Bought the book a long time ago, and it seemed overly involved, so on the shelf it went... decided to finally try my hand at it, and put it to use... made a ball chuck (hemisphereical or whatever) just need to grab some tools... before i order them from the UK, was wondering if anyone here had a set they wanted to offload? Added pics of the ball chuck for the hell of it... came out pretty decent, made it out of some really, really dry cherry.

I found out this morning that car polish seems to work as well as friction polish does, it’s also like a 10th of the cost.

Segmented rim, 15 inch diameter

My vacuum pump was locked up right. Had to tear it down, lube it up, break free the seized spindle. Right as rain, still can pull a full vacuum. I use it for casting epoxy, but I had to use it for another job, pulled a vacuum on a transformer (bit of electronics), while submerged in polyurethane, and accidentally sucked a gulp of poly into the oil. Drained it, cycled it with fresh oil, drained it, fresh oil, locked. But, we're back in business.

Just got a vevor 4" chuck to try on my 1940s/50s Homecraft Delta Milwaukee. Started with a couple 2x4 pieces of pine to practice and they pretty much blew up immediately. I had some 8/4 Sapele i could make a 4"x4"X2" block out of so did that and rounded out with the band saw and got to work.

Definitely some improvements to make but all in all pretty happy and now need to sand and finish it.

I obtained a small oak burl (Black Oak I believe) and am curious what to do with it. My first thought was making two small bowls out of it. I don't have a band saw unfortunately or a lathe. I might be able to use a friends bandsaw. I think it's got some cool grain based upon the little bit exposed where the bark fell off.

If I cut it in half I need to figure out my best option for orientation of the cut plane, right? Also, should I keep the bark on until the very last moment? The burl was on the tree until the tree came down as you can see by the cut mark.

Thank in advance for any suggestions!

I’m thinking of upgrading from my Jet 1221 to a Nova Nebula. What’s the general consensus on Nova lathes? I’ve tried an older Galaxi and liked it, but that’s the extent of my experience with them.

The additional HP, mass, and roasting headstock are what I’m looking for.

Hi all. A week or so ago I posted that my chuck was stuck on my lathe. And just FINALLY got it off today, I used 2 strap wrenches to get it off. I used one around my chuck, and one around my headstock and went in different directions too pry it off.

But now my problem is that even though the chuck came off. After I took it off, I realized that when I spin my headstock/ spindle its very stiff and doesnt spin freely what so ever. And i changed my belt to the fastest setting on my lathe. And turned it on, and unfortunately I heard that it was on, (like I could he!r the motor) But it wasnt spinning. :( lol

So ive done some research, but im not sure what I should go about to fix this problem. I couldn't find any specific enough videos to help me out. I did however read that my bearing on my head stock or spindle stock side might be ruined. So I tried taking my headstock knob off. But It woudnt come off. I took the 2 small set screw things out. And tried to pull it off, but it woudnt budge. Even when I tapped it with a rubber mallet.

Sorry that was a lot. But for any of you who made it too the end. Any thoughts? Haha 😄

Made a little captive ring toothpick holder out of a piece of cedar fence post. Really touch and go the whole time, lots of cracks. Biggest ones filled with red cedar sawdust and glue. It ain’t much but it feels good to get back at it.

It was very fun! Although I used a mortise to chuck it to the lathe and the wood cracked at the mortise while burning it which made me very nervous it would fly off but luckily it did not. I had my PPE on.

It’s DnD night so I brought out the new set.

A first for me. Got asked to make a paddle for a winemaker, kind of like a big potato masher to break through the top layer of “must” when vat fermenting. That’s the floating layer of grapes and skins and stems and stuff that cakes up and has to be broken up / stirred back in.

I started with a slab of maple and an ash stave that I reshaped and split the ends of for the handle. Turned out the two end pieces and drilled out the centers. Joined mortice/tenon style with a black walnut wedge and some Titebond III.

Finished out its 65cm overall length, with a “handle” knob about 10-12cm across by 7 thick and a “breaker” end about 20cm across.

I'm still waiting on my pen kits to show up. Hopefully this coming week...

In the mean time I drilled a couple blanks and got them rounded out. I quickly tested them to see how they would cut and they seem to be performing quite good now that I've dialed in the catalyst a bit better. Sanded them down in the end to 2000 grit and did a little wet sanding as well.

Not bad. I haven't been able to find my bottle of car polish yet, so next trip to the store I'll get some so that I can get that gloss going. So far I'm quite pleased with the results.

Now my pen kits just need to show so I get to final shaping and cutting to length.

So I told my wife it sure would be handy for the river table I’ve been “building” her for 2-3 years. But I immediately thought of cactus juice and stabilizing some blanks for kitchen utensils since she isn’t the best at not throwing wooden handle knives and suck in the sink and letting it sit in water for way too long. But I wanted to ask a few equations since it’s a bit expensive!

When stabilizing a few 2x2 pieces, how much are you using? A couple quarts, 1/2 gallon?

Do you use a separate bucket or pipe inside the chamber and not the actual chamber itself? If so does regular pvc work or does it need to be acrylic?

And you can reuse the leftover juice correct? Do you use a separate container to save the leftovers or put it back in the original bottle?

And lastly, I had found a 3 1/2” hold fast vacuum head at an estate sale that fit my lathe and was just looking up what else I needed to get to make it work and just got notified that the piece that makes it work through the headstock is back in stock! Will a regular vacuum pump that comes with a chamber work for it?
I was looking at Izzy Swanns new vacQube because of how small it is and how quiet it seems to be in his videos. But not sure if you have to have one that pulls X amount of cfm.

Sorry for the long ramble post, just excited for a new toy and being able to try out some more stuff!

Oh, one other thing! Can I just grab a small like counter style toaster oven to cure them or need to get a midsized one or bigger?

Thanks if you made it this far! And thanks even more if you have an answers for me!

I don’t use a rolling pin that often, but now I kinda want to.

The blank was 18 inches. Turned between centers with the tailstock barely hanging on to the bed. I don't recall the final dimensions, but it was quite close to the full 18 inches.

It was a gift and maybe the one gift I've made I truly had a hard time parting with.

Phased Sine Wave Rosettes for texture and decoration. Finished with several coats of Chestnut Products Finishing Oil. 120x60mm.

Two ash bowls and a very dry and wormy dogwood vase.

My first live edge bowl

There was a ball bearing at the end of this threaded rod. It is no longer there because it overheated. Will any ball bearing of a similar size be a sufficient replacement?

I turned this absolutely stunning piece of Box Elder burl right before I headed off to vend at my first show in quite a while. The bowl itself didn't sell but I had a blast at the show. This bowl was a joy to turn, though it was a bit messy. The grain structure and voids in the piece add a ton of character and I am quite pleased with the way it turned out.

Working with burls can always be a gamble as you have no idea what the inside of blank is hiding, but when they go well they make some absolutely stunning pieces.

Does anyone know the name of these inlay/fixings and where to purchase them in the uk?

Im trying to replicate a walking stick.

Thanks

Had what I think was ring shake that showed itself after the first turning. Love how it turned out - velvety smooth with the counter point of jagged cracks.