Rough turning urns

[Dave B West]

How is this accomplished? I haven't attempted a hollow form as of yet, so I am not sure as to roughing out or turning to finish.

I would think that turning to finish would prove difficult to cap with warping. Also see difficulties with rough turning.

Whats your method? What has worked well and what hasn't?

[Brice Rogers]

For an urn, I would agree that the cap or stopper wouldn't fit after it dried and warped. I think that the safest method is to rough turn, let it dry thoroughly and then turn the cap, stopper, or screw top.

When hollowing a dried out rough turned piece, hollow from the opening and leave "meat" at the base. There are videos and articles on this. If you hollow all the way down to the bottom and then decide to do some additional work at the top/lip, you are asking for trouble. Even if it doesn't explode on you, you're likely to get chatter that is very hard to sand out. Also, on you first pieces, don't try to make an overly small opening. Be more generous. Leave the tiny openings for later after you get a number of these under your belt.

[Dave B West]

Thanks Brice. Thats good advice. Would I be correct in assuming the ten percent rule applies to this application?

[Brice Rogers]

I use the 10 percent rule and it seems to work well for me. But it really depends on the wood species and the moisture content when it was felled. Some woods move a lot more than others. But, so far, 10% has been enough. I've also found that having a lack of uniformity of the thickness can lead to stresses that end up with more cracks. If you have the wall 10%, then try to make the bottom 10% also.

[robert baccus]

I do mostly urns and vases. Try roughing out to 10% as you mention and apply an endseal to the outside only. This dries faster and actually pulls the wood together in this shape. I had to experiment one day, and poured a bit of water into a very ugly half dried vase and watched it split in minutes. Return when cured and sand/finish on the lathe. I lose very few this way.

[David C. Roseman]

I do mostly urns and vases. Try roughing out to 10% as you mention and apply an endseal to the outside only. This dries faster and actually pulls the wood together in this shape. I had to experiment one day, and poured a bit of water into a very ugly half dried vase and watched it split in minutes. Return when cured and sand/finish on the lathe. I lose very few this way.


Robert - I've not yet turned an urn large enough for a funeral urn. Just so I understand, you're starting with a full round, so the pith ends up in the center of the bottom, right? Then you endseal only the endgrain at the bottom? Or do you mean the entire outside? Also, does your 10% thickness rule of thumb include the bottom of the urn as well (not counting the tenon)? Or do you try to leave more thickness there for drying?

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I turn urns 3 times. Rough, let dry. Re-turn to almost final thickness, let dry again. This dry cycle can be short, maybe just a couple weeks. This is mostly to let the wood completely dry and relax. Sometimes a bit of movement occurs. This is the "critical" movement in my mind. This little movement makes you cap/lid/thread not fit as well....... If you do this 3rd dry cycle, chances of your finial not fitting quite correctly is reduced. That's my theory anyway.
I try not to use the pith in an urn. I would imagine an urn would be a "final" piece, and has to last a long long time. IF it cracks.......... Well, I would rather not think about that. If I HAD to use the pith, I'd drill it out and turn a plug for it. To be more specific, rough turn drill/cut the pith out, let dry then turn a plug. BUT the whole challenge to turning a hollow form is to have the bottom solid. If it's not solid, it's like a box.

[Dennis Ford]

Robert lives near me and I have seen his pieces that have dried with pith in the bottom; he rarely has crack problems. He dries the rough-outs very slowly and for a long time. I know several other people turn this type of vessel with success. I rarely leave the pith in the bottom of a piece as I have had poor results that way. I have had good results with the pith in the side of hollow forms, that orientation seems to work better for me.
For end grain vases, rough-outs usually don't need to be 10% thick. That rule of thumb is for side grain bowls. End grain pieces shrink more symmetrically and can be thinner.

[robert baccus]

Roger what Dennis says. I should have added that log sections with pith in and fairly straight grain rarely warp much. Highly figured pieces can use a full 10% side thickness and 3/4" in the bottom. I mount my vases with a glue block which probably helps to keep the bases from splitting. Yes, I do endseal the entire outside and a bit of the lip as well.