a different kind of inside out

[David Russell]

Hi All: I've been a lurking member for a few years and this is my first post to this great place. I like to try different things and decided to turn a hollow football. This is what I came up with. I hollow 4 identical (we hope) quarters on a faceplate (like peeling an orange slice from the inside) then I glue 3 of them together and mount them between center and turn the outside. After I'm happy with the shape I add in the 4th slice (the lid) and turn that to equal the other 3. To finish up I point one end and then jam chuck that end so I can complete the shape. If anyone knows of someone doing something similar I'd like to know about it. Thanks Dave R

[David E Keller]

That's great, David. Shame on you for not posting your work sooner!

How do you keep the lid piece in place when you are turning the outside of the form?

[Dick Strauss]

David,
Welcome to SMC!!

I've done something similar but used a different method.

You turn two identical bowls. One of the two bowls gets cut in half on the bandsaw. Then one half of the cut bowl is be glued to the other whole half. The remaining half is used as a lid or whatever you like.

[Allen Neighbors]

David Russell, Welcome to SMC!! I ditto the "shame on you". You should have been here long ago!!
Great job on the football box!!
Let's see some more!!

[Steve Schlumpf]

David - Welcome to SMC! Pretty cool idea! First I've seen of a turned football box! Looks like a winner to me!

Looking forward to seeing more of your work!

[John Keeton]

Welcome, David!! Great to have you swimming around in the creek with the rest of us suckers!!! Excellent first post, and nice work on the box.

[Tony De Masi]

Welcome to The Creek David. Shame on you for holding out on us. That is a pretty cool piece though.

[David DeCristoforo]

Sweet. And this might open up a whole new area for turners. I mean, we've got pens and stoppers, game calls, bowls, "arty" stuff, ornaments and so forth. So why not turned wood sports equipment! I'm already thinking about a lignum vitae bowling ball...

[gary Zimmel]

Great way to make a splash in the creek David..
Welcome and looking forward to some more of your work.

[Kathy Marshall]

Very Cool Box David!

[William Hutchinson]

Interesting concept that you carried out very well in your project. Nice first post and please show more of your work.

[David Russell]

Thanks for the warm welcome. To answer David's question. I have tenons on both ends and use a Tallon chuck in the tailstock. The 3520 has plenty of mass and I hold the rpm to about 600 and feel perfectly safe. But I'm very watchfull and carefull. After I add the unturned lid back in I turn down the large diameter first and then run tape around it to hold it in and cut the vibration. I like the idea of those lignum vitae bowling balls but they would be brown and round and I'm shooting for elipses or ovals or hollowed out barbells or whatever. Anything but round. I'm hoping I can get some of you to give it a try. You have to keep in mind that its inside-out turning so the finished wall thickness will vary a lot and convexed insides won't work well. That was my problem with regular inside out. This way the inner curve is in the right direction. We could call this revolutionary inside-out. Thanks again Dave

[Reed Gray]

Interesting. When I first looked at it, I was wondering if it was an 'inside out' turning. You know, where you would take 4 very exactly milled pieces of wood, turn the inside of the football first, then turn it inside out to turn the outside. You could even do contrasting woods that way. don't know how to do a lip for the lid though. Have to think about that for a while.

robo hippy

[David Russell]

Hi Reed :Thats exactly what I do. I start with 4 triangler peices about a ft long and bore one flat on each for mounting to a chuck (expandsion mode). Then one at a time I carve out the inside on the headstock. Then I put them together between centers and turn the outside as discribed earlier. Thanks for asking. Dave

[Karl Card]

It is just truly amazing what the human imagination can do.

I recently read an article on the net about people making the top and then bottom of a HF and then glueing them together to make a HF. Some may think it is cheating, some may think it is the only way I am going to get close to a HF.

Good job and good imagination.