Very first attempts

Drew Watson

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Location
Salt Spring Island, BC Canada
Ok no laughing. I was playing around last night on the new lathe kneeling on the floor. Made an egg as it was something that I have always wanted to do. My son came over today and gave me a hand lifting the lathe up on saw horses. I immediatly thought "Well you just can't have an egg without an egg cup" so off I went with the left over stock from the egg. and made this. It was my first attempt at hollowing out stock and I was forced to do it with very limited tools. Honest opinions and critisisms welcome. Yea I have heard all the egg jokes from my kids already. :doh: Oh and Stu yes you were right it is much easier when it is on saw horses. :thumb::thumb:
 

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Hey Drew, that egg looks a little hard boiled:eek::D I am not a turner but if you managed to do that with a lathe on the ground and you on your knees, I think great things will come when it is set up properly:thumb:
 
Ditto on all the previous comments. I think you've been secretly practicing for months. Nobody turns that nice of work on their first two pieces. :D
 
Thanks for all the positive comments. I can honestly say that I am hooked. This reminds me of high school and that was 30 yrs ago ( wow reality check just hit me). Of course we didn't turn bowls back then just spindles and no live centers or chucks. I do have to take some time and learn how to sharpen the tools now. Things have changed lots in 30 yrs.
 
Drew, sharpening is a very big part of having a good time turning. I find that nearly every time I'm having trouble on the lathe, my tool is dull and I've neglected to sharpen it :doh:

Get a good easy system set up and use it, often.

Cheers!
 
Drew, sharpening is a very big part of having a good time turning. I find that nearly every time I'm having trouble on the lathe, my tool is dull and I've neglected to sharpen it :doh:

Get a good easy system set up and use it, often.

Cheers!

Thanks Stu I was just checking out your web site and the system that you built. It looks great. Do you provide building specs? I was looking at the LV system today 150.00 but KMS is bring in more stuff in soon too. May be looking at some oneway systems too. My tools are dull so I was surprised to get the egg and cup actually turn out as they did.
 
Drew, lots of things you can build, but I'd suggest that you buy the OneWay Wolverine Jig, and then, to save some money, build the other pieces that work with the Wolverine Jig.


If I may be so bold as to suggest you take a look at >> this thread <<

Sharpening Demystified
by Kirk DeHeer


That is a link to the PDF article on my website, 818kb too big to upload here.

If you follow that system, you will get consistent grinds on your gouges, 1st time, every time.

There are other systems out there, and they work too, but for me, this has been the easiest.

Cheers!
 
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Thanks again Stu> Oh be as bold as you like I am an open book towards everything to do with this. I need as much help and advise as I can get and building things is just part of the fun. I will be checking out the links tomorrow before I go in and tackle the tools again. What do you think of the P&N style tools with the interchangable handle? I was talking to a fellow at LV today ( who turns out to be a member of the turning Guild I just joined) and he says to get good tools as they will make the experience much more pleasent, don't waste the time and money on cheap tools.
 
Thanks again Stu> Oh be as bold as you like I am an open book towards everything to do with this. I need as much help and advise as I can get and building things is just part of the fun. I will be checking out the links tomorrow before I go in and tackle the tools again. What do you think of the P&N style tools with the interchangable handle? I was talking to a fellow at LV today ( who turns out to be a member of the turning Guild I just joined) and he says to get good tools as they will make the experience much more pleasent, don't waste the time and money on cheap tools.

I've got a few of the P&N tools and they are very good, but I don't like the interchangeable handles, I do like to turn my own handles :thumb:

I agree that good tools are what you want to get, but, for the price of one good tool, you can often get a whole set of cheap tools, and when I was learning to sharpen, I must admit, I used up a lot of good tool steel, making mistakes. Besides, the cheap tools can then, down the road, be modified to make some special tools, that you only use very occasionally.

Cheers!
 
Thanks for all the positive comments. I can honestly say that I am hooked. This reminds me of high school and that was 30 yrs ago ( wow reality check just hit me).

30 years ain't so long ago... I'm going on 50 since HS..:eek:

Great job on the egg....I sometimes find them a little hard to do and get the proportions right ... looks like you were able to get them just right.

I saw a video somewhere about a guy in a third world that ran a foot powered lathe sitting flat on the ground, pumping the pedal to turn the lathe.... at least you didn't have to pump...:rofl:
 
Well tried turning a couple of bowls today out of some cedar. ( had a couple of blocks hanging around the shop. It went pretty good for the most part and I just wanted to tweek the first bowl a bit when it went Bang and fell apart. Caught an edge, The second one got close but it was an inside curve and it went bang near the end too. Guess I just pushed it a bit too much with both of these. Either that of the tools just need a little care and attention. Need to get the oneway wolverine jig. I was looking at the Nova sharpening system today. Has anyone used that system and can give me some advice on it.
 
Sorry mate, you've got the wrong idea. 1st pieces must have torn grain, tool marks, sanding rings and patchy finishing. This is not good enough. It is the right shape, has a decent finish and :eek: you put decoration on it. I think you had better put the lathe back on the floor and try again.

Pete
 
Ok Pete the floor must be the determing factor :doh: here are some pics of one of the bowls. Any advise as to what went wrong would be appreciated.
 

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