Oak Dish

[Richard Madison]

Need a few more items for a craft show my wife is doing in a couple months. Everybody needs one of these, a place to toss your keys and loose change at the end of the day. About 6-1/2" dia. with a couple wire-burned lines, slight recess between the lines, and a couple rows of pyro texturing. No finish yet except a coat of sanding sealer. C. & C. always welcome.

[curtis rosche]

nice work. pyro stuff always looks good in oak

[Gary Conklin]

Nicely executed!

[mickey cassiba]

Not looking for trade secrets...well yeah I am, but how is such a piece attached to the headstock. Looks too thin for a faceplate with screws. Tenon in a chuck? Told you I was a newb.
Mickey

[Richard Madison]

Mickey,
It's about 1-3/4" thick, so a faceplate with 1" or even 1-1/4" screws would have worked. I just started it between centers, turned and sanded the outside, and turned a recess in the bottom (about 1/4" deep) with a dovetail tenon in the center of the recess. I just prefer to grip on a tenon rather than expand into a recess, having split a couple of pieces by the latter. Reversed on to a chuck, drilled a depth hole so I don't have to keep checking to see if I have arrived at the bottom, turned and sanded the inside, turned and burned the two grooves and turned a slight recess between the grooves. Reversed against a friction chuck and turned the tenon down to a nub. Removed nub with chisel and hammer, and power sanded the bottom of the recess through 320. No trade secrets, but hope this might be helpful. There are usually several ways to do a thing, and different ways work well for different folks.

Keep asking questions, and in the fullness of time you can become one of those answering the questions.

Thanks Curtis and Gary.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Richard - sure is some pretty wood! Great color and I love all the rays! Also like your burned detail lines - just enough to enhance the piece without taking anything away from the wood! Nice work! Hope your wife sells all you can turn!

[charlie knighton]

very nice, wonderful piece of oak, i had to look at the 2nd picture, the closeup to see the rays

all heartwood???? no sapwood ????

[Eugene Wigley]

Richard, That is a nice job. I really like the pyro detail on that wood. I have not turned any oak yet. You inspire me to give it a try. Thanks for posting.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Richard that sure is a pretty dish. Well done.

[mickey cassiba]

Mickey,
It's about 1-3/4" thick, so a faceplate with 1" or even 1-1/4" screws would have worked. I just started it between centers, turned and sanded the outside, and turned a recess in the bottom (about 1/4" deep) with a dovetail tenon in the center of the recess. I just prefer to grip on a tenon rather than expand into a recess, having split a couple of pieces by the latter. Reversed on to a chuck, drilled a depth hole so I don't have to keep checking to see if I have arrived at the bottom, turned and sanded the inside, turned and burned the two grooves and turned a slight recess between the grooves. Reversed against a friction chuck and turned the tenon down to a nub. Removed nub with chisel and hammer, and power sanded the bottom of the recess through 320. No trade secrets, but hope this might be helpful. There are usually several ways to do a thing, and different ways work well for different folks.

Keep asking questions, and in the fullness of time you can become one of those answering the questions.

Thanks Curtis and Gary.
Thanks Richard, any info at this point is extremely helpful. I was once told " The only dumb question is the one you didn't ask". That bowl is awful pretty. Hoping I can get too that point someday.
I'm really looking forward to getting together with the group next week. Thanks again to all you folks that helped me find them. If they're half as helpful as the folks on this forum, I'm sure I'll be using my little lathe soon, rather than watching it collect dust in the home office.
Thanks,
Mickey

[Richard Madison]

Thanks guys. It's all heartwood Charlie. I really love the endgrain of oak, but struggle to save good pieces from logs without splits. This came from an off-cut from rough-sawn, air dried lumber, from some folks I used to know. They resawed the ~2" lumber into strips about 1/16" thick which were then laminated into curved shapes to make custom, high-end stirrups for the horsie people. Ridin' 'n ropin' sort of thing. He was a national champion back in the day. They let me raid their cut off pile (which usually got burned), and I made her a couple of these little dishes.

[Phil Labowski]

How do you do a wire burn? Just hold a wire, something, to it as it turns? And what gives Richard I leave for a few months and you stop posting your incredible segmented stuff? lol

[Richard Madison]

Phil,
Thanks for your reply. I cut a tiny groove for each wire burn, so it will be where I want it. Use about a 12" length of wire with ends wrapped/twisted around a couple smooth sticks for handles that can be easily released if something unforeseen happens. Never hold the wire directly by hand! Run lathe about 1,000 rpm and hold wire in groove until it burns. After you have done it twice you get the feel, know how much pressure to apply, etc.

Thanks for the kind words about my segmented and stave stuff. My strength and stamina are not what they used to be, and the more complex pieces seem to require a lot of what my wife calls "emotional energy". After finishing one I just need to turn regular stuff for a while. Am having some ideas for another piece, so maybe motivation will follow.

Right now I have to make a couple of birdhouses (for birds to live in) for some charity thing my wife is involved in. Hmmm, maybe turn one from a log.