Natural Edge Maple Bowl with Bark Intact!

Turning a Natural Edge Bowl

I had a tree guy drop off some maple for firewood. I have some room at my house so every now and then a tree guy will dump a load of wood! Lucky me ๐Ÿ™‚

I split most of it and do some treasure hunting on the pile before I start splitting the wood. I found a few nice piecesย  I though would make nice bowls and vases. Truth be known, if I had my way I would probably save every load of wood that got dropped off for turning….. of course I would have to turn 1000’s of bowls or my wife would be a little upset that it was cold in the house ๐Ÿ™‚

Natural Edge Wood Bowl Video

I have 2 videos for you. The first one is just a series of stills that I narrate and the next video is an edited video of me turning a natural edge bowl from the maple wood blank.

Turning a maple live edge or natural edge wood bowl.

I have an excellent digital slr camera, but need to figure out how to get some really nice and clear video. This will do for now but I will upgrade soon.

Enjoy

Natural Edge Bowl Experiment

You can get a better idea on how this project came together by checking out my article at Maple Live Edge or Natural Edge Bowl

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Maple Live Edge Bowl and Turning A Natural Edge Bowl

Keeping The Bark On a Live
Or Natural Edge Bowl

I wanted to turn a live edge bowl or as some call it a natural edge bowl. That would be a bowl with a bark edge or natural edge of the piece of wood for the top edge of the bowl. This is one woodturning project that I’ve been wanting to do for a long time!

I experimented with a piece of Maple that someone dropped off for firewood. I burn all kinds of wood, anything really, in my wood stove and that’s how we heat our house for the winter. Been doing that for 30 some years now.

wood bowl blank for live edge bowl
Maple log cut into a bowl blank, ready to be attached to a faceplate and will be turned into a live edge or natural edge wood bowl.

Natural Beauty of A Natural Edge Bowl

The funny part is both my wife and I will always look at a piece of wood and wonder what’s inside, what does it look like. Only recently did I get a Laguna 14″ SUV bandsaw with enough horsepower to rip throough some of the wood, and it’s all I can do to keep myself from dragging all the firewood into the shop to cut it open. It’s kind of like a God secret. Looks like firewood from the outside but underneath all that is a diamond worth shining and keeping.

This led me to desire 2 different types of machines to work with wood. I really want one of those portable bandsaws that allows you to cut a log into useable lumber. Same thing, rip open a log and it’s like a piece of heaven.

Haven’t gotten the portable bandsaw yet, but I did get a wood lathe. Which was next on my list of desired woodworking toys …I mean tools ๐Ÿ™‚

Getting Started In Woodturing

I’m not sure how or why I got interested in turning wood, I haven’t been a woodturner since highschool and I barely remember that. I don’t think I even read anything about woodturning. Maybe I watched a youtube video or something. Whatever it was, I caught the woodturning bug!

Big problem though, I was …stil am, pretty broke from being sick for a long time. I couldn’t afford a $1000 for a lathe, much less $4000 or $5000 for a good lathe.

I went the China route. Got some basic equipment from harbor freight, just had the lathe and some HF woodturning tools. I had a faceplate and centers that came with the lathe. That’s basically how I started and learned woodturning.

Live Edge Bowl Experiment

Sorry, not sure how I fell down that rabbit hole. I really just wanted to share some quick facts and pictures of doing a live edge and the experiment I did to keep the bark in place.

How to turn a natural edge wood bowl
Turning a natural edge wood bowl, mounting on wood lathe.

First mistake I made was I used a faceplate on the wrong end and I ended up with screw holes in my live edge bowl. I’m really getting tired of screw holes showing up in my projects, not sure why I can’t keep that part of it straight ๐Ÿ™‚

Anyway, I cut a round blank from the maple log and mounted it on my large faceplate. It was a pretty big piece, as big as my lathe could handle, about 12″. It really helped using the circle jig on the bandsaw to cut the blank round and allowed me to make the biggest bowl possible. And….the lathe didn’t walk across the floor ๐Ÿ™‚ I really need to show you a picture of this circle jig for the bandsaw, like most things I do …. it was a quick bugger job, but it works perfectly!

****************

I had some new woodturning tools I was trying and the project took shape fast. My natural edge bowl was starting to take shape. Then it happened. Totally my fault, I stuck my Sorby bowl gouge a little too hard into the live edge, that is the bark, and a huge piece went flying! Man, I was so disappointed. Everything was going so good and the bowl actually looked great. Now it was missing a huge piece of bark.

Well, I didn’t swear. I prayed that I might find the piece of bark and God answered that prayer because I found it immediately! Normally, I would have cussed up a storm and thrown some tools around and maybe even kicked the lathe ….yep, I have a little bit of a temper. Guess they call that “Anger Problem” these days ๐Ÿ™‚

Another Bowl Turning Experiment
With A Live Edge Bowl

I found the piece of bark and figured this was going to be another one of my experiments because I never saw anyone attempt to repair a live edge or natural edge bowl and then finish turning it. I’ve seen some woodturners attempt to do a natural edge bowl and have the bark fly off …at that point they trash the project or just turn a regular bowl.

Repair Of A Natural Edge Bowl

I took the piece of bark that broke off and epoxied it to the bowl edge. I used a 30 minute 2 ton epoxy and let it dry overnight. I figured the real test would be if I could finish turning the rough out of the bowl. After 24 hours I turned on the lathe and bravely stuck my round insert carbide homemade turning tool into the spinning bowl, slowly, every so slowly it started to cut the bowl and bark.

Much to my surprise the piece I epoxied in place held fast. I was able to turn the bowl and finsh the rough out of the natural edge maple bowl. However, the bark was coming loose in some other areas and it looked like it wasn’t going to stay on.

I should have tossed it at this point, but I enjoy fixing things and doing things that others won’t do. So I thought about the different ways I might keep the bark on. I saw one guy use 2 ouces of CA glue and that worked, a little expensive I thought. This wasn’t a special piece of wood and I did not want to waste my CA glue on the bark of a maple bowl.

Alumilite Epoxy Finish

Then I remember seeing someone use “alumilite” to coat a big bowl for a sink. Then he used it for some of his other bowls for a nice glossy finish. Looked like some awesome stuff to finish woodturing projects with, but I found out latter that it required some special effort and there was definitely a learning curve if you wanted a perfect finish.

Gluing Bark to the rough bowl blank for a natural edge bowl
To keep the bark on the roughed out live edge bowl I used an epoxy resiin like “alumilite” to seal and glue the bark to the bowl. (I used an epoxy resin called Max Clear) I went down into the bowl on the inside and outside with the epoxy.

I purchased some epoxy resin called Max Clear, similar to alumilite from Amazon. I applied a good thick coat to the bark and an inch inside and outside the bowl. The thought was to use the epoxy to hold everything together, that is to keep the bark from seperating and when the bowl was to be finish turned ….hopefully the narrow live edge would hold and keep the bark in place. At this point I was thinking that I would epoxy the entire bowl after the final turning of the live edge bowl.


Epoxied Live Edge Bowl Sat For a While

My natural edge bowl project ended up sitting for longer that I planned. The bark edge along with a small part of the inside and outside top of the bowl was epoxied and thoroughly cured. However, it was wet wood when I started and it moved pretty good with the grain as it dried over a couple of weeks, so it was a bit oblong . My bad….I should have stuck it in a bag of shavings …but, that’s my life. I get sick and sometimes can’t make it out to the shop for days or weeks…sometimes a couple of months. The bowl still had the recess for the Nova Chuck ****** although a little out of whack, I was able to chuck it back up to the lathe.

The bowl didn’t crack though, and the bark was nice and glossy. I chucked up the bowl and started gouging out the inside. I really wanted a live edge bowl, a thin live edge bowl. I wanted to get the sides and bottom down to a 1/4″ or so. This was an experiment so I didn’t care what happened, if it exploded…so be it!ย  I thought for sure the bark would fly off and the bowl would crack.

Epoxied Natural Edge Bark
Bowl Held Together

Much to my surprise, as I pushed the 5/8″ bowl gougeย  into the bowl, the bark held together! In fact, I used a couple of different tools to shape the natural bark edge of the bowl. I used the big 1 1/2″ scarpaer, the small 3/4″ scraper and the round carbide insert scarper tool. As I shaped the inside of the bowl the bark stuck togeher perfectly. Then I went to the outside and had to really rework the outside of the bowl because of the shrinkage, and once again the bark of the natural edge maple bowl help together perfectly!

This scraper can give you confidence, just enter the wood slowly and make gentle movements and you can clean up just about anything or even shape the entire bowl. Great for newbie and expert alike! I always turn to this big piece of metal when I’m not sure of using the bowl gouge and don’t want to screw something up ๐Ÿ™‚

Not a piece of bark fell off the bowl. I got the top of the bowl thinned down to 3/8″ or so, I was OK with that. I tried to do some shaving cuts on both outside and inside. That worked out good, in fact the project was a huge success!

Then it happened!

Live Edge Bowl Disaster!

I had the speed up. I’m still a little paranoid with high speeds on the lathe. I feel like I need one of those bubble suits ๐Ÿ™‚ I wanted to see if I could clean up the bark edge of my live edge bowl so I grabbed my bowl gouge ****** with the ellsworth grind, really need the practice with this, and I clumsily jabbed at the turning bowl! To my horror, I saw pieces flying! My project, almost a perfect natural edge bowl ….finished for all intensive purposes was getting destroyed because I was being anal. This time I swore, threw stuff, and kicked stuff…. hurt my toe with the ingrown toenail. I was so so so so pissed at myself! Why couldn’t I just leave well enough alone ๐Ÿ™

But….

Natural Edge Bowl Saved From Disaster!

I must have been seeing things because the bark was all there except for a tiny, maybe 1/4″ piece that was missing. I thanked God for saving my bowl and asked for forgiveness for being such a jerk ๐Ÿ™‚ At this point it was about 3 am. I should have quit at aleast an hour ago, but I was having fun making shavings, turning a bowl and experimenting on how to save a live edge bowl. Yep, I was really enjoying making a mess of things, fixing things, making some shavings and doing some sanding.

I sanded my bowl down to about 600 grit usinng a 2″ disk sander ****** with velcro sanding pads. They don’t last too long but I tried to use a piece of sand paper and the live edge almost took my hand off. Tried sandpaper again, worked for a while but anytime I got next to that live edge or natural edge of the bowl, the bark would grab the paper and rip it from my hands and almost take my hand along with it.

So I used the 2″ sanding pad on my electric drill. Tried it first on my cordless drill, but didn’t feel right and I really don’t want to burn up my DeWalt cordless drills, so I used an electric drill. Beware, caution …..using a corded drill is dangerous when you are around the lathe. Any mishap could cause the drill to get caught in the lathe and make a mess of everything including you!

Sanding A Live Edge Wood Bowl

So, I sanded the natural edge maple bowl starting with 80 grit down to 600 grit. The paper got ripped up when I got next to the bark edge but it worked on the rest of the bowl and to sand down to 600 grit for me is a milestone. I hate sanding, but….. sanding makes the finshe. Ask Cap’n Eddie about sanding. He preaches the need to sand down to 1000 or so and says you just got to do it, otherwise you will have an ameture finish on your bowls and woodturning projects.

How To Finish a
Natural Edge Wood Bowl

Maybe I should say, what kind of finish should I put on my live edge wood bowl. Remember the bark already is finished with Max Clear epoxy resin, similar to alumilite. So, the bark is glossy. I originally thought I would use the epoxy on the entire bowl, however, after using it on another project I can see that it requires some thought, effort and work to look good. This is the stuff that is put on table tops or bar tops and people will inlay pictures, shells or other objects and put multiple layers of epoxy over it.

After thinking about it, I thought I would save my epoxy finish for a special project. In fact, the stuff I have is food safe. It could be used for cups, bowls or mugs. Although this bowl is turning out nice, not sure I want to put in the effort to finish it with epoxy.

So…..

So, I decided since I sanded it down to 600grit, filled all the screw holes and had my life edge bowl looking pretty good. I thought I would use my “Salad Bowl Finish” by General Finishes. I really love this stuff. First of all, it’s advertised as being “food safe”, and although I have said it multiple times before, I’ll say it again. I think all finishes are food safe as long as you allow he finish to “cure” not “dry” but cure. That means the chemical processes are complete. But you do what you feel comfortable with.

I like the “Salad Bowl Finish” because you can apply it to the project while on the lathe and you can spin the project and use a wadded up paper towel to push the finish into the wood and to buff it. I found that you could get away with one coat on some woods and up to 3 coats with others. I think this live edge maple bowl will require 3 coats, the end grain seems to soak up the finish as fast as I put it on, but after one coat it might just seal the bowl and allow the other coats to build up and protect the bowl.

I’ve almost been using the salad bowl finish exclusively on my bowls. It looks great, builds up and has a shiney luster to it …and as they say, it’s food safe.

Some of my bowls I applied “ob shine juice” as a finish, a couple of coats. I’ve also used straight clear shellace and on a couple I’ve applied a sanding sealer first, you need to find a “clear” sanding sealer and then I have applied the “salad bowl finish” over these. So far, the finishes have all worked out great, applying the sanding sealer or ob shine juice keeps the salad bowl finish from soaking into the wood and allows you to get away with 1 or 2 coats of “salad bowl finsh”. At least that’s what I found!

natural edge or live edge wood bowl
Turning a maple live edge or natural edge wood bowl.

So, up to this point I have one coat of salad bowl finish over the bare wood. I think for the live edge bowl, I’ll end up with at least 3 coats of “salad bowl finsh” and then, it will be ready for a Christmas Gift!!!++++++

Natural Edge Bowl Redone

Looking back, my biggest mistake was the way I attached the bowl blank to the lathe. I used a faceplate on the flat surface of the log. I should have used the worm screw and mounted the log with the bark facing the lathe motor and attached with the worm screw. Or, I could have flattened out a spot to attach a smaller faceplate to the bark side of the log. Or, I might have been able to use a forstner bit to drill a recess for the Nova Chuck in the bark side.

How to turn a natural edge wood bowl and mount on a faceplate
Turning a natural edge wood bowl, mounting on wood lathe the Wrong WAY!

Once attached I could turn between centers and cut a tenon or recess on the flat side of the log. Come to think of it, I probably should have just drilled a 2″ recess on the flat side and mounted it in the chuck and that would have been the bottom of the bowl.

I guess there are many different ways to approach a project, you need to do what works for you. Do what you feel safe with and then experiment a little!

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Make Woodturning Tool Handles

How To Make
Turning Tool Handles

Ok, unless you are brand spanking new there’s no trick to this process of making woodturning tool handles.

Basically you grab a 3×3 square blank of your favorite wood and turn it into the lenght and shape you need for your desired tool.

Or…

Grab a straight piece of a tree limb or tree trunk, find the centers and turn it between centers. Use your turning roughing gouge to get the branch cylindrical and then put a shape for the tool you need. Then finish with oil or something like OB shine juice.

DIY Wood Handles For
Turning Tools Video

You can watch a video I put together called “How to Make Wood Handles for Wood Lathe Tools”, it involves taking a small dead tree trunk and turning it into a cylindrical blank to be used for a wood lathe tool handle, club, mallet or whatever you might desire!

Where I live I have 2 lots on a river. Not very big lots but we left a lot of it naturalized so, after about 25 years, we had a lot of young trees of every sort. There were lots of Ash and Beech trees, a few oaks and some hickory, lots of young mulberry and catalpa and also some sumac, there are even som walnut and black locust. I found a bunch of wild cherry trees and a good 5 or 10 I couldn’t identify. Oh, I forgot …a couple of willow trees, maple, popular and cottonwood. Did you ever see cottonwood or popular seeds flying in the summer. Some call it a nuisance, to me, its a reminder of summer and all my memories of my childhood fishing on the river with the cottonwood seeds floating through the air like snow and sticking to my fishing line as I reeled in my pole.

Our Own Forest For Making Your
Own Woodturning Tool Handles

My wife and I are not like most people. We don’t clear cut everything so we could have a nice green lawn. Drives our kids crazy! We do have some areas that are mowed and you could say they are grass but in reality it is just green weeds….. looks pretty good when cut ๐Ÿ™‚

Wood turning tool handle from ash log
Getting ready to turn an ash log into a woodturning tool handle!

As a result of our yard planning we have a whole bunch of trees. They create a haven for wildlife of every sort. We even had a mama deer give birth in a small section we called the forest. The mom came out and then following her was this little small dog sized deer that was all wet and wobbling, it was awesome to see. We didn’t know it but she had another one that was left in the forest, somewhat hidden in some brush but apparently not strong enough to move. Four or Five hours latter it was up and moving and mama was right there.

Save A Tree and Rescue Some Animalsย  ….
Your DIY Handles Can Remind You of That

If I tried to remember how many animals we rescued over the last 30 years or so I know I would leave some out. Birds of every sort, squirrels, raccoon families….at least 3 litters of little raccons. Just saved a possum I caught in the chicken house!

Trees are wonderful creations of God. They give shelter to wildlife. Provide material to build homes and shelter. I marvel at their beauty and massivness. We have one oak tree that is close to 6′ in diameter at it’s base. You know that had to start growing at the time of the revolutionary war or even before then.

I’m not a tree hugger but I do appreciate them. That’s why I’m sad to see so many killed by foreign beetles and fungus, moths and who knows what else. Trees that are like statues and guardians from the time of my youth are now taken down by foreign invaders. Or maybe someone from the city comes in and thinks the leaves are a nuisance….. sic!

Three Oak Trees Down, Lots of Bowls, Cups and Handles to be turned! or Should I Just Give In And Cut Some Firewood?

I have 3 oak trees down right now. I really wanted to be able to get a portable bandsaw to make lumber out of them. They’ve been laying around for a while and except for a few pieces I’m afraid they will become fire wood.

Sorry for the rabbit hole! But I realize not too many are Blessed like we are to live in an arboretum or nature center. If I want to turn a bowl, I look for a decent dead branch, cut it and go to work.

I said all this to say, I have a lot of dead trees now. If you catch some of the smaller ones within a year after they die and they are 4 to 6 inches in diameter you can use them to turn some very nice wood handles for your tools. You can use the bigger ones for lamps or candle stick holders and I’m sure you could think of other projects.

Dead Trees Make Nice Turning Tool Handles
and Come with Worm Holes,
Coloring From Fungus Growth Called Spalting

The longer it is dead, the more worm holes and spalting you get. But the Ash, Oak, Hickory and Beech trees are particulary suited well for making handles for your custom made woodturnig tools, or should I saw… homemade woodturning tools and others would call DIY woodturning tools.

My harbor freight lathe has several steel bar levers used to tighen down the center stock or the tool rest. I’m making a few small handles that I’ll slip over the round metal lever to give me a little more leverage, I’m just using a hunk of conduit now and it keeps falling off ๐Ÿ™‚

turned a lathe handle for more leverage
Handle for my center stock or maybe for a customer disc sander!

With the bigger branches I can make some small baseball bats that my grandsons can use to whack balls around and my son’s can use a self defense weapons…. in fact I might keep one stashed by the front door! Crazy times we live in, at one time I was the strongest in the room…. now I’m old and sick…easy prey so you need to do whatever you need to do to protect your family…. or at least die trying.

Ash Trees the Choice of Bat Makers
As Well As Tool Handles

Did you know Ash was the wood of choice for making baseball bats? Did you know almost all the Ash forests are gone from the emarld ash borer beetle? That’s what killed all my ash trees, you can see the trails under the bark. Seems as though they can kill a tree in a matter of weeks …really sad. My little forest is so bare now.

But, we as woodturners can use this distressed wood to make some awesome projects. Bowls, spindles, candle stick holders, walking sticks and anything that requires a handle.

Most of the dead ash trees that I use have been dead for a long time, at least 3 years and in this time the 4″ and below are pretty dry. However, the first 1/2″ to 1″ of the branch or log is usually very soft. But you can clean it up until you get down to hard wood. The grain is tight and really is beautiful. Often times you’ll find worm holes, or beetle holes throughout. The wood sometimes will be spalted. Usually Ash is a very light colored, with an oak type grain but with spalting fungus makes its way into the wood and will add color in the form of different shades and often lines of color.

If you have a bigger piece, that is 6″ in diamter and up you can run a 24″ section through your bandsaw and make 3 x 3 square blanks that you can turn whenever you get a free moment or the need arises. I haven’t had to do this yet because I have so many smaller diameter trees that are dead.

So what am I turning these custom wood handles for?

I have a 3/8 Sorby Spindle Gougeย  I purchased with just the blade and tang, no handle. Right now I just have it stuck into a piece of wood ๐Ÿ™‚ because I needed to use it right away. I need to make a permanent handle and epoxy the tang into the handle with a brass furle at the end. I’ve been using copper for the furl but I think I’m going to purchase a brass tube from onlinemetals.com and use the brass for a furl making myself look like the big guys!


I really haven’t used the spindle gouge much…. Need to spend some time learning how to use it. The Sorby spindle gougeย  cuts very nice but my technique is a big off ๐Ÿ™‚ The one I got was not very sharp out of the box, kind of surprised at that. But, that’s not a deal killer since I have the Oneway Wolverine Grinding System, makes quick work of dull woodturning gouges and chisels.


Wood Handles For Woodturning Disk Sander

I have a little 2″ disk sander I want to set up. I think I watched a Cap’n Eddie Video or two about how to make one of these sanding tools. Basically you turn a handle, drill a 3/8″ hole in the end of the handle, drill a 3/8″ hole at a 45 degree angle and my modificaition is to drill another 3/8 inch hole 90 degrees to the wood handle. Once again, I have a makeshift handle that I turned quickly and looks like a malformed sex toy, I drilled the holes as per above and it works great…… just that the 2″ sanding pad keeps falling out. It only costs about 10 bucks and comes with an assortment of pads, if you think you like it, then get about 100 additional sanding pads from 80 grit to 3000 grit. My problem with this little gadget is that the foam keeps coming apart. I had to use some CA glue to glue the “hook” pad back on. It would be easy enough to repair with some more dense foam if you really liked the setup. In fact that is what I’m going to do.


Turning Handles for
Pro Version of The Disk Sander

So…..

Now the 2″ sanding pad uses velcro to attache the sandpaper and foam pad and is attached to a mandrel with a 1/4″ metal/steel shaft. To make a “Pro” version of this hand sander, you drill a 3/8″ hole in the wood handle because you want to push in a 3/8″ round disk magnet ********** to the end of the hold (glue it in) and then glue in a 3/8″ brass tube down to the magnet. Use CA glue.

When you push the steel shaft of the sanding pad into the brass shaft it will bottom out on the magnet and stick to its location by the 3/8″ disk magnet that you first glued in.

This thing works like a charm. You don’t have to have the sanding pad on a drill, the rotation of the object being sanded causes the sanding pad to rotate on its own and thus “sand” the project. I find this tool comes in handy with bowls and especially cups or hollow forms that need some sanding inside. Does an awesome job sanding the interior of bowls, cups and vases.

Dedicated 2″ Sanding Disk Station

The only thing I need to do is buy about 4 or 5 of these 2″ sanding pads****** and an additional supply of 2″ round sanding disks*****. The constant tearing off of the sanding paper from the foam tends to destroy the velcro on the foam pad. So I saw one guy create a station that holds as many disks as he needs and now has dedicated 2″ sanding pads starting with 80 grit up to 1000 grit, think he had about 5 of them in a a hunk of wood by his lathe. Just drill a 1/4″ hole in your favorite wood and stick the mandrel of the sanding disk in the hole …..set it on a shelf or hang on the wall next to your lathe. If you try these things you’ll fall in love with them

Wood Handles for My Custom
Made Woodturning Tools

I have some home made woodturning tools and plan to make many more ….or at least experiment with more of them. I was watching Reed Gray, the robohippy on youtube and that guy has a tool for every corner or should I say every radius. I guess you never quite figure out what you really like until you try a bunch of tools. Reed has made a lot of his stuff and it seems like he purchased some of the cheaper tools and reshaped them. Same thing with a guy by the name of Al Furtado, the guy makes working woodturning tools out just about any piece of metal that crosses his path and turns some beautiful projects.

New Category ….Great Woodturners!

I think I’m going to created a category called “Great Woodturners” and then have a subcategory for each of the woodturners I follow and learn from. If anything, it will help readers of this blog to glean important and usefull information rather than trying to comb through the tons of videos and webpages.

DIY Wood Handles for Benjamin’s Best

A lot of guys will buy turning tools from Penn State Industries, the tools are called Benjamin’s Best and then they rip off the handle and make their own custom handle. You can certainly do that with a nice branch or small tree trunk of just about any type of wood. Make the tool nice and long, hefty and fitting your hand. Or…;.make it small for detailed work if you are a woodturner who turns wood pens and needs smaller woodturning tools.

Woodturning Wood Handles for
Your Custom Woodturning Tools

I think I posted some of the homemade tools that Al Furtado madeย  called Make Your Own Woodturning Tools ….its a pretty good introduction to Al :), I would like to try and duplicate some of those ……consequently, I will need handles for these tools. The easiest way is to drill a hole in the center of the newly turned wood handle that will accept the tang of the new turning tool and epoxy it in.

Drill or Daddo For the Turning Tool Tang

Some guys make tools with larger square tangs which makes it harder to drill a hole and push the tang in …has to do with geometry. Anyway, they start with a square blank and cut it in half. Then they use a router to route out a section of wood fitting the tang on both halfs. After dry fitting and making sure the tool tang fits they will then epoxy the wood handle sections together, making sure not to get any epoxy in the routed section. Then they turn the blank after it has dried into their desired shape …. Let me see if I can find a video of somone doing this ……….************

 

I also have some carbide cutters (inserts) mounted on steel bars …I need to make handles for these tools. I must have watched the video on how to do this 15 times and I was quite proud of myself once I actually did it, in fact, I got the concept down and made the cutter and steel work together in my own way…. remember, I’m not a metals guy, never have been but willing to learn anything I don’t already know how to do ….lots to learn with metals. Anyway, I think I will use a 3/8″ cutter on a 3/8″ bar and make a straight cutter, radius cutter tool and I will cut the bar with weld it so that the bar has the cutter and it has a 45 degree offset for doing hollowing on bowls and cups. Let me see if I can do a drawing or sketch and post it here, just can’t do a straight 45 degree ….so they saw. Maybe since they say that I’ll try it ๐Ÿ™‚ ***********

I found that the big carbide cutters at 5/8″ are good in some cicumstances and 3/8″ are better for others. The big cutters can be agressive if you are not careful, the smaller carbide cutting tools are nice when you can’t see inside your cup or bowl ….it isn’t as big and can be foriving when it comes to catches. I need to experiment with differnt angles…I could see where a 90 or 45 degree bar would have a good outcome…… because basically you’re in there cutting blind, you have to “feel” your way through the cut. In this case, starting with a smaller cutter makes more sense.

Recap For Woodturning Custom
Hardwood Tool Handles

So, if I didn’t paint a picture well enough. Here’s the gist of what I’m trying to do with handles.

You don’t need to use good dried lumber glued up or just squared up to turn a woodturning tool handle.

You can find limbs and branches from trees in your area, strip the bark and turn an awesome looking handle. The wood should be free and you can get it from any municpal dumping area for firewood and woodchips. Talk to some of your local tree services and tell them what you’re looking for, they’ll probably dump a truck load off in your driveway!

I think this week I’m going to turn anywhere from 15 to 20 limbs, branches, from 2″ to 4″. I’ll just get them to round, cylinder shape. Probably have to either seal the ends and/or place them in bags of shavings so they don’t crack up on me. I’m thinking it would be best to seal the edges with something good since I went through the hassle of harvesting the wood and turning it. Wax on the ends would work or “anchorseal” ********** would be better than just paint.

If I have 10 or 20 round blanks that are 20″ to 24″ in length, I could make any tool I need or want over the winter and into spring. It will save me some time. I like making the tools, but to start with shaping the metal and then finding a handle…. well, I cut out one step if I have handles ready.

So, I want to make a fluetless gouge.

Carbide Tipped WoodTurning Tools

I want to make about 4 more carbide tipped (insert) tools, each having a dedicated cutter. Right now if I want a square cutter on my carbide tool I have to take off the round cutter…. a big pain in the butt. So having a set of carbide cutters would be a big plus. If I had the cash I would definitely purchase a set of cabide tipped woodturing tools from Easy Wood Tools. I saw a set at the local Woodcraft Store and they were impressive looking. Big, big handles and big cutters. The cutters were mounted on some hefty steel bars. They might cost more than most, but from my experience, I can almost guarantee that anyone that is new and entering into woodturning will have some fantastic results when using these carbide tipped tools. In my opinion they are a place to start, but sooner or latter I can almost guarantee you will want to try some of the traditional woodturning tools, such as bowl gouges, big scrapers, small scrapers, spindle gouges, parting tools and every type of woodturning tool. For me, and may woodturners, it becomes addicting. You always want to see what you can turn, more complicated projects. Different finishes. How to use tradional tools. How to effectively use the carbide tipped tools, or more accurately the woodturning tools with carbide inserts. It doesn’t matter how you start, it matters “that” you start. There are many frustrations in woodturning and for most, it creates a challenge. I know that’s how it is for me. I think on one bowl I must have had 100 catches, that’s why I call myself “Catch”. I can’t believe my chinese tools didn’t snap in half ๐Ÿ™‚ ….every new project is a learning experience for me. And….maybe because I’m older, I can’t retain what I used to. I need to watch a tutorial a whole bunch of times and then go out and give it a shot. I even print out screenshots of how a gouge cuts into a bowl on the outside and on the inside.

I found that in most new approaches to woodturning you need to learn it good enough that you don’t have to think about it. Kind of like operating a backhoe, framing a house, drawing plans, runing plumbing, laying out for a foundation, setting forms or wiring an electrical service panel. You just do it, not a lot to think about. You learn the basics and then do the job….. same with woodturning. Understand how the tool cuts and then try to make it do what you know it can do.

I little aside here, I almost feel like carbide woodturning toolsย  are cheating, if only because they are so easy to use. I use them in circumstances where I am not sure or confident in my ability to use a traditional gouge, scaper or whatever. As long as you enter the spinning hunk of wood slowly you usually won’t get in much trouble. The most forgiving is the circle cutter, the next is the radius cutter and the square cutter has its place and can be very effective. but remember these are all mostly used as scrapers, thus tearing out the grain, leaving all those fuzzies. When you get brave, hold the carbide cutter at a 45 degree or so angle and actually slice the wood…. it will come out like a glass surface. It takes time, many catches but I enjoy learning how to use these new carbide tools and they are my go to tools when I’m a little freaked out. However, my goal is to learn how to use all the traditional woodturning tools, such as woodturning gouges and chisels.

Carbide tipped wood turning tools from Easy Wood Tools
Easy Wood Tools makes some of the best carbide tipped woodturing tools!
Whatever you do, do something!

Turning Wood is fun. It can be scarey and dangerous. Just remember, every time you turn a project you learn something. You carry that wisdom to the next project and it builds until you are turning all kinds of crazy stuff.

I had no idea woodturning would be so time consuming, so addictive and such a learning experience. I mention in other places that I’m pretty much a natural when it comes to anything construction related. I’m not bragging, its just the way it is …I seem to catch on fast.

Woodturning and being a woodturner has humbled me greatly. I’m surprised my lathe still works after stopping it so often with all my catches. My tools were terrible in the beginning. I’m fortunate that nothing has hit me in the head.

Somebody mentioned, “practice, practice” ….that is the only way you’ll learn how to turn wood. The more you turn the better you’ll get. The more open you are to different methods, tools and supplies… the better you’ll get.

Belive it or not, all I wanted to say and
encourage you to do is to……….

So….grab a tree branch. Turn a handle or two and make some tools. Of course you can make that tool handle into a little baseball bat and go into the self defence market.

You can find more articles on making your own woodturning tools at:

Turning Handles for Your Woodturning Tools
How to Make Your Own Carbide Tipped Woodturning Tools
Make Your Own Woodturning Tools

# How To Make A Woodturning Tool Handle
# Woodturning Tool Handle
# Woodturning Tool Handle Adapter
# Woodturning Tool Handle Design
# Woodturning Tool Handle Dimensions
# Woodturning Tool Handles Uk
# Woodturning Tools Without Handles
# Best Wood For Lathe Tool Handles
# Making Wood Lathe Tool Handles
# Wood Lathe Chisel Handles
# Wood Lathe Chisels Without Handles
# Wood Lathe Handles
# Wood Lathe Tap Handle
# Wood Lathe Tool Handles
# Wood Lathe Turning Handles
# Wood Turning Lathe Tool Handle

Using Construction Lumber for Turning Bowls and Cups

Wood Cup or Wood Bowl from
2×6 Construction Lumber

Most woodturners do not use construction lumber for woodturning.

However I saw some pretty cool projects turned from wood construction lumber. Basically, you can do bowls, cups, lamps and cylinders by gluing up pieces of 2×4 or 2×6 in alternating pieces. Just use wood glue, make sure each piece is square, say 3 1/2″ x 3 1/2″ and put the grain on each piece 90 degrees to each other.

This video shows the lumber glued together with the grain running the same way. I guess it really doesn’t make much of a difference except for the fact that the grain direction change is very obvious….. in my case, that is what I wanted.

Check out the video

The bowl is nicely shaped, a recess is cut into the bottom of the bowl. The bowl is sanded, looks great and a finish is put on before it gets turned around and chucked up in the scroll chuck and the bowl hollowed out.

Turning a wood bowl from
construction lumber #2

Turning a wood bowl from
construction lumber #3

The author uses Easy Tools carbide woodturning tools to turn this bowl made of construction lumber. This is really an easy project for the new turner, you can easily glue up the construction lumber, and if you have a set of carbide wood turning tools ….you can safetly and easily turn this bowl. That’s not to say that traditional bowl gouges and scapers won’t work, it’s just that the carbide tools can be a little more forgiving.

I use a carbide tool that I made. It has a circle cutter on it but I can put a square cutter either in the flat mode or in a diagonal mode. I found I mostly use the circle cutter. If I have a piece of wood that is spinning a little wildly or I’m just chicken to stick my bowl gouge into it, I’ll grab the carbide tool. I really like it and I know many of you would just like to purchase one, it takes time and a little talent…. Click here for a nice Easy Tool with circle cutter.

My 2×6 Construction
Lumber Wood Cup Project

This set of videos inspired me to give it a shot. I really liked the look of 2x material used for bowls and cups. They would make perfect gifts for those in the construction business.

using 2x6\'s to turn a wood cup
2×6 wood turned cup


Oak Burl Woodturning Project

Wood Bowl from Oak Burl
Woodturning Project

Another piece of oak saved from the firewood pile.

I thought I could get some nice slabs or even make a couple of book ends or something out of this but the woodturning part of me got the best of it.

oak burl woodturning project

Roughing Out the Bowl Blank

I drew a 12″ circle on the piece with the big hump in the middle. And then I roughed out the circle on the bandsaw….very rough!

oak burl woodturning project

I found what I thought was a center and ended up using my Nova Scroll chuck with the woodworm screw and the far side tailstock. It was rough going at first but it settled down after I started putting some shape to it. I was using my Sorby 1/2″ Bowl Gouge and it cut the oak like butter.

Cut A Tenon For Nova Scroll Chuck

I worked the far side and formed a tenon, I decided this would be the top of the bowl since the side that was mounted in the chuck needed a lot taken off the be shaped properly. Everything going good so far.turning a tenon for supernova 2 scroll chuck

I haven’t used a woodworm screw method of attachment with the Nova 2 Scroll Chuck much, in fact I only tried it once before. I was surprised by the fact that it held tight and did not strip out. I tried it with the tailstock against the piece at first but then pulled it out to cut the tenon on the back of the oak burl blank.


After the tenon was shaped I flipped over to the back by the chuck and started shaping the bottom of the bowl. Everthing was going good, the bowl was taking shape ….it wasn’t going to be as big as I wanted but I still might get 10″ out of it on the outside top of the bowl.

Roughing Out the Bottom
Of The Oak Burl Bowl

I did some more roughing on the bottom and the shape was coming along well, I stopped to check it out because I noticed a grabbing feeling. I was using my DIY 5/8″ circle carbide cutter to rough now, it worked great ….in fact it works much better with the circular cutter than with the square cutter. I made the tool using 5/8 x 5/8 square bar and it allows me to extend it quite far beyond the tool rest, also absorbs a lot of shock. Carbide turning tools are more forgiving than traditional woodturning tools and when I’m a little unsure of sticking my nice Sorby bowl gouge into a oddly shaped rotating piece of oak….. I use my go to carbide woodturning tools. If you haven’t tried these types of tools and you are new to woodturning, they can really boost your confidence.


Oh, Oh! ….A Great
Big Hollow Knot

Anyway, I noticed a big ole knot, actually a hole that makes the whole piece look like it is hollow on the inside. Pretty much a piece of firewood now.filling oak burl with alumilite

But then I came up with an idea, not sure if I will follow through or if its worth the effort.

The piece is hollow enough that I might be able to fill it with epoxy …something like alumilite. I heard of someone using alumilite with coffee grounds. Not sure if I want to invest the money or time ….will put it on hold for now.

Turning An Oak Salad Bowl on Your Wood Lathe

Turning An Oak Salad Bowl

I can’t imagine trying to learn how to turn wood 10 years or so ago. You would have to go to a class, be a member in a woodturning club or just poke and hope for your woodturning lessons!

Fortunately, today we have youtube and other woodturning sites to go to and watch videos about woodturning, learn how to use woodturning tools and find out where to get woodturning tools and supplies.

Learning How to
Turn Wood From Youtube

You can go to youtube and search for the type of project you want to do and find a 100 videos about that woodturing project!

As I journey through my woodturning experience, I hope to categorize videos and lessons on how to turn wood, what projects you might do and where to find to best woodturning supplies and tools.

Learn woodturning from the best of the best!

woodturning an oak salad bowl
quick way to turn an oak salad bowl

Sure, you can do this on your own but I’m hoping that you stumble on my blog and find the information I share worth your time, I hope to save you time by giving you the best of the best. Let’s face it, everyone with a phone now has a camera and can take and post videos about their woodturning experiences. Sometimes these aren’t the best and will waste your time.

I look for unique projects along with detailed videos that show you technique and methods that will help you turn your woodlathe projects.

Today I stumbled on a simple video, the guy turns an oak bowl in a matter of minutes. The camera work is pretty good, you can see the tools used and how they are used and he cranks out an oak bowl in a matter of minutes. I don’t think the time was sped up. He uses sunflower oil and grapeseed oil. He also uses a handful of shavings to burnish the oil into the wood ….pretty interesting and I’ve never seen this approach.

As far as tools go, he starts with a quarter sawn oak blank. Then it looks like a bowl gouge with a modified fingernal grind and finishes with a large round edge scraper to create a very nice Oak Salad Bowl. Then he sands down to 220 or so and applies the oil.

I think its 8 minutes or so but it is encouraging because you can see how easy this becomes after some practice ….well, maybe a lot of practice. I think he said he’s been turing for 10 years. But, he’s perfected a techinque over 10 years and you can benefit from the technique and start producing oak salad bowls like his in no time!

Here’s some of the comments I found interesting:

that was awesome! I am assuming the wood was dry?
That’s beautiful, both bowl and turning techniques. The base recess seems shallow, how deep is it? how can it hold so steady and safe?
Thank you ๐Ÿ™‚ Although I never measure the depth of the recess I’d say it is usually around 4-6 mm. The reason it is intentionally shallow is that the deeper the recess the thicker the base of the piece must be to accommodate it. I like to have relatively thin walls to keep my bowls nice and light in weight. Having been turning for over 10 years I have had plenty of opportunity to experiment with different depths of recess and in all that time having work fall off the lathe due to a failure of the recess is extremely rare. When it does happen it is almost exclusively with cherry, which is noticeably more brittle than most of the other woods I use. Keeping the piece stable is also achieved by not pushing too hard with your gouges/scrapers, for which they need to be kept nice and sharp, and also by supporting the edge of the piece with your fingers when performing the finishing cuts.
what is that you put on with the brush? does it seal it in any way? and what’s the idea behind using the sawdust I’ve never seen that bowl looks awesome
Thanks ๐Ÿ™‚ The ‘finish’ I use does not seal the wood in any way, it is just there to bring out the grain and show a potential customer how the piece will look when it gets wet (ie, when they put their dinner on it or wash it afterwards). As stated in the description, this bowl is coated with sunflower oil, though I have recently started using grape seed oil instead. The handful of shavings I use to burnish the piece once it has been oiled. I find the shavings are a great way of generating a bit of friction which puts a nice shine on the wood and they remove any excess oil at the same time. Because timber is naturally anti-bacterial, and I only use species which are non-toxic and have a history of use as tableware, I don’t feel there is any need to seal the timber to protect the food from the wood. Likewise, I don’t eat foods which are highly toxic, so there is no need to seal the wood to protect it from the food. In time, each piece will of course change colour and take on its own unique patina from daily usage. It is precisely this which makes wood such a wonderful material to use ๐Ÿ™‚
What do you use to get the sharpness on your chisel?
I have a Tormek water cooled grindstone that I use to do all of my sharpening. It only takes 1-2 passes of the chisel over the stone to restore it’s sharpness as I go to the stone as soon as the edge begins to dull. With softer woods like oak and sycamore I will be resharpening every 4-6 bowls whereas on harder woods like cherry and ash they need resharpening every 2-4 bowls. I also use a high speed grinder occasionally, though mostly for re-profiling rather than sharpening.
Nice. How fast was that turning?
Thanks James. I’ve lost the sticker that tells me the lathe speed but it is the top speed for the lathe. From memory the speeds were 450, 950 and 2000 rpm but I can’t be certain. The lathe doesn’t produce much torque and on the slower speeds it just stops spinning if I take a decent cut, but by running it this fast I can overcome that problem.

 

Build Your Own Steady Rest Or Buy A Steady Rest

Build Your Own Steady Rest
Or Buy A Steady Rest

Ok ….what the heck is a steady rest?

A steady rest is a device that attaches to your lathe bed and helps to stablize a long piece for turning or a bowl or vase.

Let’s say you have a 30 inch x 1″ broom handle you want to turn some decoration in. If you place that broom handle between centers, and you try to turn something in the center of the piece it will start to vibrate and actually bend away from your turning gouge.

steady rest for long lathe projects
a steady rest centers and stablizes a project as it turns on a wood lathe

On the other hand you might have a vase or other shape you want to hollow out and it is in your chuck but not reinforced by the tail stock on the other end. If the turning project starts to wobble and lose its center you will need a “steady rest” to keep the turning project running “true”.

As with so many other things “woodturning related” I really didn’t know when or if I would ever need a “steady rest“. As it would happen I found myself in need of a steady rest and thought I would just buy one. Holy cow…those things are expensive. If you want to buy one, Rockler has a nice one Click Here

Steady Rest From Rockler
You can always buy a steady rest from Rockler if you have some extra cash!

I Really Needed A Steady Rest

Here’s what happened.

One of my friends is a contractor who needed some stair balasters or stairย  spindles duplicated.

Although I’ve turned some handles, candle stick holders and lamps ….I really never did anything long like a stair spindle, balaster or newel. So, I told him …”NO problem, I can crank out those stair balasters for you!”

Well, first I needed some oak. The base of the stair newel was, at it’s biggest 1 1/4″ X 1 1/4″ square.

Oak Ripped for Stair Spindles

I found some clear oak 2x6x4′ at Menards, the stair spindles I needed to duplicate were 33 inches, so I ripped 3 pieces that I needed on my Jet table saw that now has a rusted top because my roof leaked because the insurance company and building department are a nightmare to work with…..but that’s another story!

Next I mounted them on the wood lathe between centers and started working on the tapered rounded part. Since my chinese tool set did not come with a roughing gouge, I had to use what they called a spindle gouge….. that was a big mistake because it almost ripped the piece from the lathe.

Rounding the Square Stock
for the New Spindle

So I tried to knock the corners off and round it out with my custom carbide insert tool.

That worked pretty good, but it mostly scraped and I tried every tool I had. The spindle vibrated and bounced, there was no way I was going to turn that spindle without some additonal support.

Youtube For Learning How to Turn Wood

Next I turned to my favorite place to learn someย  woodturning lessons…. youtube! After a while I thought a steady rest would solve my problems and there were plenty of tutorials on how to build a steady rest ….man, I just didn’t have the time to do that…..but I seriously considered making a steady rest!

I found a bunch of tutorials on how to make your own “steady rest” a device that provides additonal support for turned projects, whether it be a balaster, broom stick, spindle or vase. The additonal support helps you to make clean cuts and proper coves and beads as needed in your project….or in my case just to taper the spindle.

Rockler Steady REst
steady reast stabalizes a turning project, could be a vase bowl or spindle

The problem I was having was once I got in the middle of the spindle and tried to reduce the diameter, you could see the spindle being pushed out, I was actually afraid it would break or come off the live centers.

Should I build a steady rest? Really didn’t have the cash to buy one …check out these steady rest plans and watch the video

 

I saw it on Rockler Woodworking and Hardware

Lathe Steady Rest Downloadable Plan โ€” $7.95

Here’s an innovative, adjustable rest for holding spindles steady. It just may give those dusty, discarded in-line skates a second shot at useful life-in the shop!

Building A Steady Rest

I don’t have time to build a steady rest right now but I think I will in the very near future! You can get a set of plans on how to build a steady rest from Rockler click on Steady Rest Plans.

And you should watch the video below from someone who I have followed for a while on youtube, his name is Stephen Ogle, click on his name for the youtube channel he has lots of good stuff. Watch Stephen’s video below, as he shows how to build a very nice “steady rest“, however I would change the wooden wheels for some roller skate wheels, I think it would be a little easier on the project you are turning, a little cheaper and a lot faster! Anyway, check out his video, he goes into great detail …if not pick up the rockler plans.

 

Steady Rest Or Better Tools?

Well….

I didn’t have time to build a steady rest and I wasn’t going to buy one!

I thought if I had a couple of better tools I might be able to pull this off. I did some searching online and found a new Woodcraft store in my area and took a fast trip to the new store. I purchased a 3/8 spindle gouge (blade only) and a 1/2″ bowl gouge with a fingernail grind from Sorby. I really wanted to get some other tools online but I needed to get this done now!

I’ve read that a good 1/2″ bowl gouge with a fingernail grind can be used for many things including turning spindles.

I was shocked at how good these tools cut the red oak blank. The finish was perfect and I didn’t even sharpen them yet! I really wanted to get a 5/8 bowl gouge from D-Way, Carter or Thompson but the 1/2″ Sorby will have to do, it definitely is a step up from the crappy tools I’ve been using.

3/4" Bowl Gouge "U" Shaped. 12" x .760--- With 5/8" Tang
D-way’s 3/4″ Bowl Gouge has a “U” shaped flute. An excellent gouge for roughing, and with the full radius flute it makes a great shearing cut for finishing the inside of bowls and platters.

This is a wood eater

I WANT ONE !!!!!

I’m retired (not by choice), actually on disability so my income is below poverty at this point. Otherwise I would probably have 2 or 3 of every tool I needed or thought I needed!

Make Money Turning Stair Spindles?

However, I planned on supplementing my income with some of my bowl turnings amongst other things. A little job like turning some stair spindles could bring some extra bucks but what couild I really charge for 3 spindles? If you were able to buy them from some of the big box stores they might cost anywhere from between $5 and $10 each for an oak stair balaster or spindle.

My friend’s problem was that he was unable to find the profile he needed to replace 3 stair balasters. So he needed someone to custom turn the stair spindles to match the profile he had.

It cost me $40 bucks for the oak, $32 dollars for a 3/8 spindle gouge, and $98 dollars for a 1/2″ bowl gouge. So, what do I charge him for 3 spindles….it would be nice if I could get $40+$32+$98= $170 !

That doesn’t even include my time, figure at least 2 hours a balaster, that’s 3 balasters …so a total of 6 hours at 40 bucks an hour equals $240.

So, I have $170 + $240 = $410 into a stair spindle project. Ha, ha ….what a joke. I’ll never get that and wouldn’t try…..I might as well go put them in for him too ๐Ÿ™‚

Do you think I could get 400 bucks for 3 custom balasters? …..Ha, ha ….I’d be luck to get 100 bucks….if I do it will go toward my collection of tools and experience.

Next time I will use a steady rest and hopefully have a few more good quality tools.

It’s all a learning experience!

Take a Look At These Steady Rest Videos

Woodturning A Wood Sink with Expoxy Finish

Did you ever think you might want a wood sink, that is a wooden sink in your bathroom or kitchen? Wooden sinks seem to be the rage these days and as wood turners, if you have a big enough lathe you can make your own wood sink!turning a wood sink

Most wood sinks will set on top of a vanity, although with a little bit of thought and engineering you could drop them in a top by simply turning an edge on the top of the sink that would hold it up.

Woodturning a Sink on a Laguna LatheSimon from SG Art Turning does an excellent job at turning a sink from a big piece of maple, it was somewhat spalted and as usual you never know what a piece of wood is going to look like until you open it up. This one was beautiful

turning the outside of a wood sinkSimon takes you from turning this piece of wood to finishing and installing a pop up drain …..ready for a sink. He is using a Laguna 18|36 Wood Lathe and is waiting for his new Laguna Revo 24|36 Lathe ….and I can say I am jealous and coveting my neighbor because that is one awesome lathe, they both are but he will be able to turn 24″ projects with ease on the new Laguna Lathe!

Watch the video below, I know you’ll enjoy it. Just one more idea for your woodturing projects.

Watch in full screen by “double clicking the video” or try “Ctrl F” and you can watch it in full screen!

Wood Turning My Second Wood Bowl

I really wish I documented my first wood turning bowl!

I grabbed a piece of willow that was laying in the river for 10 years or more, surprisingly it dried quickly and I was able to turn it. It was soft, there were many spots that were almost rotten, however, I still turned it and my wife has it on the table with some apples in it ๐Ÿ™‚

my first wood bowl
My First Turned Wood Bowl from a Piece of a Willow Tree

I finished the bowl with mineral spirits from rockler.com, although I could have gotten the finish cheaper elsewhere, I wanted to make sure the finish was safe to put food into.

Now my second bowl was from the wood pile that was destined to be firewood. I’m almost positive it’s a piece of ash, it’s very hard and very difficult to shape…. although that could just be because I have a Harbor Freight Lathe ๐Ÿ™‚ It had a diameter of 11″ or so, it was perfect for my harbor freight lathe.

My Second Wood Bowl with Recess for Nova Chuck
My Second Wood Bowl with Recess for Nova Chuck

This is really the first time I started a bowl or any wood turning project and had my Nova Chuck, I wasn’t sure if I should make a tennon or make a recess. I ended up making a recess on the bottom of the bowl for the Nova chuck jaws, first I cleaned up the end of the log and then I flattened it.

I had some cracks and checks. Just mixed up some CA glue with wood shavings and also used some plain ole wood glue with wood shavings. Basically, you stuff the crack or hole with wood shaveings or sawdust and squirt some CA into it or you can use plain ole wood glue, but remember both will take on a different color when you apply a finish to the project. You just need to experiment to see what works best for you. Most wood turners seem to be using CA or an Expoxy mixed with the wood shavings. You can look up more on the subject and also search for “stablizing wood” you’ll get a good idea on how to use the different glues and expoxies on your wood turning projects. Did you know that you can use CA glue for a finsh? I need to find a good supplier for CA (superglue) glue in a larger container. I ended up getting small tubes and they always dry up or harden if not used right away.

I suppose I should tell you how I started.

I grabbed the ash log, it had a diameter of 12″ and I cut it to length of 12″. Then I cut the log in half, thru the center of the log.

I wanted to mount my face plate on the outside (bark side) of the log so I flattened that area of the log by running it through the band saw, the other bowl project I just used a chain saw. Next I flipped the log over and traced a circle from the faceplate side and cut the circle out using the band saw. It was a rough circle and I’ve watched some guys just mount the log without rounding the corners …..looked a little to dangerous that way so I wanted to round it off first.

Creating a wood bowl from ash log
Prepared Ash log blank to be turned into a wood bowl

I mounted the faceplate with attached log, pushed my live center into the log and started turning. You can see by the image what I had and how it was working. So far so good, I like the shape, I’ve been sharpening my tools by hand, I haven’t had the time to set up my oneway grinding/sharpening guide. I really need to do that because I want to see what these tools can do before I invest in anything expensive or I try some of the carbide tipped tools I plan on making.

All I can say is this that wood turning is a log of fun, very addicting! Already I wish I had a lathe with a little more power ๐Ÿ™‚ The harbor freight

Laguna Revo 13\36 wood lathe
This Laguna Revo Wood Lathe wreaks of quality, gonn be my next purchase!

has turned some of the softer woods very easily, but this dry ash is really tough on the lathe. I was thinking of a Laguna or Nova Wood Lathe, several guys have these and love em!

For instance if you’re looking for a new lathe check out some of these features. I have a couple of other Laguna power tools and really like them.

The Revo 18|36 Lathe from Laguna combines power, precision and advanced features, resulting in a turning experience like no other. The lathe features a polished steel bed for the utmost in strength and stability, and the smoothest possible movement of the headstock, tailstock and tool rest. A full 18” of outboard capacity allows you to turn large bowls, while 36” of inboard capacity lets you turn long spindles, table legs and island legs. The lathe is powered by a unique motor that converts a 1-phase input to a 3-phase output. This 3-phase output delivers smooth, even power, even when the lathe is under heavy loads. It also provides infinitely variable speed within the two general speed ranges without sacrificing power or torque at lower RPMs. The anodized aluminum control panel is exquisitely designed, and angled for easy visibility and accessibility to all knobs. It features a large blue-hued digital read-out that gives you precise RPM readouts at all times, and easy adjustments with the comfortable rubber-coated knob.

Second bowl for me, a lot less tears, less gouges and a lot less tear outs! I used my Woodstock Bowl Gouge and 1″ scraper for most of it so far. I also used the skew to create the recess for the Nova Chuck.

I think I’ll make up some of Cap’n Eddie’s OB Shine Juice for a finish. One thing I didn’t think of is how do I deal with the insert hole for the Nova Chuck Jaws? I know with a tennon I can just cut it off, but not sure how to deal with a hole in the bottom of my bowl….. guess I’ll have to do a little research!

Maybe I’ll shoot some video of turning and finishing this bowl. I will post some pics of how it turns out and will try to do a sequence. My wife thinks they are beautiful, all I see are the imperfections …..I could easily throw them away. Oh…I need to tell you about the cup I made from gluing up about 5 2×6’s …. looks really cool!

keep your eyes peeled for different sources of free wood
Every township, city or county cleans up after storms, just ask if you can pick thru the wood…. free wood for wood turning projects.

And…. I have another project in mind. I was driving past a local city landfill…. organic stuff, and I found some pine with a 8 to 10 inch diameter. I have a lamp project in mind!

You gotta keep you eyes open for downed wood, cable, electric and phone line guys are always around keeping the right away clear for their lines…. an excellent place to pick up enough wood to turn for a whole year!

I did a post on how and where to find free wood for your turning projects. Not quite done with it, but I think it will help some of you guys out. Will try to get that stuff posted in the next week of so.

Until then….. happy wood turning!!!