’ll let you know with the next one is ready.