My First NE Turning

[John Hart]

Well, I feel pretty good tonight. This is my first Natural Edge Turning (Ala Worm guts):D This is a piece of Black Cherry that was riddled with worms. I figured that the worst thing that could happen is that the fireplace gets stoked a little.
It was pretty scary so I have that much more respect for y'all that do this on a regular basis. Almost lost a finger...but luckily the lathe was only turning at 400 and I was sanding, so I think the sandpaper might have saved me. It clipped my finger and took a hunk out...but not too bad....just got some red stuff on the piece, but that sanded out ok.:rolleyes:

I took a pic of the blank for a "Before" picture. Final size is 7.5" diameter and 8" tall. Finished in BLO and spray lacqer. Thanks for all the ideas and inspiration to finally push me over the edge!!

[Chris Barton]

Hey John,

That a piece with lots of character! Always interesting when you turn the worm...

[Carole Valentine]

Yep, I'd say that would be a willie piece to turn! Nasty edges and voids to boot. You picked a heck of a chunk for your first NE, John, but then you seem to be one to jump right in head first...no testing the waters for you.:D You did that onery piece of wood proud. Hope your finger is OK.

[Dennis Daudelin]

Don't we get pictures of the finger too? :)

Dennis

P.S. Hopefully we don't have to listen to old war stories about this one in the future (I remember the time that I was turning my first NE bowl...)

[Michael Stafford]

Well, I have always heard that an artist puts a little of himself into his work...
But John, including digits and parts of digits is a sure way to shorten your tenure as a woodturner. Be careful out there. However, the NE is really spectacular and most impressive. Excellent. Tried to do one myself a while back and blew it up. Decided at that time to specialize. Natural edge bowls are not one of the things I do. Great job, John!!!!:D

[Jack Savona]

VERY challenging and VERY impressive piece...and it doesn't hold soup.

[Kurt Aebi]

John,

It's a Thing-A-Beauty! Nice work on that one. Nice shape & finish!

I hope you already cleaned up all the worm guts before the blood-letting began (infections ain't fun)!

Great Job - you really inspire a lot of us to give things a try that we wouldn't have thought of before! Thanks!

[John Hart]

Thanks Gang! Think I'll try a few more of these....Scary...but fun!:) I'll probably wear gloves in the future as it seems too easy to slip on the curves while sanding. My boo-boo really wasn't worth getting the camera ready and I was anxious to finish so I just stole one of the kid's Planet of the Apes band-aids and got right back in it.:rolleyes:
As far as the worm guts...I really have to throw out a special Thank You to Bruce Shiverdecker. He taught me the appreciation for turning wormy wood. He's the Worm Guts King!!;)

Hey Carole! I wore my face sheild!;) I have to thank you for that. I blew out about 1/3 of this piece on a bad catch...it hit me in the faceshield. I glued it back together and went on. You are very very good to me.....but my pile is still bigger than yours! :D

[Bill Grumbine]

Good start John! Around here though, we uhhh, turn the lathe off to sand those natural edges. :D I will confess that I am healing up from a missing chunk of knuckle meat from sanding the inside of a NE hollow form last week. It gets us all from time to time. It wasn't a big chunk, just enough to keep me humble.

Bill

[Carole Valentine]

Yes, faceshields are definitely good when turning something like that!;) But the mother hen comes out in me when you say you are going to wear gloves while spinning a jagged piece! Just remember that it's easier than you would imagine for a glove to get snagged and snatch your whole hand into that thing. Bill's advice is good...turn the lathe off when sanding the edges (unless you're one who thrives on dancing with danger!):D
Yep, your pile is definitely bigger than mine and probably always will be in this life. BUT, in the next life I'm going to catch up!

[John Hart]

:rolleyes: Hmmmm....sand the edges with the lathe off.....:rolleyes: hmmmmm.. Ok, good tip! I'll give that a try! :D

Thanks again everyone!

[Andy Hoyt]

Gee whiz. In my dreams I saw myself catching up to you. And now this nightmare comes along.

Very cool Petty Officer Hart, you're a first class Twidget!

[John Miliunas]

Awwww, come on guys, give me a break awready!!!! :o Why is it that, everyone's "first try" looks so much better than my umpteenth one???:confused: This particular piece is certainly no exception to that little factoid!:D Great job on that gnarly piece 'o wood, John! You've most definitely given it a "second life"! :) Now, just be careful of dem dig-its! You came in with ten, and it would be preferred that you leave with all of them intact!:) :cool:

[John Hart]

Oh...come now you guys.....You're both hands over fist better'n I am any day!!!! we've all seen your work...you can't hide....but thanks for the stroke anyways!!:) I'm still working on winning the Dirty Bench Contest that Andy started!

[Blake McCully]

John,
Really great piece! I tried to do an NE from burled walnut, but there were too many open spaces and such it just simply collapsed. I'm not ready for another one yet.

I tell Ruth Ann, LOML, that the most important tool in the workshop is a box of Nexcare bandaids. I have boxes all over, anyplace that has sharp things that slice up wood:(

How did you do the bottom? Probably the ubiquitous jam chuck right? I'll have to look into that. Haven't had a lot of luck using jam chucks, prolly not doing it right:confused:

Again, great work, keep it up.

[Bill Stevener]

Nice looking turning John,
A little blood and guts go a long way. For what it's worth, as Carole noted a good point. In the work force, OSHA imposes a $500.00 personal fine on an operator, if observed wearing gloves during the operation of a drill press. A wood lathe, is about as close to a horizontal drill press, as a piece of equipment can come. Not that OSHA will be looking in our home shop windows, but they must have a good reason for issuing the fine. Just worth some thought. Hope to meet you some day, and I would like to shake ALL of your hand ;) .

Have a fun and SAFE day,
Bill.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>:)

[John Hart]

Yup....thanks Bill. After reading Carole's post, I reconsidered. The fact is, I was EXTREMELY cautious through the entire turning....showing maximum respect for what was going on in front of me. However, when I started sanding the outside...I relaxed...and then it happened. Wham! (less than a millisecond) .....A glove would have just enlarged the target.

Soooooo....I think I'll skip the glove idea and just give maximum respect all the time....like I do to the rest of my tools.

"The moment you don't respect this....It kills you" - Nicolas Cage (I think)

[Keith Burns]

With you being the laid back and humble person that you are, your work never ceases to amaze me ! That is a fine piece. Great form and finish. KEEP IT UP !

[Ernie Nyvall]

Wow John, great job!! Really nice. Say, how'd you turn that first piece square? That's really amazing.:rolleyes:

Ernie

[John Hart]

How did you do the bottom? Probably the ubiquitous jam chuck right?

Hi Blake...Nope...I basically parted the bottom in. I parted it straight back for about a 1/4 inch and then went inward to give it a 1/4 inch foot with a concave center. I took the parting tool all the way in with one hand and caught the piece in the other hand. This left a little 1/4" nub in the center that I sanded off. It's not perfect but I'd like to get better at it.

Thank you sir!!!

[John Hart]

With you being the laid back and humble person that you are.....

Humble? Probably due to my daily beatings!:D Hey...I thought you were out till after the holidays?

[John Hart]

... Say, how'd you turn that first piece square? That's really amazing.:rolleyes:

3 dimensional squaring jig....someday I hope to turn a rubic's cube!:D

[Dennis Peacock]

Very nice form and I love the character in the piece. You did good John!!!!:D

[Ed Scolforo]

John: I like it!!

[Jim Ketron]

Nice one John!
its a beaut!

[Mark Cothren]

Hey John, that is a great one! Like Dennis said, great character in that wood!

Thanks for the picture!