Cocobolo candle holder

[Aaron Wingert]

I turned this tonight for a friend's wedding gift. It is about 6" diameter and holds a 2" candle. I sanded it to 1200 grit and used friction polish to make it shine.

As a newbie woodturner I must say that using the bowl gouge is humbling. Had a lot of catches/gouges when doing this one...Still working on my technique, and it ain't pretty. If I were smart I wouldn't try to learn on $34 blocks of cocobolo, but it worked out. I roughed out the shape with the bowl gouge and used my skew chisel like a scraper (haven't got a scraper just yet) to get the final shape.

Doing stuff like this makes turning pens seem really, really easy. I've turned several pens and a couple turkey calls but nothing other than that until tonight.

Critiques are welcome! I think it needs shorter candles...Might have to bandsaw them off a little. Sorry for the mediocre pics, bad light.

[Scott Conners]

Stick with it, once you figure out how the cuts work with a bowl gouge you won't even be able to figure out why you had so many problems at the beginning. They are probably the single most versatile tool for turning, the only tool I know of that can do a piece start to finish with no other tool needed. I just had my first piece where I didn't even have to sand inside, just hit it with a bit of steel wool for a shine and it was a really great feeling.

I like the shape of this a lot, it's got a nice soft curve. What did you use for signing your name?

[Aaron Wingert]

Thanks Scott. I used a Prismacolor premier metallic silver marker pen to sign it. It stays on the cocobolo really well as long as you don't go anywhere near it with the friction polish. Haven't tried that pen with polyurethane or anything like that yet.

[Dewey Torres]

Aaron,
So that's a paint pen? hmmm?

I like your holder!

[Steve Schlumpf]

That's really nice work Aaron! Nice form and beautiful rich color! I am sure the gift will be cherished!

You'll find after a little bit of time that the bowl gouge is the best tool out there! IMHO If possible, have an experienced turner demo a few cuts with the gouge and you'll see they are fairly easy to use. Just takes a little practice!

[Aaron Wingert]

Aaron,
So that's a paint pen? hmmm?


Yup, a paint pen. Am I missing something? Hope not!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Nicely done Aaron! Keep at it. You'll tame that bowl gouge. You might want to consider buying or borrowing Bill Grumbine's video "Turned Bowls Made Easy". Bill demonstrates many different ways to present a bowl gouge to the wood. He also demonstrates how to use these different methods to remove or minimize tear out etc. Certainly is a great video!

[Peter Luch]

Aaron,

Don't feel bad on not "getting it".

I have been playing around with the lathe for about 6 months and these last two weeks I dedicated to making bowls.
Well 1 week into it I "got it" and now it seems soooo easy.

Stick with it and play around till you get it.

Aloha, Pete

[Aaron Wingert]

Thanks fellas. I'll definately check out that video right away.

Here's pics with a shorter candle. I'm happier now. :p

[Bernie Weishapl]

Great looking holder. I agree with Steve and Ken. If you can't find a turning club or turner in your area Bill Grumbines DVD is the best.

[David Christopher]

Very nice candle holder, think I will steal your idea

[Jeff Nicol]

Aaron, Very pretty! I like the shorter candle too! The lathe is a wonderful and amazing tool, it will give you many, many hours of pleasure and for me "MENTAL THERAPY !" Your wedding gift will be one of the best they recieve!

Keep at it!

Jeff

[Aaron Wingert]

THE DANGED THING IS CRACKING LIKE CRAZY. Uggh. :mad:

[Scott Conners]

Wrap it in a few layers of newspaper asap, it will help slow the moisture loss that is causing the cracking. If the chunk of wood was waxed on all sides when you bought it, it was probably still pretty green in the middle, and now that there are fresh cut surfaces to lose moisture from it's evaporating away unevenly, stressing the wood and causing cracks. Leaving it in an environment with stable temperature and humidity while it dries will help too.