Too quiet - some recent turnings

[Robert Hayward]

Way too quiet in this forum the last few days. Here are a couple of turnings finished last week.

The star bowl is white oak, walnut and live oak and just under 12" wide. This was my first attempt at gluing up this design. Proved quite challenging and you can see one wide joint in the white oak. I did not have any more white oak thick enough to remake one or both of those pieces.

The small bowl is ash complete with borer holes. The wedges were drops from making a second star bowl being made with ash and cherry. I pulled the wedges out of the trash and did a test fit. The fit was good so I glued them and turned a 7" wide bowl. Left the frass in the worm holes and soaked it with CA which stained the surrounding area. In the picture the bowl is still on the lathe with no finish started.

[Dave Mount]

Both are very nice Robert -- thanks for posting some work. I like the almost cloverleaf pattern in the second, I'm guessing that was no accident -- well done. Love the wild grain and ray fleck of the live oak in the first. Never turned live oak, does it always have that wild look or did you have a gnarly piece? Doesn't seem like you ever see live oak turning blanks, is there a reason for that (e.g., difficult to turn?)?

Have not been turning much while trying to get the place closed up for winter (which has since arrived). Had to do a quick retirement gift (below), nothing of the craftsmanship of yours. Maple sugar tapping = homegrown ambrosia.

489824489825

And a couple spheres because, well, who doesn't need a couple more spheres? Black locust and hububalli.

489826489827

Best,

Dave

[Tim Elett]

Very nice work from all three, been busy with the fall chores also.

[Edward Weber]

Both are very nice Robert -- thanks for posting some work. I like the almost cloverleaf pattern in the second, I'm guessing that was no accident -- well done. Love the wild grain and ray fleck of the live oak in the first. Never turned live oak, does it always have that wild look or did you have a gnarly piece? Doesn't seem like you ever see live oak turning blanks, is there a reason for that (e.g., difficult to turn?)?

Have not been turning much while trying to get the place closed up for winter (which has since arrived). Had to do a quick retirement gift (below), nothing of the craftsmanship of yours. Maple sugar tapping = homegrown ambrosia.

489824489825

And a couple spheres because, well, who doesn't need a couple more spheres? Black locust and hububalli.

489826489827

Best,

Dave



May I ask what finish you used on the black Locust?
Thanks in advance

[Lawrence Duckworth]

very very nice Robert.

...I'd love to know how you guys make the saw cuts and segments so clean. Block sanding maybe?

[Robert Hayward]

Both are very nice Robert -- thanks for posting some work. I like the almost cloverleaf pattern in the second, I'm guessing that was no accident -- well done. Love the wild grain and ray fleck of the live oak in the first. Never turned live oak, does it always have that wild look or did you have a gnarly piece? Doesn't seem like you ever see live oak turning blanks, is there a reason for that (e.g., difficult to turn?)
Dave
Very nice work you have there Dave. I really like the grain pattern in the locust sphere.

Live oak is a favorite wood of mine. In my area, Tampa Bay, it is plentiful, readily available and cheap as in free in log form. Live oak is incredibly dense and hard. Heavy also. The USS Constitution has a live oak skinned hull that was said canon balls bounced off of. The live oak on the edge of the star bowl was a test piece out of several hundred board feet of live oak I bought several months ago. Bought from an individual that had a massive tree taken down in his back yard about six years ago and had the tree milled into lumber. Air dried it and never touched it. I say that is a test piece because I cut a couple feet off of an easy to get to board on top of the stack and used it for this bowl. I wish I had taken a bigger piece to avoid the light and dark colors though.

Live oak is difficult to dry without cracking. As you say live oak is seldom seen for sale as blanks or lumber. I like it though.

[Robert Hayward]

I'd love to know how you guys make the saw cuts and segments so clean. Block sanding maybe?
For me it is demanding attention to dimensions coupled with a finely tuned miter gauge and table saw. I use dial calipers to measure cuts. A home made stop for repetitive cuts, wedgie sled and a Dubby cut off sled to name a few more things I use.

It really is not that difficult, once you have done a few projects. Give it a try some time. Pick out an easy project and try it. After a few failures and them a few successes you will be ready to move onto more complicated projects.

[Dave Mount]

May I ask what finish you used on the black Locust?

Sanded to 800 grit then a single quick coat of Danish oil (natural), wipe off excess. Buff with tripoli, white diamond, and carnuba. The shine is more from polishing the wood surface than from finish. The Danish oil is mostly to enhance color and increase depth/chatoyance, rather than being a "finish" per se.

Comparison of Danish oil only then after buffing (side grain doesn't appear as dark as the end grain view in the previous pic):

489862489863

Best,

Dave