Thin Turning

[John Thuijs]

My father (who wont go near a computer) is having a competition with his woodturning group to see who can turn the thinnest bowl or platter. What would be the best wood to use for this project? Any hints on the best way to turn and finish a very thin bowl or platter?

[powderpost]

I found that semi-dry citrus fruit tree very good for fine turning. Had a goblet thin enough to see movement through the walls without special lighting. That one was from lemon tree wood.
Jim

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Turn it green. :)

[OGYT]

Here in the up over they use Norfolk Island Pine, and turn it so transparently thin a light will shine through it. I've never tried it, but I'd like to someday when I learn to sharpen tools right, and have an eight-wheel bowl steady.... :D
Don't know if you can get that sort of timber down under, but some other kinda pine might work pretty thing... dunno, tho'.

[JackoH]

Where did Norfolk Island Pine come from?

[weisyboy]

Where did Norfolk Island Pine come from?


norfok island

[rsser]

Plenty of NIP in Oz. Major ornamental. Good turning; big sizes.

If you're lucky you'll get green and pink stain; then soak in poly once turned - sposed to go translucent.

[rowie]

when the wood is wet it is more elastic, and easier to turn to very thin walls. the wetter, the better.use a light to check for even wall thickness, and once you have a nice finish/curve on the inside, you may need to take the last few cuts from the outside, much easier, less dig ins. forget the platter, easier to turn a curve than a large flat area.

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

A member of our club (one of the better turners, IMHO the best) recently brought in some small examples of holly turned paper thin. Turned green, apparently it moves a LOT as it dries... which is very, very quickly at that thickness. ie. finish the session quickly, else you have to start over from scratch.

One of the pieces he brought in was unfinished because of such movement, howver both pieces were so thin it was like handling popadoms. Almost weightless and I felt as though the slightest mishandling and "good-bye Holly." Impressive stuff...

No matter what wood you use though... I stand by my statement that you want to turn it green! Rowie's spot on about making the final thicknessing cuts from outside, too.

[TTIT]

when the wood is wet it is more elastic, and easier to turn to very thin walls. the wetter, the better.use a light to check for even wall thickness, and once you have a nice finish/curve on the inside, you may need to take the last few cuts from the outside, much easier, less dig ins. forget the platter, easier to turn a curve than a large flat area.



No matter what wood you use though... I stand by my statement that you want to turn it green! Rowie's spot on about making the final thicknessing cuts from outside, too.

Bit bloody late fellas! Seeing this thread today got me itchin' so I tackled a piece of dry :o Bitter bark tonight to see how low I could go. Stopped cutting the inside :o at about 1mm and finished up as thin as 0.5mm after sanding - thin enough for me thanks. The hardest part was finishing the foot - too flimsy for even the Longworth to hold - ended up with a very gentle fitting jam chuck and the finest of cuts. Anyway, IF I have another go at it, I might try green wood and making the last cuts on the outside!!!!:rolleyes:;):D

[WoodNerd]

did you have any probs with the thing flexing?, did you put it in a steady?
because i can see a bit of chatter on the far side. it could be just nothing though.

[Jigger]

Houn pine may also do

[DJ’s Timber]

Good job Vern, you pull that one off well

[rsser]

Fine work Vern.

Yep, Huon is good for thin and dry. Did my thinnest wall bowl ever with it and gave it away when I thought my work wasn't good enough to sell. Don't regret giving it away; do regret that the recipient didn't really know what they were getting. Live and learn.

I did once green-turn a big lump of timber drawn from a pile on a nature strip. Exotic at a guess, off white, fibrous (but not Ash): so thin the whole piece started to twist around the chuck mount. This was just a*se not class; didn't know what I was doing at the time ;-}

Tried to finish it by using NC sanding sealer and steel wool. Lol. Really didn't know what I was doing!

[TTIT]

did you have any probs with the thing flexing?, did you put it in a steady?
because i can see a bit of chatter on the far side. it could be just nothing though.Actually it was more like the cry of a banshee than chatter!:eek: Such a high frequency that it looked like fine tearout and sanded away pretty easy. Had I seen the other guy's advice in time I might have avoided it!:o :D

[Don Nethercott]

Jacaranda is very easy to turn thin either wet or dry, although wet is easier. Fairly stable timber, does warp but not too fast. Don't leave to next day.

By wet I mean only a couple of days since felling - BUT - wear a raincoat!!

Don

[John Thuijs]

Thanks guys for all the advice. Now I just have to drag my dad to the computer to read it all. Probably end up printing it out for him to read.:rolleyes:

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Dunno how I missed your pix, Vern, but better lathe than never. :) From the looks you got a very nice consistency of thickness, a damned good job!

Finishing cuts from the outside may be easier but it's obviously not the only way. Any way that works is good. ;)