The story so far ...

[bigfish]

Well, after my session at the Woodcraft Guild last night, I decided to carry on with my first ever "major" turning exercise (I've otherwise made 2 pens so far).

A couple of slips when attempting to dovetail the base so I could reverse it to do the inside have resukted in a couple of nasty gouges. There are toolmarks to be seen in many (most?) places and its not a particularly graceful shape - but its mine!

I whacked a bit of shellawax on to see what happened - wow! What a beautiful bit of timber emerged! Quite silvery and irridescent between darker patches.

The task for tomorrow is to start on the inside, without destroying what will be a quite thin rim (perhaps a little too thin for a rank beginner).

I will admit that there is a very large pile of shavings associated with what is left.

Anyway, here is where I am now. Please be gentle :B

Cheers,
Alan

[bigfish]

As an adjunct to my post above, you will note that there are a couple of places where the rim has chipped away. This actually happened when I was putting the shellawax on and the paper towel grabbed a splinter or two.

Given that the rim at the edge is not much more than a millimetre thick, how do I go about turning it down (diameter-wise) to regain a clean edge?

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Good onya! :2tsup:

One minor suggestion: that wood does, indeed, look like it has nice grain. If I were you I'd remove all the "lumps 'n bumps" and give it a smooth, continuous curve to show off the grain. (Beads 'n coves 'n the like should be reserved for really plain timbers that need a bit of detail to be added.)

And a smooth curve is much easier to bring to a nice finish. :wink:


Given that the rim at the edge is not much more than a millimetre thick, how do I go about turning it down (diameter-wise) to regain a clean edge?

A mm thick? Very, very carefully. :D

Personally, instead of trying to turn it down I'd use the point of a skew chisel held on it's side to scribe a line a cm or so in, using my fingers as support on the other side to prevent/control any flex, and "seperate off" the outside ring.

Another option is to lightly pinch the rim between thump & forefinger to control flex (but not tight enough to break the rim or burn your fingers :rolleyes:) and then very, very gently sand the rim down with a sanding block.

(Don't just sand with paper on your fingers as that'll end with an ovalled rim. Trust me on this. :-)

[Ed Reiss]

What Skew said:aro-u::aro-u::aro-u::aro-u:

Alan...your doing good for a first effort:2tsup:plus learning from any mistakes...in my book that's the best way to learn and gain experience:U

Be looking forward to a pic of the finished product!

[Ad de Crom]

I agree with what Ed said.

Ad :2tsup:

[Manuka Jock]

Yep , what they said Alan .
Good finish there , what wood is it ?

[robyn2839]

good job so far ,just a suggestion,i would make my dovetail a little straighter on the sides an easy way to do this is to put your toolrest against the dovetail base and use a scew chisel on its side to straighten the dovetail, hope this makes sense............bob

[Rum Pig]

Good on you for having a go:2tsup::2tsup:

I agree with what they have said:aro-u::aro-u::)

but as long as you are having fun just go for, if make a mistake you just get a smaller bowl. My first bowl with all it faults is still my favourite.

[Calm]

What they have said is what will realy bring out the best of the timber

BUT

if you like the shape then keep it, I have a bowl that looks like a "potty" but it is the shape i wanted when i was making it. If you are keeping it then the shape doesnt matter.

With the rim - what skew said - another tip is when sanding keep the "corners" square, dont sand them round this is definitely a no-no.

What is the timber, did you sand to, and what is the finish.

Cheers and welcome to the addiction.

[bigfish]

Firstly,

Thanks for the encouragement, it is much appreciated.

The gouges on the bottom were a bit devastating - they resulted from an attempt to change the shape of the dovetail. Sometimes one should leave well enough alone!

The shape is the result of *trying* to get a smooth curve - more practice needed - I can't yet turn a consistent radius curve, nor can I turn a true straight - I tend to overturn in the middle with a resultant swayback profile.

I am hoping to reverse it tonight and start on the inside, which should be interesting as my introduction the other night did not extend that far!

As far as the wood goes, I really have no idea - but it sort of fits with my memory of maple. It was a pale yellowish colour with very little evidence of any grain at all.

Cheers,
Alan

[Tornatus]

Good to see that you kept practising as advised, mate!

Nevertheless, you might want to hold off on hollowing out the inside until the next Guild Saturday turning session on 25 October, when there will be plenty of assistance on hand - it's a different proposition to doing the outside. Or if you're really keen, you can drop in to the Shed next Tuesday or Thursday during the day.

BTW, the wood is what we have nicknamed "Cemetery Cypress" - it was recovered from several large Mexican Cypress (Taxodium mucronatum), which had been blown down in a windstorm that cut through the Woden Cemetery a couple of years ago. It turns well, and can reveal some very attractive figure despite being fairly bland overall.