1st piece off of the Vega

[John Miliunas]

OK, after getting a fair amount of harassment about getting that nice Vega some time ago and not having anything to show for it, here 'ya go. Now, be nice...This is the very first piece off of it and the very first time I've tried do something with this type of profile. Oh, I can take the criticism, but try not to blast me outta' the water with it, OK?

Obviously, it's a Black Walnut piece, about 11" by 8" by just under 3" high. LOML really likes the large inclusion on it, so I left it as is. There are a couple other small inclusions, which I filled with some red stone Inlace (1st for that, too!). The finish actually isn't quite finished, yet. It's meant as a display piece, so I'm doing multiple coats of wipe-on "witches brew" and I've still got a little ways to go with it. Thanks for taking a peek and feedback is welcome. Remember, I'm still learnin' this whole spinny thing!

[Jim Becker]

Very good, John! A beautiful piece that has a lot of character. The fact that it's asymetrical in size is quite interesting. You did right by leaving the inclusion in.

If you turn more of this walnut, try some gold inlace, rather than the red to see if you like that contrast the same, better or worse. Or make your own filler with key machine scraps and resin...

[Tim Morton]

Looks real nice John, I really want to get a lathe after seeing all the fun you guys have and watching the Woodworking at Home DVD's now can you whip me up a headboard on that thing to keep my wife happy?

[Dean Baumgartner]

Very nice John.

And if I may say so....IT'S ABOUT TIME we see something off that new spinny thing.

Dean

[Todd Burch]

John, when I look at it, it looks like a plate is trying to come up out of a square piece of wood. Kinda like a vacuum form look. Interesting. Very interesting. (say that with the accent from the little tricycle-riding "German" guy in Love America Style... what was his name?)

[Lars Thomas]

JOhn, that's a nice looking chunk of walnut. I'm with your wife . . .I like the inclusion. In fact, On a recent set of cabinets I built, I left an inclusion on the inside of one of the stiles. Some might call it a knot, I think inclusion sounds better You can sorta see the inclusion from the outside (if you look closely) and I like it.

John If that's your first take on the lathe - you must be a natural. Enjoy. Lars

[Dean Bielanowski]

Nice job sir.

Keep on turning!

[David Rose]

John, when did you take up smoking? You might need to put some sort of liner on the wood to prevent those nasty burns.

Looks good! Well, for something round and useless(?)

David

[Dick Parr]

Very very nice John, I am starting to like seeing square things come of lathes. Again very nice!

[Jason Tuinstra]

John, you did a great job on this. I'm glad to finally see some pictures! Thanks.

[John Miliunas]

Thanks for all the kind comments, folks! The piece was done just a few days after I got the lathe and haven't had much opportunity to get back on it! House priorities and that full-time job keep getting in the way! Oh well...That's OK. At least we *have* a house to live in and a job to support us. A damn sight more than many less fortunate! Thanks again!

[John Miliunas]

Very good, John! A beautiful piece that has a lot of character. The fact that it's asymetrical in size is quite interesting. You did right by leaving the inclusion in.

If you turn more of this walnut, try some gold inlace, rather than the red to see if you like that contrast the same, better or worse. Or make your own filler with key machine scraps and resin...

Thanks much, Jim! As for the inlace, I thought about contrasting it, but LOML like the large inclusion so much that I felt if I went with something to really highlight the small ones, it would take too much away from the big guy. The red is evident, but barely so. BTW, thanks for the tip on making my own with the key machine scraps and such! Good idea.

[Rick Prevett]

John, I haven't posted much, but had to complement you on this piece. Beautiful piece of wood that you made into a great form! I also like the inclusion, would have been hard to exclude it without completely changing the shape of the piece. I'm also envious of that new Vega!

rick

p.s. Todd, that was Artie Johnson (Veeeery in-ter-es-ting!) from Laugh-In

[Chris Padilla]

John,

How do you spin a rectangle???

It looks like one of those mortar board hats graduates of school wear...just upside down and certainly more interesting!

Nice first project!

[John Miliunas]

John,

How do you spin a rectangle???

Thanks again, guys! Spinning a rectangle? Pretty much the same way that those real turners like Bill G., Jim B., etc... do their natural edge bowls and such: You're really "turning" open air much of the time! Heavy lathe, stout steady rest, sharp tools and concentrate on "control" do the trick. After the long part "slaps" you quite rudely a few times, you learn to really just sneak up on the cut!