Paul Williams
03-23-2010, 10:43 PM
First a little introduction. I am Paul Williams, fairly recently retired, living in Inver Grove Heights Minnesota. I have been around the forum for a year or so and have posted a few times. I have been woodworking since grade school, a long time ago. Have made furniture, two boats, one airplane, and a lot of stuff for the house. Most of my turning has been making parts for other projects. Originally on an old Gilmore kit tube lathe. 15 or 20 years ago I bought a small metal lathe, and the tube lathe was tossed in the back of the shed. A few years ago I noticed the pen kits at Rockler and decided to try a few of those. The metal lathe does a nice job on pens and you don't need special bushings for each pen type.
I had been looking at the Delta midi VS on every trip to Rockler or Woodcraft. My wife noticed and bought one for Christmas. After finding time to clear out a small space and mount it on the stand from my old lathe, I decided to fool around a little to renew my rusty turning skills.
I'm remodeling our house. I had some scrap timber strand left over from the stair stringers. It looked like a difficult wood to turn with the glue and voids, so I thought it would be good practice. It didn't turn too bad but the dust was terrible. Anyway here are a few things I turned just for fun and to renew my skills.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4016/4458227417_a871f000a6_o.jpg
For the offset turning on the pendants I just used a chunk of maple held to a screw in the center of a 2 inch face plate. I reset the screw to different positions on the maple. Worked OK. Try it if you want to try pendant making but are not ready to invest in an off center chuck.
Of course I had to try a bowl. This one is walnut 7 3/4 by 1 1/2. No finish yet other than the wax in the polishing compound.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4028/4458227449_7ac0e596fe_o.jpg
I think it might be my 4th bowl, but it has been 20 years since the last one. Comments and opinions are welcome.
Thanks to all of the Creekers who have posted here. I have learned a lot from you and am looking forward to more turning. I have a little cherry, quite a few chunks of olive, and a lot of maple that I cut and sealed last fall. Now all I have to do is finish my home remodeling so I can spend more time learning how to use my lathe.
I had been looking at the Delta midi VS on every trip to Rockler or Woodcraft. My wife noticed and bought one for Christmas. After finding time to clear out a small space and mount it on the stand from my old lathe, I decided to fool around a little to renew my rusty turning skills.
I'm remodeling our house. I had some scrap timber strand left over from the stair stringers. It looked like a difficult wood to turn with the glue and voids, so I thought it would be good practice. It didn't turn too bad but the dust was terrible. Anyway here are a few things I turned just for fun and to renew my skills.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4016/4458227417_a871f000a6_o.jpg
For the offset turning on the pendants I just used a chunk of maple held to a screw in the center of a 2 inch face plate. I reset the screw to different positions on the maple. Worked OK. Try it if you want to try pendant making but are not ready to invest in an off center chuck.
Of course I had to try a bowl. This one is walnut 7 3/4 by 1 1/2. No finish yet other than the wax in the polishing compound.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4028/4458227449_7ac0e596fe_o.jpg
I think it might be my 4th bowl, but it has been 20 years since the last one. Comments and opinions are welcome.
Thanks to all of the Creekers who have posted here. I have learned a lot from you and am looking forward to more turning. I have a little cherry, quite a few chunks of olive, and a lot of maple that I cut and sealed last fall. Now all I have to do is finish my home remodeling so I can spend more time learning how to use my lathe.