Ok, I'm bored and need a turning project

[Jess Wetherhold]

Seriously...I'm burned out of doing production stuff and flat work. I have a few hours to turn something but I have hit a creative wall. Please share any small (1-3 hour projects) that you may have. My sanity may depend upon it :cool:
Thanks-
Jess

[Bernie Weishapl]

Jess I am gearing up to get some Christmas ornaments and mini birdhouses turned for the Carnagie Arts Council. They are quick and sell well. Lidded boxes are a quick turn if you use dry wood.

[Brodie Brickey]

Coffee mugs, but I'm biased.:D

Wine bottle stoppers from Ruth Niles.

[Jess Wetherhold]

Hey Brodie- I just received my long awaited mandrel from her. After turning several hundred stoppers I have to get used to this new mandrel.
Anyway, I want to turn something simple with no required kits or "special things." I do this for a living and just want something funner :D
EDIT- Brodie- now I get the coffee mug comment. I'm slow ya know...I'll bookmark your site.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I'd suggest an inside-out project but you have to wait for the glue to dry between turnngs. At least it would be something different.

Check out Larry Marley's website.

[Larry Marley]

HI Jess,
I just turned a pepper mill. Kind of fun.

[Christopher Fletcher]

Seriously...I'm burned out of doing production stuff and flat work. I have a few hours to turn something but I have hit a creative wall. Please share any small (1-3 hour projects) that you may have. My sanity may depend upon it :cool:
Thanks-
Jess

I'm telling you to try some of the mushrooms. Who knows I'm sure you can sell some of them too. Maybe a nice osage apple or pear...I like food:o

[Jess Wetherhold]

Hey Chris! Yeah, I'm a foodie too.
I started a walnut bowl. Finished the bottom, then hollowed it out and did a turquois inlay on the rim. My yawns caught up with me around 11pm so I will finish it tomorrow.
I have not tried the shrooms (on the lathe:p) so maybe I will give that a try.
Thanks everyone...keep the ideas coming!

[Christopher Fletcher]

I'll bring you some of the avocado limbs for shroom experimenting.

[curtis rosche]

you could just turn the wood till theres nothing left

[Matt Hutchinson]

You might consider making a sphere. It's pretty fun, and I made one in your suggested time frame, which included setting up the friction chucks and all.

Hutch

Or maybe try a banksia pod project.

[Jess Wetherhold]

Well, I don't think this is the quick project that I am looking for but the sphere has my interest. Does anyone have a tutorial?
Thanks

[Don Orr]

Hey Jess,

I've been making solid one-piece letter openers and spatulas lately. Quick and easy but require some post-turning shaping with a benchtop belt sander.

The spatula I got from Darrell Feltmate at www.aroundthewoods.com (http://www.aroundthewoods.com). The letter opener I kind of came up with on my own but have since seen them elsewhere. Lots of project ideas can be found at www.woodturningonline.com (http://www.woodturningonline.com) .

Have fun, your mental well being depends on it :D:eek:;).

[keith zimmerman]

My suggestion is to do what I do; look at something someone else has done that you admire and try to emulate it. It will challenge you and perhaps start the creative juices flowing and lead to something else.

keith

[Mike Peace]

..are fun and easy way to use small pieces of wood. You can texture of color or liming wax them. Decorating them is part of the fun. There is a tutorial somewhere that is 13 pages long an involves making a PVC chuck. Or you just chuck up the wood and part off the egg after turning which I find simpler and less fussy than using an egg chuck.

[Matt Hutchinson]

Here's a sphere tutorial.

http://www.alanlacer.com/articles/bocceball.htm

Also, here's a list of projects with articles/tutorials.

http://www.woodturningonline.com/Turning/Turning_projects.html

Hope this helps! :)

Hutch

[Leo Van Der Loo]

He Matt why go and do it the hard way, :confused::D
That's production stuff, use something like the tools used to make ivory billiard balls for many years in Belgium.

[Matt Hutchinson]

I have seen the method you have pictured. If I had to produce a whole bunch I would use it, but I think it's more fun to just do things by hand. :) Thanks.

Hutch

[Mike Minto]

turn a toothpick, mike :cool:

[Judy Kingery]

Hey Mike,

Throw tops and glue-ups are fun and pretty easy projects to do! Best to you, enjoy, Jude

[dan sherman]

turn a pencil holder for the shop, you can make is as simple or as ornate as time allows. Nothings annoys me more than when I can't find one, a pencil that is.

[Jess Wetherhold]

Toothpicks lol. I remember way back my aunt sent me a burl that she had stored in her garage for about 7 years. It was from a walnut tree from the first house she had ever owned so it was sentimental to her. She was so excited for me to turn her a bowl from this cracked up, dried up mess of a thing. I did make something out of it eventually but for a joke my Father said I should send her a toothpick and tell her all that was left.