October 30, 2009
Just in case anyone has been checking this site for updates I just wanted to let you know that I probably will not have the opportunity to turn anything (or do any other type of woodworking) until a couple of weeks before Christmas. I’m taking a Physics class and it is eating most of my used-to-be-free-time.
Hopefully I will see you back in December!!
Keith
August 20, 2009
In preparation for the holidays I thought I would start practicing early since I am starting school this fall for my next degree. Anyway, this is my first attempt at making a turned ornament.
The ball portion is bocote and the cap and bottom portion are both Brazilian cherry. It is finished with Renaissance wax. The diameter of the ball portion is approximately 1-1/8 inch and the overall length is around 3-3/4 inch.
Things to try next time would include: using a thickness guage for the wall thickness, turning the portions that meet the ball a bit larger and sand to the proper diameter to reduce the risk of chipping the thin edge, making the ball larger so that it is easier to hollow and maybe choosing a wood that compliments the ball a bit better. The wall thickness was difficult for me to guage as I have not turned many hollow vessles/forms. For the complimenting wood I think African blackwood would have been a good choice because it would look nice with the dark grain in the bocote.
August 11, 2009
Canarywood Slimline with Chrome Accents
This pen was given to my friend Jen for her birthday. She was kind enough to ask a friend if he had cutoffs that he wouldn’t mind parting with that I might be able to use for turning pens. This was the first pen (or anything else for that matter) that I turned using canarywood and it was quite nice to work with. It has open grain so next time I will try to use a sanding sealer to try to fill in some of the grain pockets and in turn smooth out the final finish.
Bird’s Eye Maple Slimline with Chrome Accents 
This pen was given to my friend Sherye for her birthday. Everyone at her birthday party thought it was a nice gift and were not overly interested until they found out that I turned it. Then they were much more interested and it was passed around the room for all to see. The wood was a pleasure to work with. Interesting patterns from the figure in the wood and the cuts were smooth and effortless. I was pleased with the finish on the pen even though the process took a bit of extra caution. I chose to use EEE which turns black when it comes in contact with metal (the bushings) so I had to be careful when I was applying the EEE. The Shellawax coat over the EEE did not require as much caution and the application process was much faster.
African Blackwood Slimline with Chrome/Black Accents
This pen was given to my friend Mike for his birthday. This is the second pen that I have made with African blackwood that I have not accidentally slipped in my pocket and taken as my own. I really like the chrome hardware with the blackwood. I used the same finish as the Bird’s Eye pen but didn’t have to worry (I was still careful) about the EEE turning the wood black so the finishing process was faster.
Bocote Elegant American Ballpoint with Chrome/Black Accents
This pen was given to my wife’s grandfather for his birthday. He very much enjoyed woodworking and used to make dollhouse furniture. He has not made any recently but Sarah and I have several pieces of his work and they are very nice. I turned this pen for him because a few years ago we went to visit him (18+ hour drive) and on the trip to his house I was reading a book to learn how to turn pens. When we arrived I showed him the book and he seemed pretty excited and had never seen a pen made out of wood. So what better gift to give than one of his own? The pen turned out very well and I was told that he liked it very much.
July 17, 2009
After turning a pen this afternoon (pictures coming soon) I decided to try to refinish my Banksia vase because I was not very happy with how it turned out. The friction polish is visibly uneven and that just won’t do. Part of the process I was going to use to mount the finished vase to the lathe was to turn a wooden mandrel to insert into the vase and apply a slight amount of pressure with the tailstock. So I had a plan and I had a 12 inch piece of Bradford pear three inches round that I cut off of a tree in the front yard about three years ago. I squared off one of the ends, drilled a 1 inch hole with a Forsner bit, used my jaw chuck and expanded the jaws inside the hole and applied pressure with the tailstock. Then I started turning away and once I finished turning round I just couldn’t bear wasting a pretty piece of wood. So I decided that it should be a candle holder and here is the result:
To finish, I sanded to 2000 grit sandpaper and then applied EEE and Shellawax (liquid). I know that you can’t see the candle holder in the last picture but I thought it was cool and shared anyway. Maybe I’ll try to put another (smoother) coat of polish on the Banksia vase and use a chunk of a 2 x 4 for my mandrel instead of the pear… oh well. Off to bed for now…
June 30, 2009
I made this pen/letter opener set for my sister for Christmas 2008. I really enjoy turning bocote because I think it has a pleasant smell and I think that the grain patterns in this species of wood is beautiful. The finished project is always worth the time spent making it.
When making this set I was still doing some experimentation with finishes so each item has a different finish. The pen was finished with high gloss HUT Perfect Pen Polish (PPP) and the letter opener was finished with three coats of tung oil. Between the coats of oil I allowed 12 hours for the oil to penetrate the wood and sanded lightly with 2000 grit sandpaper. Although the PPP took much less time, I think of the two finishes I like the tung oil better because it seemed to be a more uniform finish.
June 19, 2009
Other than the fact that it does not hold water, I’m not quite sure what made me call this little turning a weed pot but that’s what I’m going to call it. I finished it last night with a thin coat of EEE and Shellawax. After finishing it I could only see one thing that I wish I had done: sand to 2000 grit sandpaper. I think I stopped at 400 or 800 which is very strange for me. Anyway, it’s done and it looks pretty good I think!
Photo courtesy Sarah
June 18, 2009
A few weeks ago I ordered a banksia pod along with some other various species of wood in different shapes and sizes. I have neglected the shop recently because it has been really, really, really hot inside my small non-climate controlled shop. Today however was relatively cool and pleasant so I decided to go out and see what I could make. With many different woods to choose from, my selection was rather easy because I have turned plain old wood before but I have never turned a banksia pod, so I decided to turn the banksia pod. If you have never seen or heard of a banksia pod, it is basically Australia’s equivalent to our pine cone. The one that I used is pictured below.
Banksia Pod
I sketched up a quick design and set off to work. I followed the advice of several turners whose sites I read and trimmed the lips and some of the red fuzz off of the outside of the pod with my band saw and then put it on the lathe, turned it according to my design and I ended up with this:
Banksia Pod Weed Pot
As the title suggests, this is not yet a completed project. I have to pick out all of the stuff from the openings and I think that I want to make the collar on the top of the weed pot a bit shorter and maybe round over the edge, but I’m not sure. After making up my mind and making the changes I have to put a finish on it. Hopefully I will have a picture of the finished turning posted by the end of the weekend.
June 13, 2009
I just finished a new cigar pen made out of kingwood for a close friend of the family for his retirement. This is a picture was taken so that I could send it to my parents so that they could help me choose whether to use chrome or gold hardware. We settled on chrome but I forgot to take a picture of the finished product. I also finished a slimline pen that I made out of a very dark piece of ebony, but I also forgot to take a picture of that… and the one that I made out of African blackwood… oops. Anyway, enjoy!
Kingwood Cigar Pen
April 16, 2009
I turned this crochet hook out of a piece of walnut for my Grandma this past Sunday.
The finial design is compliments of my wonderfully creative wife, Sarah. This is a size 7 hook which is a diameter of 4.5 millimeters. The overall length of this hook is approximately 6-3/4 inches and the hook end is on gauge approximately 1-1/4 inches. I used a wood burner to burn the hook size into the finial. This is the first hook to which I have applied a finish. I used Perfect Pen Polish (PPP) which is a hard wax that you hold against the turning project. I applied the PPP with the lathe turning at 840 RPMs. Although it works pretty well on pens I’m not sure I would use it again to finish crochet hooks.
April 6, 2009
Today I went in the shop with no intention of making anything. I went to get some sandpaper for S so that she could finish a clock that she was making. I saw a piece of poplar sitting on my bench and decided to put it on the lathe. This is what I ended up with:
Overall the spoon is only 7-1/4 inches long and I just used a heavy coat of mineral oil as the finish. I think it turned out pretty well for my first one.
