toothpick holder and Yes Houston....we have multiple launchings....

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Well..........I've had this 18"x3"x3" glueup of red oak in my shop for several weeks now. LOML loves oak and red oak in particular. When Corey displayed his toothpick holder yesterday.....I got a hot idea......Steal Corey's idea....and it worked!.......I turned a box out of red oak last night.....Worked until 1130....time just seems to slip away when I'm on the lathe........I've heard oak doesn't take detail too well so I didn't try anything very ornate and I sharpened all my tools before starting. I will add the skew worked very well on this extremely hard wood! When trying to finish the bottom....I got an idea....I really wanted the bottom of this to finish nicely........so...I've got the outside finished except the bottom.....if I chuck it up ever so carefully it won't damage the outside.....I can then very carefully using my newly sharpened skew smooth out the cutoff lines and sand.......It worked well too I might add ...the 2nd time.....the 1st time it launched across the shop....too lightly chucked up. When the red oak survived that except for some minor damage on the inner lip........I thought........."Get er Done"...."Chucker UP!" Later when buffing .....Did you know that if you have the Beal buffing system for use on a lathe........those cloth wheels can grab an edge faster than a snow snake can grab an edge when you're down hill skiing....well that cloth wheel sucked the top of this box out of my hand ...passed between the wheel and bouced it off the bed of the lathe ....off the plywood wall of the shop and into a pile of plywood stacked against that wall.........Tough stuff this red oak!

So here it is ......toothpick holder/box.....red oak............finished with Mylands friction finish and Beal buffing system........

[Don Baer]

Houston we have liftoff...:D

Good looking box there Ken.

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Beautiful Ken but I wanted to see the toothpicks you turned too! HF has a lathe so small I think you could turn toothpicks. I'm so glad the blastoff, flight and splashdown didn't damage it.

[Michael Stafford]

Pretty nice, Ken. I have turned a box or two in oak and found it to be pretty unforgiving and tough but the finished product can be worth it. You did a fine job.:D

[Andy Hoyt]

..............well that cloth wheel sucked the top of this box out of my hand ...passed between the wheel and bouced it off the bed of the lathe ....off the plywood wall of the shop and into a pile of plywood stacked against that wall.............

He shoots! He scores! Nice carom shot, Ken!

Box aint so bad, either.

[Bob Noles]

Excellent job Ken, but where do the toothpicks live ? :D :p

I really like the design and outcome and the bouncing stories are great! See what you been missing all this time not having a lathe? :rolleyes: ;) :)

[Jim Davenport]

We might have a new "Olympic sport".
"Project chasing accross the shop"!!!:eek:
I'm getting kinda good at it.
Or we could do an "weight loss infomercial."
"Run around you shop in search of wayward parts". It's better that the Super gym! :rolleyes:
Still your tooth pic holder still turned out very good.

[Corey Hallagan]

That looks great Ken! That oak turned out well. I have a piece of oak glued up I am going to save for a time when I feel I am in control ...LOL. Nice job. BTW, did you just cut the likes with a parting tool or did you burn them in with wire?

Corey

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Corey..........I used a piece of multistranded copper wire between two pieces of wood for handles.

[Ernie Nyvall]

Real nice box Ken. You're doing a great job on the start up of the pinny world.

Ernie

[Bob Noles]

Excellent job Ken, but where do the toothpicks live ? :D :p

I really like the design and outcome and the bouncing stories are great! See what you been missing all this time not having a lathe? :rolleyes: ;) :)


That's better with the 2nd picture now I can see where the tooth picks live :cool:

Ken, Do you remember the good old days in school a game the kids played called dodge ball? I believe they modeled that game after famous turner somewhere in time :D

[Andy Hoyt]

Hey Ken - what's that round glass thing doing on the doily? Sheesh!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

The LOML has no pride when it comes to air travel Andy.....When her father died last fall she decided to bring one of the live plants given to the family back to Idaho. She put it in a carry-on bag and "Got 'er Done"! It is a plant native to humid jungles and requires a lot of watering but can't tolerate wet roots.........Go figure. She'd like to put it on the oak sideboard I built. If it goes there, that sucker will disappear when she's not here. So.....she puts it on the table with a glass pie dish under it. The bottom of the pie plate is covered with river rock to keep the bottom of the plant container raised up. That way, we can water it daily....it gets the water it needs and the roots don't set in the water.........We also have to mist it daily.....It's a pain....she has a black thumb.....She was in tears one day....it was nearly dead and she was going to throw it out but didn't want to give it up. I volunteered to take care of it. It is now doing well but that's what I had to resort to keep it alive. It can't take direct summer sunlight but during the winter it needs direct sunlight.....It's a pain but it has sentimental value to her......I can live with it........:)

[Bernie Weishapl]

Nice work Ken. Looks mighty fine. The burn lines really make it stand out.

[Paul Douglass]

That is really nice. Did you burn the inside rim also or is that shadow? I agree with your wife, I like oak. I just finished a oak Morris chair and it is really pretty is I do say so myself. Sorry that is a plant sitting on the tabel, I thought it was a black berry pie. Love black berry pie!

[John Hart]

Hey Ken - what's that round glass thing doing on the doily? Sheesh!

I thought it was an ash tray too Andy.:D

[John Miliunas]

Hey, nice job, even after multiple launches! :D Ken, 'bout the only question I have is: Do you plan on finishing your shop one 'o these day??? :confused: :D :D :D :cool:

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Paul.....the burn inside the top got there when I friction tested the top onto the bottom while rotating the bottom on the lathe.....

John....I've reached the point where I need to restock my turning supplies.....I'm going after the shop with renewed emphasis very soon! Youngest son will be here for a couple of weeks in June. He's running the Iron-man contest in Courdalene in June. He's volunteered to help me finish the shop between training cycles. My back and knees were bothering me when finishing the ceiling. I truly wished I 'd listened to Frank Pellow and put plywood on the ceiling. If I had I'd be done by now. I truly need to finish the shop just so I can get to the lawn equipment in the old "shop". Of course, I need a bandsaw to round out bowl blanks! Did you know turning squares round is more "invibrating" than turning octagons?:rolleyes:

[John Miliunas]

I truly need to finish the shop just so I can get to the lawn equipment in the old "shop". Of course, I need a bandsaw to round out bowl blanks! Did you know turning squares round is more "invibrating" than turning octagons?:rolleyes:

LOL! Well, I certainly DO know that rounding out large squares on the lathe will certainly wake a fella' up in short order! :eek:

Well, just continue to enjoy yourself on the spinny thing until your son gets there. The progress you've made thus far on the lathe is fabulous! :) :cool:

[Paul Douglass]

I truly wished I 'd listened to Frank Pellow and put plywood on the ceiling. If I had I'd be done by now. :rolleyes:

Why plywood? Just because you had some or is there a + for using plywood?

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I'm very inept at finishing drywall on the ceiling......:(