A few Roughs

[Little Festo]

I had a "roughing challenge" with my mate Jeff the other day. I had three medium sized small leafed Fig logs at the front drive way for about six months that need to be worked on. We decided to prep some blanks and rough them before they became too stained with mold etc. They were painted with Borax so there weren't too many borer holes, just a few on one end.

We got sixteen medium to small blanks. Young Jeff had a mishap with one, managed to "damage' the tenon but a bit of glue will fix that. You know what Kiwis are like with big chisels and a few horsepower :U!!

There was quite a bit of spault and some blue also but the pieces will look interesting. The blue/grey approaches a black oe dark grey and can look quite good. Some of the blanks look very promising with interesting colour.

They were painted with a endgrain sealer. The sealer I got this time is quite different from my last lot, it's really quite "pastey" almost like whipped cream in consistency. They were painted inside and out. The fig can be a bit splitty.

Also in the photo are a couple of Red Cedar and a largish She Oak (approx 450mm diameter) roughs. The She Oak was from a neighbour, managed to get almost all of the tree. Most of it was slabbed and the slabs look pretty good. Some splitting but not bad at all, some complete slabs with no splitting at all. (Also slabbed some larger Figs as well and it looks very good too.)

I had a few pieces of the She Oak (Eastern) ready to turn but some cracks were forming so I used the piece, I made the rough from, for some fill on the boundary fence fire break. A lot of my off cuts go there as the slope is quite bad. Any way a 4-5 months back I had to move the block of wood and noticed it wasn't too bad so I took it back to the shed where it got buried in a sawdust pile. I saw it last week and decided I should rough it before it got too damaged. It has displayed quite a lot of spault too and should be a nice piece when finished.

Oh almost forgot, Jeff's roughs are the small stack at the top left but to be fair his finish is better, the Vicmac has a horspower less than the Stubby, I have a bigger gouge AND he's only been turning for about six months.:D

Also included a few photos of a Bunya pine pot I've been working on. It's finally dry enough for finishing. It developed a few cracks that i filled with Ebony shavings and CA glue. I ran out of Ebony so I used some coffee grounds, couldnt tell the difference when finished. It's quite a big piece, about 700mm high and 460mm in diameter. As you can see from the end photo there are some Knots at the bottom, made for a bit of difficulty due to the hardness of the konts. I used the Rolly Munroe to hollow out the deeper section of the pot, worked ok but was a bit of hard work. It was impossible to use a gouge. It's had a few coats of Ubeaut blonde dewaxed shellac and several coats of oil, more oiling then a final buffing with Ubeaut Wax. The inside needs quite a bit of work, still a bit rough.


Hope you all have a great turning week end - Peter

[rsser]

Good haul Peter.

And nice work getting the branch 'petals' at the bottom of the Bunya.

Are you using the Munro with a toolgate?

[Sawdust Maker]

great day's work
like the bunya :2tsup:

[tea lady]

:cool: So thats what I can do with my NIP logs with the branches near the end rather than in the middle.:2tsup: Nice bunch o' fig bowls too.

[Little Festo]

Good haul Peter.

And nice work getting the branch 'petals' at the bottom of the Bunya.

Are you using the Munro with a toolgate?

No Ern, just the tool rest. Just under the arm pit so to speak. I don't think I'll ever do that again with the deeper pots though, the branch petals. It's not too bad if I can get a gouge into there but with the lack of support it's a bit tricky.

Peter

[Hardenfast]

Nice score Peter. I too particularly like the look of that Bunya vessel - nicely turned to a fine even thickness. I'm also impressed that you managed to slab the Oak without too much splitting. All of my efforts in cutting & drying She Oak have resulted in pieces that split virtually all the way through.

By the way Ern, what's a toolgate? I have a Munro "mini" which I use occasionally but I now obviously also need a "toolgate". Does it ever end?

Wayne

[TTIT]

Often wondered how thick you left your rough-outs to allow for carving :2tsup: - giving up your secrets now Peter :;:U

[Ed Reiss]

Nicely centered propellor in the bunya:2tsup:

[rsser]

Yeah, going deep hand-held is a bit punishing.

If you use a toolgate you can get the fulcrum further into the work and reduce the leverage forces. If you're handy with steel it's not hard to make one yourself, or else get one of these which I resort to for medium depth work:

http://www.shop.woodcut-tools.com/section.php?xSec=4&jssCart=6c13cc156f1eb9db123a28cb43c6d0f8

It also reduces lateral toolshaft movement somewhat and is a useful bit of data for proprioception.

[Little Festo]

Often wondered how thick you left your rough-outs to allow for carving :2tsup: - giving up your secrets now Peter :;:U


No secrets, not too hard to work out. re the wall thickness, it depends on how deep you want to make the flutes. Naturally deeper flutes require a bit more work but gives more play of light and shadow.

Just spent another 30mins on oiling the Big Bunya, also cleaned up the inside. The outside is getting very silky smooth. The oiling brings up a nice deep yellow.

Ern, that toolgate is sounding better. I get a bit of that "proprioception" on some of the deeper hollowing with the Munroe tool. It can be a bit of a problem with some of the thinner pieces, not that I go through the walls on too many :((.

Peter.

[artme]

Great stupph all round - pardon the pun.:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

The Aruacaria Bidwillii is a ripper!:2tsup:

[ogato]

Score: Peter 11 - Jeff 4 + 1 bingle

"Jeff's roughs are the small stack at the top left but to be fair his finish is better,"

Peter is, as usual, too modest and too generous. Jeff was happy with his small stack, and happy to be learning from Peter. And no, to be fair, jeff's finish could only be described as better if 'rough' was the the desired outcome.

Jeff

[TTIT]

Welcome to the forum Jeff :U We're going to expect big things from you seeing you're under the guidance of the master :;:2tsup:

[artme]

Yep, welcome along Jeff.:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup: You've made agood start.

[ogato]

We're going to expect "big" things from you

These are the "biggest" I've finished, with guidance from the master. A Small Leaf Fig bowl (same as the bowls we roughed) 325x95, and a Sheoak platter 335x47

[TTIT]

These are the "biggest" I've finished, with guidance from the master. A Small Leaf Fig bowl (same as the bowls we roughed) 325x95, and a Sheoak platter 335x47Maybe I should have said 'great' things :shrug: but that is beautiful work regardless of size. You've come a long way in a short time - Peter is probably getting nervous already :;:U

[Little Festo]

Maybe I should have said 'great' things :shrug: but that is beautiful work regardless of size. You've come a long way in a short time - Peter is probably getting nervous already :;:U


Yes, he's a quick learner. Please Jeff, no more of this master stuff. I have sooo much to learn and my techniques are far from 'masterly".

Peter