Apple Wood Pepper or Salt Grinders

I turned these pepper or salt grinders from an apple wood limb I've had around for a number of years but only recently cut up into useable lengths.  Apple is a beautiful wood - it has wonderful swirls of color; the downside is that it likes to develop cracks, so you have to keep an eye on it.  These grinders have a ceramic "crush" mechanism which sits in the very base of the grinder, so you can do pretty much what you want with the top end, as long as you create room for the peppercorns or salt chunks.  The tops have a friction fit with the mechanism in the base - see if you can figure out where the split is in the taller grinder (the smaller, mushroom shaped one, is pretty obvious).  The taller of these is about 6 ¾" high; the shorter about 6".  Both are roughly 2 ½" across at the widest point. 

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Black birch bowl with penny copper metallic dust band

This bowl was turned from a birch blank and started off to be a closed form vessel.  However, as is sometimes the case, error and happenstance intervened to create artistic opportunities and the piece ended up as a somewhat unusual bowl instead.  (I'll leave you to surmise how that evolved.)  The bowl measures 5 ⅞" across and is 3 ⅝" tall.  The black finish is Rust-Oleum Hammered Black Finish, sprayed on.  The copper band is Penny Copper Metallic Dust, from Inlace.

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Spalted Silver Maple Bowl

I turned this bowl from a piece of silver maple trunk I'd had sitting around for about four years; it turned out to have a very pretty pattern inside.  This bowl is turned with no foot on the bottom - see the second photo.  It therefore will "rock" (or spin, if you want!), and does not sit "flat."  However, although it may seem odd, it won't tip over - it just rocks if you push down-and-release the rim.  Try that on a bowl with a foot - especially a small one. The bowl is finished with Watco Danish Oil (Natural) and measures 7 ½" across and is 3 ¾" deep.

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Link to Video: Wood Carving in Germany 1926

Craft Supplies linked this you tube video on Facebook, and it's really pretty interesting to watch. The craftsman turns a bowl and a fitted lid, using only a screw chuck to hold the blanks. And he turns a knob for the lid that conveniently fills the screw chuck hole in the lid! Click the link in the left hand column and take a look!

Dyed and Etched Elm Bowl

This elm bowl measures 7 ½" across x 3" high.  On the inside of the bowl I was having a devil of a time getting a smooth surface on the grainy parts - elm can be very difficult that way.  So, difficulty being one source of creative opportunity, I used a rotary tool to etch along the grain lines throughout the inside of the bowl, as shown in the first two photos. The resulting roughness makes a nice contrast, I think, with the smooth areas.  I dyed the inside of the bowl with scarlet Spirit dye, an alcohol based dye, which produced a nice intense color.  Some of the dye penetrated all the way through, which created the colored areas on the outside of the bowl.  The bowl is finished with several coats of Minwax Wipe-on Polyurethane (Gloss).

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Cherry Burl Vase

I turned this vase, which measures 7" tall x 4" across at the rim, from a section of cherry burl branch that I won at the club Christmas party.  As you can see, there were a number of bark inclusions and other irregularities (typical of cherry burl), which made the piece somewhat tricky to turn, but also very interesting when completed.  I also added some copper colored Inlace in some of the openings and fragile areas, to give them a little more support, and also to provide another unusual visual element.   Finish: Watco Danish Oil Finish. For dried flowers only - don't try to put water in it!

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Homemade Photo Light-Box

After having spent a lot of time trying to find good places to shoot photos of my woodturnings, and after having watched Dennis Clayton of our club (a professional photographer) show us how to use a light box to photograph our work, I decided I ought to give it a try.  I found some useful suggestions in a blog at http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/07/how-to-diy-10-macro-photo-studio.html, and employed pretty much that approach in constructing my box, which is much larger than his.  As you'll see in the photos below, my box consists of (1) a large cardboard carton (mine is 25" x 25" x 25"); (2) tracing paper to make the "windows"; and (3) artists/poster board for the shooting background.  All else is pretty much self-evident.  Here's what it looks like - and the next three posts (and probably many more) show the results. You can decide for yourselves if you like this better than the photos with "background."

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Cherry baby rattles - in use!

My February 7 and 9, 2012 posts covered two cherry baby rattles I had turned for our granddaughter Francie, one with captive rings and one with the traditional rattle.  I'm delighted to say that they apparently met with great approval:

 

Badger Woodturners has a new web site!

My woodturning club has a new web site, at http://bwt.clubexpress.com/. Take a look! The club usually meets at 6:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of the month, most often at the Monona Grove HS woodworking shop. Visitors are very welcome! On the web site you can look at our past newsletter, which will give you some idea of what we do as a club. You can also look at photos of the work of a number of our turners, with more to come as the site gets up to speed. Check it out!

My Review of 3-1/8-in Velcro-Faced Intermediate Disc

Originally submitted at CPO Metabo

3-1/8" Velco-Faced Intermediate Disc - 624061000

3-1/8-in Velco-Faced Intermediate Disc

Works very well; but how durable??

By Doug F from Middleton, WI on 3/6/2012

 

4out of 5

Pros: Just the right softness, Easy To Use, Good Grip

Best Uses: In The Workshop, Power sanding on lathe

Describe Yourself: Avid Do-It-Yourselfer

I principally use this disc as an intermediate pad between the Metabo sander and the sandpaper when power sanding on my lathe. It provides just the desired degree of softness/support when sanding curved surfaces, as on a larger bowl. I have only praise for its performance. My only hesitation in recommending this disc is that on my first disc the sponge rubber middle deteriorated and came apart in what seemed like a very short time. It may be I overheated it, but to be useful it should be able to withstand a lot of sanding-type heat without self-destructing. I'm on my second one now, and we'll see how it lasts.

(legalese)

Quina Wine Glasses

The bases of these wine glasses are turned from Quina, a South American wood.  The black band on the one glass is Burmese Blackwood.  They are finished with Waterlox.  The glasses stand about 7 ½" tall and are 2 ¾" across at the base.

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Another cherry baby rattle

Here is a second cherry baby rattle (Sp = sonajero) that I turned for Francie.  This is the more traditional style rattle, with a hollow drum on one end in which the rattly items are enclosed.  Dimensions are roughly 5 ¾" long by 1 ¾" diameter.

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Cherry baby rattle with captive rings

We just returned from visiting our daughter Erica, her husband Brian, and our newest grandchild, Frances (two months old), in Quito, Ecuador, which inspired me to turn the pictured baby rattle for Francie.  The rattle is about 6" long; the ends and rings are about 1 ⅔" in diameter.  Kiln-dried cherry blank; finished with food-safe (and baby-safe) Butcher Block Oil.  (CPSC regulations require that rattles have ends this large to avoid the risk of choking.)

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Cherry Burl Shawl Pin in Use!

We just got home from a trip to visit our daughter, her husband, and our new grandbaby (a real sweetie!). We gave the cherry burl shawl pin (see previous entry) to our daughter as a birthday present, to use with a shawl my wife had knit for her. I think the results are great!