Any wood turners in here ?

[Mercula]

Just curious. I picked up a mini lathe last year , I've made a ton of pens , my folks visited recently and got me a couple diff chucks. I was just messin around earlier and made a small cup . I need to grab a little more gear and I'd like to try a couple bowls.
Here are a couple pens. Green one is dyed spalted Tamarind.
second one is a stabilized maple burl. Both have a CA finish.

[Irving]

Those look pretty nice.

[newracer]

I have not done it in a long time but I recently picked up a lathe and plan to start again soon.


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[hunterhawk]

I have a mini lathe and would love to figure out how to use it! If you ever had some free time to help me get it set up that would be great

[GilpinGuy]

I haven't adone any of this since wood shop in high school. Yet another skill I'd love to get into. Do they even have wood shop any more?

[Mercula]

Nice ! Glad to see others in here. Thanks Irving ,
And it was / is a learning process hunter hawk , def would help to have someone with experience to show the basics , I've been learning through trial and error. Shoot me a pm anytime.
I didn't have wood shop in school and have always wanted to try , last year a got a deal on a lathe I couldn't pass up. Unfortunatly tooling can be a bit on the expensive side.

[Gman]

That maple burl is purty.

[Mercula]

It's very nice to work with too when it's stabilized , so they cut the blank to size , then soak it in a resin of sorts and it soaks in and hardens
Acrylics take longer to turn down to size , wood is fast , but can break out and splinter sometimes , and the stabilized woods are just about damn perfect and easy to turn , for me at least. The burls and spalted woods are the coolest looking to me.

[zteknik]

I haven't adone any of this since wood shop in high school. Yet another skill I'd love to get into. Do they even have wood shop any more?

Yup, If I remember correctly the woodshop teachers name was Mr. H.- Harrington I think? Then there was the metal shop teacher- Mr. Ment.

[hunterhawk]

Ya, im sure its trial an error but i dont even know how to set it up. Not even sure its the right size. I can transport pretty easily if youre willing to look it over and help me set it up/see if it will work

[GilpinGuy]

Yup, If I remember correctly the woodshop teachers name was Mr. H.- Harrington I think? Then there was the metal shop teacher- Mr. Ment.

Ha! I remember Ment in metal shop. I forget who was in wood shop.

[Bailey Guns]

Very nice work. I have a ShopSmith that can be used as a lathe and I've done a few minor things with it...nothing as cool or nice as that, though.

I really want to learn to use a metal lathe. Also, I signed up for a welding class at the local high school starting next month. Looking forward to that.

[Great-Kazoo]

Ha! I remember Ment in metal shop. I forget who was in wood shop.

Feldman was printing, MacAniff-metal, McCann- Wood, Ziff- Photography and Parisi - electrical

[Irving]

Yup, If I remember correctly the woodshop teachers name was Mr. H.- Harrington I think? Then there was the metal shop teacher- Mr. Ment.


Ha! I remember Ment in metal shop. I forget who was in wood shop.

Did you guys go to the same high school?

[zteknik]

Did you guys go to the same high school?
Yes. Move all the way out here just to find someone I went to high school with and their on the same forum, go figure.[Coffee]

[Irving]

My very first job was at Beau Jo's in Idaho Springs about 18 years ago. There were a bunch of guys from Maine that all moved out here independently, and then all ended up working at Beau Jo's together. Bunch of East coast weirdos...





Mercula, have you made more than just the two pens? I have a feeling the time put into making them is far beyond what you'd be able to sell them for. That said, let us know if you decide to sell any.

[Ah Pook]

I haven't adone any of this since wood shop in high school. Yet another skill I'd love to get into. Do they even have wood shop any more?
I might know a guy that will be getting a wood lathe in the near future. [Neene3]

My favorite tool in wood shop.

[newracer]

Spinning tops are also pretty easy and fun to make. Start with a hardwood dowel glued into a small piece of hardwood.


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[bradbn4]

There is a local wood turners group in Colorado Springs area....I use to do some wood turning a few years back; mostly the same Pens, and stuff most folks do.
YoYoSpin has some free videos on YouTube that shows what he can do. He use to be the Prez of the wood turners group.

[Mercula]

Awesome , I'll check that out. Yea I've lost count of how many pens I've done , I had a Etsy shop for a bit but there are just soooo many people doing pens , once you start cranking them out they don't take terribly long but it's still hard to make it worth it selling them. Seems to be a bit more money in game calls , but I just can't compete with retired folks and such that have more time than me.

[StagLefty]

Yes. Move all the way out here just to find someone I went to high school with and their on the same forum, go figure.[Coffee]

Sounds like shop in school was an East Coast thing. I took the Vocational course in my high school-printing,drafting,electric,wood shop,and metal.

[zteknik]

Sounds like shop in school was an East Coast thing. I took the Vocational course in my high school-printing,drafting,electric,wood shop,and metal.
Could be, wish they had more availability of "skills" in school nowadays.

[tmjohnson]

Really nice work on the pens.
You should try some birds eye maple and locust. The wood makes some really awesome pens.
I used to dig up mesquite stumps and where the trunk meets the roots is some really cool figured wood, wood is hard as hell but makes unbelievable looking pens.

[gnihcraes]

Nice Pens!

Made a few recently myself. Bought a small wood lathe off craigslist cheap and it came with some upgrades/pen tools.

I've got a nearly endless supply of small hardwood scraps from pop's wood shop.

69969

Also from the Non Wood lathe, a few tops of varying sizes/styles. Going more for length of spin than looks. I think my record is 5:40 seconds so far.

69970

[Grant H.]

Going more for length of spin than looks. I think my record is 5:40 seconds so far.

69970

That's crazy.

I hadn't even thought about making tops with the metal lathe. might have to try that now.

[Mercula]

Thanks fellas. And nice pens yourself gnihcraes ! Nice work on the metal tops too. I'd like to try the Birdseye , I also need to get a buckeye burl pen made. I've also made a few wine stoppers with maple burl.
top pen is acrylic , other two are stained oak.

[gnihcraes]

Nice! I have a wine stopper to try. I need to setup a dust collector before I do much more turning.

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[Mercula]

Ugggghhhh , your telling me ! It's very easy to wonder where it all comes from ! I swear the "turnings"? From the acrylic blanks gets in everything , I wish I could have a dust collection setup but all my stuff gets moved around constantly. I don't have a spot to leave it setup. Very frustrating when it takes you longer to move/setup and clean up than the actual project itself.

[Aloha_Shooter]

A friend of mine said she lost a bunch of branches from her elm tree after this last storm, some measuring up to 4 inches in diameter. She didn't know what to do with the wood since she doesn't have a wood-burning fireplace so I had suggested letting the wood dry out and then cutting some cross sections for use as trivets and coasters but I was also thinking woodworkers might be interested in it for making peppermills, candlesticks, and such. Am I wrong about that? If I'm right, are there any tips on what she should do in terms of curing or drying the wood properly?

[Squeeze]

Nice! I have a wine stopper to try. I need to setup a dust collector before I do much more turning.

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Yes...yes you do. LOL. If you ever end up needing help moving your shop or cleaning your current one, I'll be glad to help.

[gnihcraes]

A friend of mine said she lost a bunch of branches from her elm tree after this last storm, some measuring up to 4 inches in diameter. She didn't know what to do with the wood since she doesn't have a wood-burning fireplace so I had suggested letting the wood dry out and then cutting some cross sections for use as trivets and coasters but I was also thinking woodworkers might be interested in it for making peppermills, candlesticks, and such. Am I wrong about that? If I'm right, are there any tips on what she should do in terms of curing or drying the wood properly?

Can be done, but I believe the ends of the cuts sections need to be sealed with wax or similar then let it dry - otherwise it will check/split and be of not much use depending on what you're trying to use the wood for.

[Mercula]

I've got a 4" chunk of locust that I just used white glue to seal the ends , as advised by a wood working friend.