Calabash Roughout - [WIP]

[Roger Chandler]

Believe it or not, this is 1/2 of a piece of Bradford Pear! This particular tree came down as the result of a construction site, where in former decades the sight had been a nursery, which my understanding is that the soil had been enriched for all those decades, and this tree as well as others that were left when the nursery closed back some years ago, had ideal growing conditions........that is the only way I can explain the size of this. I have turned a good bit of Bradford Pear over the last few years, and the color, bark and grain features all say it is definitely Bradford pear.....although a big one!

This piece of wood was very heavy......I know it was about 25" from corner to corner before I clipped the corners with my smallest chainsaw today........I estimate the weight to be around 100 lbs. or so, and I know that it was all I wanted to lift, that is for sure! :eek:

Here it is mounted on a faceplate and on the spindle of my G0766...

327252 As you can see, I ran into some bark inclusions, and had to take them out, as one ran through the tenon area, so I felt that was not safe, so turned that area away, and made another tenon.

327253 I only did a fairly rough calabash form, and it will be refined in the second turning to make the form better........that is why they call them "rough" outs! :rolleyes:

327254 Finally.......I had to leave it on the lathe without finishing the inside of the rough out, as I had to attend to other important issues. I did put a plastic bag over it, and taped it to the chuck for overnight.......will finish the roughout tomorrow.

327255 I post this to help others see that the G0766 can handle some big pieces. This is also my first real attempt at a Calabash form.......I think it is on its way, but I will certainly need to tweak the curves a bit in the final turning, once it dries. And of course, I will turn away the tenon and have a fairly flat base, with maybe just a little concave area in the middle of the base.

[Brice Rogers]

thanks for posting.

How much did you lathe vibrate when turning and what speeds did you run initially before it got round?

Brice

[Roger Chandler]

thanks for posting.

How much did you lathe vibrate when turning and what speeds did you run initially before it got round?

Brice
Brice, my lathe sits on wooden floors in a utility shed, which I use as a shop. The floor joists are only 2x4's, and any unbalanced piece really shows up big time, as the floor flexes underneath......you can watch it happen. This piece was very unbalanced, so was a bit of an adventure at first to say the least.

Harmonics were best at first around 150 rpm. Got it up to 250 rpm, and stayed there for a while until most of the flats were turned away. That seemed to be the sweet spot for speed, but that big 'ole hunk looked a bit scary even though screwed to a faceplate and with tailstock support. I then turned it at about 500 rpm when it got fairly round.

[Mike Goetzke]

Roger - that surely is a big hunk of wood! I've been turning for a short time and interested in your process. Sounds like you used a faceplate to start. What size faceplate did you use? Also, I just picked up a Hurricane HTC125 chuck last week to compliment my HTC100 (they had a great price on them). I bought it with the large DT jaws to use as you did on this piece. I see you are using what looks like serrated jaws - why?


Thanks,

Mike

[Barry Richardson]

Looks like it's going to be nice Roger, Being it's Bradford pear, it wold be a good candidate of carving or burning a bit of detail on. I just roughed out a calabash which is drying now, don't know why I never tried one before, I really like their look, I plan on doing more in the future, they sure make a lot of chips though, don't they?

[Roger Chandler]

Roger - that surely is a big hunk of wood! I've been turning for a short time and interested in your process. Sounds like you used a faceplate to start. What size faceplate did you use? Also, I just picked up a Hurricane HTC125 chuck last week to compliment my HTC100 (they had a great price on them). I bought it with the large DT jaws to use as you did on this piece. I see you are using what looks like serrated jaws - why?


Thanks,

Mike
Mike, I started out with an Easy Wood 3.5" aluminum plate that has 8 holes and used 2" no. 12 machine screws, so plenty of strength on those. Of course, I use tailstock support whenever possible as well.

The large serrated jaws are what I have in the largest category, so I used what I had. That HTC-125 chuck does a fine job, and it's quality exceeds its price point in my opinion.

[Roger Chandler]

Looks like it's going to be nice Roger, Being it's Bradford pear, it wold be a good candidate of carving or burning a bit of detail on. I just roughed out a calabash which is drying now, don't know why I never tried one before, I really like their look, I plan on doing more in the future, they sure make a lot of chips though, don't they?

They do make the chips, Barry! I don't have a coring rig yet, so I picked up 2 trash cans full of chips so far, and still have most of the inside to rough out. Hopefully, I can pick up a coring rig before long. My time and available space is very limited, so at present, I keep the embellishment process to a minimum.

Of course, a coring rig generally does not allow for much on calabash forms, so moot point on this piece :)

[robert baccus]

You did well to round out that monster on that lathe--shows talent and bravery.

[Roger Chandler]

You did well to round out that monster on that lathe--shows talent and bravery.
Thanks, Robert! The process was calculated and safety came first at all times! Only when I had checked everything to make sure that big hunk of wood was secure, and I could find a manageable speed did I proceed cautiously, and stopped frequently to check everything........thus having to turn away that bark inclusion in what would have been the tenon area.

Thanks for your comment.....much appreciated! :)