Two steps forward, one step back

Yesterday saw great progress, but also some frustration. I bought a chainsaw for cutting blanks out of logs that I find (including the cedar that I cut by hand already) and an air compressor for getting shavings out of hollowed vessels. If you're craving some unboxing action, check out the flickr sets here and here.

The chainsaw is great. I cut that piece of cedar into two bowl blanks yesterday without any trouble at all. Once the pieces got too small to stabilize for cutting with the chainsaw, I used a mitre saw to shape them, hence the 45 degree cuts on the corners. One has a good gouge out of the side that happened during the last bit of hand cutting when I pulled the two pieces apart, but I think it's low enough that I can turn away the wood around it without affecting the overall shape.

Here's where the step backward enters the story... After I got the blank mounted between centers, I go to turn on the lathe and the switch literally comes off in my hand. Apparently a small piece of plastic in the shipping box that I thought was packaging material was actually half of the trim around the switch housing. Well, that meant that one moderate lifting of the switch would just tear it out. Fortunately it wasn't stuck "on", but unfortunately I'm not doing any tuning until Jet reopens on Jan. 2 to send me a new part. Until then, I guess I'll have to actually clean up the garage and make my "shop" ready for work. I can also work on sharpening my tools with my new Tormek Supergrind that I haven't used yet. More on that later.

Lesson learned: Buy a chainsaw

I grabbed a great looking log today from the dump pile of the local power company. It's about 12" in diameter, and I needed to saw it in half to make some bowl blanks. This is the first... and last time I will ever saw a 12" dia. log with a bow saw. What could have taken 2 minutes with a chainsaw took 45 by hand. Lesson learned: Buy a chainsaw.

Setting up the lathe

I unpacked the lathe tonight and set it up; all went well. I couldn't resist trying all the cool stuff I've learned watching Woodturner's Workshop. I grabbed a 1.5" dowel, cut about 10 inches off, and mounted it between centers. So far, so good.

After grabbing my safety glasses, I turned on the lathe and used the roughing gouge to round out the piece. Then I grabbed the spindle gouge, and tried some different shapes. It was actually pretty easy to get the tool to do what you want, but it does seem to take a certain touch. I tried some other tools and various speeds to get the feel of everything.

I wanted to try out some finishing techniques I'd seen on TV, so I tried sanding with 150 grit paper while the part spun on the lathe. I also tried steel wool, but that was a BAD idea since it likes to wrap around the part and throw shreds in every direction! Next, I put some lemon oil on rag and let the rotation of the lathe work it into the wood. Since this was pine, it didn't take too well, but I got the idea of how to apply it. Next I tried some butcher's wax, and found that you have to speed up the lathe to work it in. In the future, I wouldn't put oil on if I were going to put on a waxed finish. Lastly, I parted off both ends and briefly cleaned up the end faces.

I must admit that I'm fairly impressed with the outcome of my first experiment, and I'm definitely hooked on turning. It was TONS of fun, and I can't wait to get into my first project.

Here's the assembled lathe:


Here's my fantastic set of Sorby tools:


And here's my finished product:

Welcome

I'm a complete beginner at turning. I've never used a lathe. Ever. But... that's about to change since one arrived on my doorstep this morning (yes, I was expecting it). I'm going to learn how to turn wood, and this is where I'll share my projects, progress, experiences, successes, and failures. I hope that this will be of help to those considering turning, and of interest to anyone else.

For now, here's a shot from unboxing the lathe: