Latest column is out

The June newsletter for my local turning club is available, and my latest column is included.

Cherry burl NE with filled cracks

I finally finished the cherry burl natural edge with chalk-filled cracks. It was sanded to 400 after filling the cracks. Then it got 2 coats of Watco Danish oil, dried, and was buffed and waxed. I'm pretty happy with the results.

The cracked cherry burl natural edge bowl...

is almost finished. This weekend I took the severely cracked bowl, and filled the cracks with a deep red colored chalk and CA glue. Then I sanded the whole thing from 80 to 400, and put two coats of Watco Danish Oil on it. I must admit, it looks pretty good. After I buff it I'll share some photos. That won't be until later this week so the oil can cure before buffing.

Phrugal phototent

Today I built the "phrugal phototent" that Jamie Donaldson describes. I's a PVC frame, with a window shade background and some reflectors, and a halogen lamp to light the subject. Very simple, under $50, and I think it works great.

Here are some samples I took. You be the judge.

Catching up

Looks like today will be another mega-post to catch up since last week! Here goes:

I made another nostepinne from tiger birch. I got a dozen or so blanks of this wood, so I plan on making a series and possibly selling them on etsy. This one has some wire-burned lines for decoration. The tiger birch figure really needs moving light to be appreciated.


Here's a bracelet I made as an experiment. I didn't put a finish on it since it was a bit too big for my wife's tiny wrists! I plan on making some more of these, and playing with the shapes, sizes, and design.


Here's a bottomless (rounded bottom) end-grain natural edge bowl I made from box elder. I turned the final thickness when the wood was green. I'll sand and finish when it's dry. It was a fun experiment and I like how the bowl rolls a bit on its bottom.



Here's a closed-form green-turned box elder natural edge I did as another experiment. I'll sand and finish when it's dry.


I've been roughing blanks like mad, and here's a few from the last week. The left stack is box elder, flowering cherry, black cherry, and magnolia. The rear and right stack is all box elder. The center-front is a cherry bowl I turned green to final thickness. When it's dry I'll sand, oil, and buff. It has a wide enough base and thick enough walls to be a nice functional bowl. It's about 9" in diameter. I turned it green so it will warp a bit, because I like slight warping in functional bowls. I think it makes them look like those that were turned decades ago and are still in use.


Lastly, after some great help from the folks at Sawmill Creek, I got my new Husky chainsaw working. When I got it, it ran for 10 minutes and quit. A week later, I found that the fuel line had come loose! I hooked it back up, and it runs like a champ.

Repairing cracks

I did the final turnings on a natural edge cherry burl bowl this morning. The blank had cracked a lot during drying, since it was one of my first rough-turned bowls and I didn't turn it very evenly. I really like this piece of wood, so I want to save it and make it as attractive as possible. I used some 100 grit sandpaper to clean the inside of the cracks, and that's where it stands now.

I think the cracks are interesting as-is, but it would look good inlayed with a turquoise product, like Inlace. I'll probably give it a shot, and I'll post photos when I finish it. FYI, so far this is sanded only, with no finish applied.

A couple of updates...

I had a few things to post about in separate posts, but forget it.. I'll do one big update here:

After my chainsaw fiasco (see other post) I finally got my new Husqvarta 142-18". Sweet! Haven't fired it up yet, but will soon. (see below)

Our neighbor took down a box elder while I was at work. My wife called me for the heads-up, and as I was coming home around 8:30 with almost no daylight left the crew was removing it all! I grabbed 3 large logs, 2 small logs, and thanked the crew for being patient while I loaded my car.


I got the 3" beall bowl buffs to go with my buffing system. They're balls that can be used to buf the inside of bowls, where the 8" wheels won't fit. (see below for an example)

I FINALLY buffed the large ambrosia maple bowl, and I did the cherry bowl while I was at it (using the new bowl buffs for the inside). They each received watco danish oil (several coats) first, and dried for about a week. The buffing process consists of three steps: first a tripoli rouge, followed by final smoothing with the white diamond, and then application of carnuba wax (which, incidentally, is food-safe). Here are some quick photos of the final products. Check out that sheen!


I turned another nostepinne from 2 types of wood. I used rosewood for the shaft, and black & white striped ebony for the handle. This handle feels nice in the hand. This was sanded to 12,000 grit, followed by 2 coats of danish oil and a three-step buffing. The wife was happy to add this to her collection.


That's it! I have a few other things that I'm working on now... I'll share them soon.

Wire burning

I tried a new surface treatment technique today. You use a metal wire to burn a line in the wood while the piece is still spinning on the lathe. Easy and effective. Here's an example; it's an end-grain maple bowl that just got a coat of oil.

Creating spalted wood

The Forest Products Laboratory has a great article (pdf) on how to make your own spalted wood. Essentially, it's a lesson on how to grow mold inside wood. Spalting is thin black fungal lines that grow along the grain lines in wood that's been sitting in humid and warm conditions.

After reading this, I bagged a rough-turned maple bowl in a plastic ziplock with wet (I added water from the sink) shavings. A few days later, there's mold! It's not spalting yet, but there's certainly mold growing on the outside of the bowl. (Don't worry, it all gets turned away in the end.) It can take a few weeks or even months, but I'm fairly certain I'll get some.