Todays Roughing

[Joe Meirhaeghe]

Had another good day of rough turning. Here's todays work. It's the same piece of Hard Maple that I roughed round & beat me up a little last friday. (1st pic)
I had a bad catch on the top rim :mad: & had to reshape the whole piece & lost about 4" in length. It's now only 24" tall, where it should have been 28" tall.:( However I do feel that I ended up with a good shape after all.

[Pete Jordan]

Looks Great Joe!

What do you do about the pith in the bottom?

[alex carey]

I love it, make sure to post the final product.

[Jim Glock]

Awesome! I love the big stuff....please keep us posted! jim

[Joe Meirhaeghe]

Looks Great Joe!

What do you do about the pith in the bottom?
I center all my pieces on the pith. As soon as I get the piece rough shaped I seal the end grain with anchor seal. I hollow them to anywhere from 1/4" to 1/2" thick from the bottoms,( this removes about 98% or so of the pith) so it usually isn't a big problem. Some will get small cracks & some won't. Those that get cracks will be filled with epoxy & saw dust.

[Richard Madison]

Very impressive, and some nice ribbons from the inside. What tool bit are you using?

[Joe Meirhaeghe]

Very impressive, and some nice ribbons from the inside. What tool bit are you using?
Thanks Richard
On the one in the pic I'm using a Munro cutter. We also will use a Exocet quite often. Both will give you a cut when hollowing. We don't use scrapers for hollowing only cutting tools.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Very impressive turning Joe! Love the form! Looking forward to seeing the completed version!

[Steve Mawson]

Very nice, those big one's look like a real challenge. I see you are in the Quad Cities. Why didn't I find this forum when I lived there. Would have been a treat to watch if you allow that.

[Richard Madison]

Thanks Joe.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Wow Joe that is impressive. I learned the hardway to make sure that pith is centered on the bottom. Love the form. Be sure to post when finished.

[Rich Boehlke]

As a new kid, I've not seen such a big hunk of wood being turned. Very impressive indeed! How did you acquire your skills and how long have you been turning?

[Dewey Torres]

As a new kid, I've not seen such a big hunk of wood being turned. Very impressive indeed! How did you acquire your skills and how long have you been turning?


Make that 2 "new kids" that are floored!:eek:

[Roger Wilson]

I center all my pieces on the pith. As soon as I get the piece rough shaped I seal the end grain with anchor seal. I hollow them to anywhere from 1/4" to 1/2" thick from the bottoms,( this removes about 98% or so of the pith) so it usually isn't a big problem. Some will get small cracks & some won't. Those that get cracks will be filled with epoxy & saw dust.

I read someones post that said they drill out the pith on the bottom (just use 1/2 inch forstner) then plug it, and that stops any cracks coming from the pith.

[Joe Meirhaeghe]

As a new kid, I've not seen such a big hunk of wood being turned. Very impressive indeed! How did you acquire your skills and how long have you been turning?
Thanks Rich
I've owned a lathe for many years, doing only spindle work. Then about a year ago I found a local turning club. I went to a meeting & saw some hollow forms & a large vessel on display. I was very impressed with. I said to myself , I want to try that. I talked to a few of the club members about my intrest & they interduced me to 2 guys in the club doing large hollow vessels. One of which is a Professional Turner & Artist. He invited me to visit his Turning Studio. I did & he has since taken me in under his wing &taught me to do these large turnings, became a good friend. So actually I just started turning vessels a little less than a year ago.
I Would Not Recomemend Anyone try these size turnings with out the proper size equiptment or have some training from someone who has experience in doing them. This can be Dangerous!!!

[Bob Bergstrom]

That sure looks like Steve Sinner in the back round of the picture. If he is your mentor you are learning from one of the best. I sat in on his talk at "Turn on Chicago" last summer and was blown away with the mans skill and knowledge. That quite a playground he has there!!

[Joe Meirhaeghe]

That sure looks like Steve Sinner in the back round of the picture. If he is your mentor you are learning from one of the best. I sat in on his talk at "Turn on Chicago" last summer and was blown away with the mans skill and knowledge. That quite a playground he has there!!
Bob
You got a eye for detail,;) yes it is Steve. Also your correct when you say he's one of the best. I've been very lucky & feel very fortunate that Steve has taken me in under his wing.:D As you said his Skill & Knowledge is second to none. I spend a lot of time with Steve & there's never a day goes by I don't see & learn somthing new.