First segmented project

[Jim Swift]

Hi All

Been dabbling in a little segmented bowls/vessels for a couple of months. Have Malcolm's book & just recieved Kandler book & video. I can only dream of producing some awesome bowls that I have seen on this site.

Have a bowl on the lathe now that i think will be firewood due to out of round glueup. Good experience I suppose. What has been the best way for some of you to glue up a perfectly round bowl? I feel that I get it all lined up properly and then when I get it on the lathe it isn't. Made a press like Ray Allen book.

Just last week I finished turning a nice beginners 3 layer bowl(thanks Dennis Daudelin) and sanded to 320 and put on Minwax wipeon poly on and it still hasn't dried. It seems that the maple is dry but the padauk is still tacky. It has been over 48 hours. Any suggestions?

Hopefully a photo of my best so far will appear with this post. This has been my best work to date.

Any and all suggestions for a beginner are welcome. I would rather not "reinvent the wheel"

Thanks In Advance

Jim Swift

[Malcolm Tibbetts]

Jim, for just starting out, you're doing great. Without knowing the method that you are using to produce your rings, it's difficult to offer advice. Table saw versus chop saw, sanded segment ends versus saw blade surfaces, and half-ring gluing versus full-ring gluing are just some of the various methods. Regarding this piece that you have posted, the joinery looks good and you've got all the wood grain going the same direction; that by itself makes it a successful piece. The shape (form) could be better; mastering "form" is something we all stuggle with on all projects. Another thing to consider, with small vessels, proportionally, smaller segments look better. Don't let the dimension of your lumber dictate the dimension of your segments. These rings could have been easily split into two rings and the resulting shorter rings would have created a different (perhaps better) look. Enjoy your adventure into segmented turning.

[Jim Kountz]

Wow great looking first attempt! My first one is ashes now and dumped out behind the shop! You just received advice from the master himself so nothing for me to add other than I love it!

[Brian Brown]

I can't add a lot to what Malcolm has said, but if I remember correctly, his book talks about gluing the rings on the lathe, starting at the bottom, and working up ring by ring. This keeps the rings in better alignment because thay are forced into the position they will be in for turning.




Just last week I finished turning a nice beginners 3 layer bowl(thanks Dennis Daudelin) and sanded to 320 and put on Minwax wipeon poly on and it still hasn't dried. It seems that the maple is dry but the padauk is still tacky. It has been over 48 hours. Any suggestions?

Jim Swift

As for the padauk and wipeon poly, I had the same problem the one and only time I used padauk. It took over two weeks to dry. I asked on several forums, and the answer I got most commonly was that padauk is so oily, that the poly (made up of several oil finishes and other stuff) didn't penetrate well, and that caused the drying problem. The other problem, is that if your poly is not fresh, fresh, fresh, it greatly inhibits the drying for some chemical reaction reasons that I won't even pretend that I understand. I really like the look of padauk, even when it changes to brown. The reason that I only used padauk once, is that the dust made such a mess. My garage is permanently stained red, my skin was red for days, and I had to throw the clothes I wore away (underwear included). Don't try to wash these clothes with others, or you'll be throwing them all away. That dust is nasty. :(:(:(

[Skip Spaulding]

Sure looks good for the first one. You must be headed in the right direction. I am still thinking about trying a segmented, guess I'm a little lazy and a bit apprehensive. Looking forward to seeing your #2.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Really nice looking piece for your first. Form and joinery look really good. Keep'em coming.

[Jim Swift]

Malcolm

Thank you for your encouragement and your reply. And most of all for your book. It is indespensable.

I currently cut my segments on table saw and sand segments on 12" disc. Glue up is half ring sanded(sometimes ending up oval). Flatten rings on disc sander. Rings glued up in a press.

Is there max height to a project with narrower rings. Any rule of thumb? Better for beginner turner to glue up 3/8 in rings or glue up one ring and split?

Thanks

Jim Swift

[Steve Schlumpf]

Jim - I haven't done any segmented yet - so you are way ahead of me in that field of turning! Very nice joints, color combination and finish! As already mentioned - form is a constant struggle for most of us and has to be worked out with each piece.

I think this is a nice piece - especially for your first effort! Looking forward to seeing your next one!

[Bonnie Campbell]

I really like the piece. Since I've never done segmented work I'll leave the technical critique to the pros.

As for padauk... You need to wipe it down with acetone before applying finish. If you don't you will have a finish that won't ever dry, or will take forever. So, as much as I didn't like this suggestion when I first tried finishing padauk wrong.... you need to removed ALL the finish (acetone will do it). After it's removed, acetone wipe the piece down and start applying your finish immediately. That should do ya.

[Jim Swift]

I appreciate all who responded and commented on my project.
Your words are encourageing

Jim Swift