Today was play day - a couple of experiments!!

[John Keeton]

I played hookie from the office today (for the most part) and, along with cutting into the cherry stump, and cutting up some other wood in hopes of getting some bowl blanks, I decided to play around a bit.

A friend of mine gave me a couple of crosscuts of sassafras several months ago. At the time, I didn't have a clue what I would do with it! It was firewood size, but I hated to split it and burn it since he thought enough to give it to me. But, now that I have a lathe......;)

So, along with some other wood I split up today, I sawed the sassafras in half. It was uninspiring, at least to me. I really had been wanting to practice some tool control, and see if I could cut a thin bowl, and this sassafras was disposable. It measured 18% moisture, and I know nothing about turning wet wood. But I figured as it got thin it would move quickly. Seemed like a fun challenge - with a face shield on!;)

I got it down to .10 inch! I left it a little thicker at the bark because it was coming off quickly. It actually looked kind of interesting, and I decided to sand it a little and save it. But, it doesn't take much sanding on .10" !!!! Got it too thin in one spot, and it cracked!!:(
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But, it was still fun!

Still had a little time left before my wife would summons me for supper, and I have been thinking about doing some inlay on a bowl. I didn't want to start with a decent blank. So, I turned a little walnut dish/bowl out of a scrap, and cut a recess in the rim. Mixed up some System Three, added the black paste, and mixed in some brass filings. Looks like a mess to me!!!:eek:
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It has been an hour, and no sign of it setting up. I got the proportions pretty close on the parts A and B, but not sure on the black - kind of guessed at it. If it sets up, then I will chuck it back up and see what happens?!?! Glad I did a test run!!

[David Christopher]

John, looks like youve got this turning thing down. I like the thin bowl but I think the inlay bowl is more my style, cant wait to see it finished

[David E Keller]

Nice work on the NE bowl... No experince with sassafras but I think it turned out well.

Here's hoping that the inlay material sets... I'm anxious to see how it comes out

[Steve Schlumpf]

Great job on the thin bowl! This stuff gets to be fun, eh? Looking forward to seeing what the mess turns out to look like!

[Wayne Sparkman]

John:

Would you remind me what kind of lathe you decided on?

[Jeff Nicol]

John, Soon you won't have time to goof off! New stuff will be ready to ship tomorrow if I get going on it in the morning! The gooey mess looks a little .....ah.....messy? I think when you do that kind of stuff you should mix the color/brass in the resin part of the epoxy first then add the hardener to it after all the stuff is mixed good it works a little better that way. Time will tell. Here is a picture of your steady rest with a couple of it's friends!

Jeff

[John Keeton]

Steve, when I started the thin bowl, I really thought I would screw it up pretty quick. When I did the cherry burl you sent me, I was afraid to try to get it thinner. So, since I had the sassafras lying there, and didn't care if it blew up on me, I thought I would see how thin I could take it. Really never meant to make a "keeper" and actually expected to screw it up with the gouge!! Shame it ended up being the sandpaper!

David, the sassafras turned very well, but it just doesn't have much character to it.

Hope by tomorrow morning the epoxy has set, and I can chuck this little piece of walnut up and see what I have!!

Jeff is probably right on mixing the brass filings in Part A first. I did mix in the black pigment in Part A, but didn't think about the brass. It will be interesting to see what happens.

Wayne, I have the Harbor Freight 34706, and it seems to work fine for me. Looking very hard at the Delta 46-460. I think the reverse would be nice for sanding. I can really where the fibers lay down from turning.

Jeff, I sure am looking forward to getting my toy!! That will open up some new possibilities for me!

[Brian Effinger]

But, it was still fun!

That's the most important part. :) I think you did good on the NE, and I can't wait to see how the inlay turns out.


Looking very hard at the Delta 46-460. I think the reverse would be nice for sanding. I can really where the fibers lay down from turning.

I recently got that one, and it really is nice. The first bowl I turned on it was catalpa, and I had a real problem with torn out grain. That is until I hit the reverse switch. :) If you want to do a lot of spindle work on it, you would probably want to get the extension.

[Bernie Weishapl]

John you made a mess my friend but will be interested in seeing how it works out. First bowl looks really nice John. Well done.

[Dan Forman]

Does the shop smell good from all of those sassafras shavings? That NE looks pretty good, can see the light coming through it. Hope the epoxy sets for you.

Dan

[Baxter Smith]

You certainly have tried a little bit of everything in the past week! That last one never occurred to me. I will be interested to see what it produces.

[gary Zimmel]

John
What color steady rest is Jeff sending you?
May give us a hint of what lathe you ordered..:D

Nice job on that NE.
I'm looking forward to seeing how that black stuff turns out.

[Tony De Masi]

Very nice job on the NE John. Looks like you got the wall thickness pretty even all around which is difficult to do the first time, or two.

Quite interested to see how the inlay works out.

Tony

[Rob Cunningham]

Great looking NE bowl John. You're really expanding your horizons with great results. Hope the epoxy sets up for you.