I guess it was going to happen one day.

[Durdge39]

I turned my first bowl. I've never really gotten into the turning side of things with wood due to a lack of equipment - a lathe that overheats after 20 minutes of use, a rather basic set of Nev-R-Sharp carbon steel chisels and a couple of faceplates.

We've moved house and with it gained a new, bigger shed and have been organising it these past months. While setting the lathe in its new home and finding a home for the chisels I decided it was time to have another go, and a bowl was on the agenda.

150x40mm approx, made from PNG Teak and finished with shellac. Turned primarily using a round-nose scraper while juggling it between various sacrificial mounting plates and set-ups. I always enjoy trying something new - you soon learn from little mistakes you might make, and gain some experience to be applied elsewhere in the craft.

I enjoy the idea of bowls, they can serve quite a bit more function than some other turned objects, so I'll definitely be looking more towards a chuck in the near future to save myself some serious time when turning any more.
247867
247868

[ian thorn]

looks good if thats your first you are on to it join a club if theres one handy they will give you lots of help ,looking forward to seeing your next one

Ian

[Christos]

I think it is a great effort. Well done.

[Jonzjob]

That's a cracker mate and a good finish too.

One point to watch with teak is that the dust is not good news for you. When I am working with any of those types of wood, iroko/teak/etc I always use a positive pressure face mask otherwise I finish up with a sore nose and eyes..

You say that your lathe overheats? What lathe do you have and what is overheating?

[powderpost]

Nice bowl. :2tsup:
Jim

[artme]

Like that! good shape, good finish and darned nice timber!! :2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

[Durdge39]

Thanks for the encouraging comments chaps, much appreciated!

John, it's an old Durden L500 lathe. Made sometime in the 70's and while not a total budget model in its day, it was, and still is far from an impressive machine. Pressed steel bed, slight alignment issues and the rest of the little things one will encounter. The motor is a 1hp, single phase induction motor that came with it as standard. There is a small control box with a circuit breaker, and the on/off switch on top of the motor itself which is likely the cause of the trouble - as the breaker gets hot it may make it more prone to firing(?). Combine that with the fact that it's an old and tired unit and you've got yourself a good boat anchor. One day I'll upgrade the entire lathe rather than spending any cash fiddling around with what is essentially a money sink.

Again, thanks for the comments, time to hunt around my stash for something else to turn into a pile of shaving on the floor :;

[dr4g0nfly]

Ah-ha...

another one caught by the turning bug!

Nice teak bowl and a good finish for a first go, well done.

[Jonzjob]

If the breaker is getting hot it would be well worth having a look for a loose connection on it. If it gets realy hot there is a possibility of it catching fire?

Once again, I really like that bowl. Ideal for keeping yer knuts in :D :D

The lathe doesn't look too bad and there's on up for grabs in Sydney for 280$. Not too sure if he will get it though :no:

[Durdge39]

Luckily the breaker box is way out in the open along with the motor, so little chance of a fire, luckily :D Must admit that a loose or shoddy connection was not something I'd thought of - so thank you. I'll have a bit of a looksie into it once the weather decides to cool off a tad :~

And $280? "Tell him he's dreamin'" :D

Cheers, Tom.

[Jonzjob]

If you ask nicely you can have some of our cool if you wish? About 4ºC at the mo with a bruddy cold wind!!!

At the price he's asking he has got his head in some form of cloud, probably not a legal one either?:o