Putting Her Through Her Paces (Updated)

[Christopher K. Hartley]

I haven't had much time, and I know I should be doing Andy's assignment but I'm just weak and I caved in. I just had to have some turning time.:o :confused: Southern Pine log 22 1/2" X 9 1/2".:D She took that big boy and tamed him well!:eek:

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Nicely done Chris! Stout lathe!

I'm not the least bit jealous though....my Jet Mini would handle it too......Hey...I could make 16 bowls out of that tree trunk!:D

[Bill Wyko]

TIIIIIMMMMMBBBBEEEERRRRRR!!! That's on big chunk of tree you got there. Looks like it's got some great pattern on it. What is it gonna be? Now you've got me eyeballin' one of those.:rolleyes:

[Nancy Laird]

Chris, all I can say is that it's about time that lady got dirty!!!

Nancy

[Ernie Nyvall]

Way to go Chris!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Hey Chris that is one big hunk of wood. Keep us posted.

[Curt Fuller]

Looks good Chris. That's a heck of a lathe. I'm anxious to see that hunk of pine when you've got it turned down to a 1/8" thick bowl and soaked in oil. That has more color than a lot of then Norfolk Pine I've seen.

[Bill Boehme]

Looks like it might be SYP based on the high contrast in the early and late wood and the strong yellow color.

Do you need an apprentice to take care of Beauty? I could keep 'er limbered up while you aren't home.

Bill

[Pete Jordan]

Are you sure Beauty has enough power to turn that hatbox you are making?

[Bart Leetch]

What the trees don't grow round enough for you?:eek:

So you were just pining away to make one rounder?:D

Must be somthing with a rounder running a big fancy spinny rounder like that all in the same shop.:eek: :D

[Jim Becker]

That's gonna be a nice piece when you're finished and get it really soaked through with oil! Nice!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Wow Chris! Quite the setup! Looking forward to seeing the finished piece!

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Looks good Chris. That's a heck of a lathe. I'm anxious to see that hunk of pine when you've got it turned down to a 1/8" thick bowl and soaked in oil. That has more color than a lot of then Norfolk Pine I've seen.

That's gonna be a nice piece when you're finished and get it really soaked through with oil! Nice!OK guys here is where I need your help. What kind of oil and how is it put on?:confused: Here is where it is at now.:)

[Jude Kingery]

Hey Chris,

Nice piece of work there; while I've used some oil finishes with mixed results, some I liked, some I did not (mineral, tung w/ mineral spirits as a catylist) my most oft preferred finish is wipe-on polyurethane. Easy to use, wipe on with soft lint free cloth or papertowel with the lathe off, then buff/light sand, lathe running fast, another coat and so on. I like that finish best of all on big pieces. On little stuff I like a friction polish. That's a nice bowl! I'll look forward to viewing it when you post again! Jude

[John Shuk]

Search through some of Sascha gast's post and you can see what he does with his Norfolk Island Pine bowls.

[Jim Becker]

This type of work really looks great when you do many, many applications of a penetrating oil/varnish finish, such as Watco or a home-brew. You want to totally saturate the pine. John's suggestion to look at some of Sascha's work or the master, Ron Kent (http://www.ronkent.com/), is great idea! Ron has a techniques area on his site.

[Dennis Peacock]

Nice piece of wood on a beauty of a lathe. :cool: I'm very happy for ya Chris. :D

[sascha gast]

depending on what you wanna do with the bowl, I would change the way you turn it.
if you are going very thin in order to get it translucent, , rogh shape the outside, leave a bit more of a foot where the faceplate is attached so you have room for a taller foot.
then hollow the inside, but leave the center a bit and really shape the inside very clean to your desired shape, once you are there, let's say 3/8" or a bit more, remove the center, get rid of the tailstock and finish sand the piece inside. wetsanding works best.
then come back from the outside to get the bowl thin, very thin if you want. I usually do about 1/4" on the rim of the bowl so you can grab it without breaking and right away go down to about 1/8", define the foot, wetsand the outside and part the bowl off.

one thing that helps a lot is what I do with rough bowls that are about 1-2" thick, I soak it in a large trash can full with dishwashing liquid(costco). I have about 30 gallons of a mix of that + equal parts of water. that prevents cracking, checking and turns really well. it also smell very nice.

after that is all done, it's off to the oil soak. I already answered your email about that

good luck

[Jim Becker]

I like Sascha's advise. One slight clarification...when you make your longer tenon, be sure you still provide a step/shoulder for the end of your chuck jaws to seat against for the most secure and stable hold on the piece. The tenon should never bottom out in the chuck; rather, the shoulder at the top of the jaws makes for a nice strong relationship between wood and metal.

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Thanks Guys, I'll have to figure out how I'm going to get all that done.:)

[sascha gast]

best advise I can give is use that purdy lathe of yours:D

[Andrew Harkin]

If I remember right, I think I saw Sascha say something about having a 55 gallon drum of danish oil that he just soaks them in.