Wow... lots of updates

A lot has happened since my last post. I'll try to summarize in chronological order...

1. I got the switch from Jet and installed it with no problem. Back in business....
2. I went to a meeting of a local woodturning club that's just starting, and I met some folks that have been at it for a long time. The shop where the meeting was held had a 10% off sale on meeting days, so I left with calipers, a finishing kit, and a sanding kit with grits from 60 to 12000 (yes, that's twelve thousand). While there, a guy gave me two huge logs of cherry that he had in his truck. Sweet!
3. I turned the outside of the cedar blank that I was trying before the switch broke. I looked good, but I left it uncovered indoors overnight and it was cracked in half by morning. Crap!
4. I set up and learned how to use my Tormek Supergrind. It's a wet slow grinder for sharpening anything, and the jigs make it very repeatable. I was very happy with the results.
   
5. I rough-turned a bowl from the oak that we collected. I finally got a good rough product after it flew off the lathe twice (thus demonstrating the hard way not to chuck freshly wet oak in a 4-jaw chuck). After 3 different chucking attempts, I finally sacrificed a bit of material and used a screw chuck. Unlike the cedar, this bowl soaked in alcohol and is now drying in a controlled fashion. It should be ready for final turning next week. (I think the black streaks may be spalting, but I'm not sure.)
   
6. I attempted to make my daughter a spinning top from oak, but was almost done when I learned that wet oak is not very strong when it's thin and you get a catch. Oh well...
7. I tried to rough-out the other cedar bowl blank but found a HUGE knot that was unavoidable. Oh well....
8. I shaped two beautiful bowl blanks from the cherry log; both are about 9 inches across and 8 inched tall. LOTS of material to work with. I did all the shaping with a chainsaw this time to get the maximum diameter that my lathe can hold, rather than turning a square that diagonally fits the lathe and winding up with a smaller rounded blank. I rough-turned the outside of one blank, and will turn the inside tomorrow. It will be a natural edge, and the symmetry and grain pattern are beautiful. Now I just have to manage not to screw it up.
9. I heard at the meeting about some black cherry available nearby, so I may go get some tomorrow.

Phew! I'll try not to wait so long between posts next time. I'll post pictures of the roughed-out cherry bowl when I finish the inside.