Test Driving A New Ugly Stick

[John Hart]

I've been promising an Ugly Stick to John Miliunas for about a year and a half. :o Finally got it done tonight....And test drove it on a walnut vase.

Wow! This thing works better than the original. Here's a few shots of it and one of the original Ugly. (Not even close to retirement);) :)
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[Dennis Peacock]

Looks good John. Starting your own line of turning tools? :D

Excellent tool you've made and congrats.

[Keith Burns]

Can't call that one ugly !! Nice work. Now the original is UGLY !

You are on my list John:eek:

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Way to go John! Congrats John.......Well...what did you expect with two Johns involved?

Nice looking tool, regardless!:D

[Bernie Weishapl]

Great looking tool John. That one looks like a gem to me.

[Bill Wyko]

Looks like a nice piece you're turning too. Any pics of it done yet?

[Dale Gregory]

John, looks great! Are ya finished witht the vase yet, pics? How did you like using it? How hard is it to sharpen?

Dale

[John Hart]

Thanks guys. It's a little tricky to sharpen it, but once you got the hang of it....only about 15 seconds for a touch up. It plowed right through that piece of walnut and made a nice smooth wall through the shoulder. I'm happy with it. Need to get it into the hands of that Miliunas guy!:)

The Vase? naw....The pics above were taken last night. It's got a lot of drying to do.;)

[Ken Fitzgerald]

John.....What weight and length baseball bat are you using for handles on those Ugly Sticks?

:D

[John Hart]

The handles really aren't that big Ken. I haven't measured them in a while, but they're shorter than 10". Now Bertha's another story.
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Bertha is made from 3/4" Stainless Steel. I got the steel from our maintenance shop. I guess it was a shaft of some kind that they drilled the holes wrong or something. Anyway, I get a 10" reach with it, and the handle is 16". Kinda dwarfs the Ugly Sticks...but really, they are for that part of hollowing that is just around the shoulder.

[Tom Sherman]

Looks like a winner to me John. The tool might look a bit homely but it's defining moment is how the surface looks after use.

[John Miliunas]

Well, hot dang!!!! :D I thought fer shore you'd forgotten 'bout that old thing! Well, actually, now it's a new thang, ain't it? I still have some Hart-wood lying about. Think it'd be only proper to do it up right, heh? :) Thanks, John! How 'bout that? An ugly stick for a not so good looking guy. Poetic justice, wouldn't 'ya say? :D :cool:

[Ken Fitzgerald]

The handles really aren't that big Ken. I haven't measured them in a while, but they're shorter than 10". Now Bertha's another story.
593825938359384
Bertha is made from 3/4" Stainless Steel. I got the steel from our maintenance shop. I guess it was a shaft of some kind that they drilled the holes wrong or something. Anyway, I get a 10" reach with it, and the handle is 16". Kinda dwarfs the Ugly Sticks...but really, they are for that part of hollowing that is just around the shoulder.

Awww.....I was just funnin' ya John........But you know Miliunas has lost so much weight that you might want to consider a baseball bat for a handle so he could have the leverage advantage!:eek: :rolleyes: :D

[John Miliunas]

Awww.....I was just funnin' ya John........But you know Miliunas has lost so much weight that you might want to consider a baseball bat for a handle so he could have the leverage advantage!:eek: :rolleyes: :D

Yeah, I lost a few pounds but, I'm still ugly! :eek: :D Yes, "leverage" is a good thing! But, if I really have to, I can always tie some extra plates out of the weight room to my belt for stability! :D :cool:

[Mitchell Cholewinski]

Nice job on the ugly stick John. Looking at the second picture made me think that it was an inboard scraper redone. What bevel angle do you use when sharpening it? 70 to 80%? Hope you don't mind, one more question? Could you shape that ugly stick using a 60 grit white grinding stone? Thanks Mitch

[John Hart]

Hi Mitchell...Welcome to the vortex!!

This particular ugly stick was made from an old skew. I ground the overall shape and bevel on an 60 grit grey wheel, then did the sharpening on a 100 grit white wheel. The bevel angle is roughly 30 degrees. I suppose the angle could be a little steeper, but it shore works nice!!;)

I also got to thinking that this would work well to do total hollowing on vessels less than 6" deep. On that vase, I really needed a longer reach...so enter in Bertha. The Ugly stick only made it in halfway.