Hollowing and Finials - what I learned

Dan Mosley

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Palm Springs, Ca
Had another day off today and decided to spend some time making another hollow form and then some finials for the vessels I have been turning.

Pic 2,3,4 - Vessel turned and one coat of Danish Oil - standing to dry

Started with my indexing tool and hogged alot out the vessel and then started using the hollowing rig. I found that using the advice on here about light pulling cuts and sparying the interior now and then with a lubricant makes it cut much more smoothly. I used concentrated dishwashing soap in a spray bottle and kept the cutter sharp. Still finding the middle section tends to be the harder part to cut but it went much smoother.

Pic 1- Finial rough turned and drying out before sanding

I had some spindle stock (green) of several types of wood laying around and decided to make a finial for some of the vessels I have been turning. Tried some sycamore and distroyed it - then some black walnut which i cut from the tip down to the part that enters the vessel. It came out ok and with some sanding etc- it will work out.
Turning that detailed of thing out of green wood is not easy at all - it bends and flexes all over even if your holding it and nibbling at it. I think ill stick with dry or dryer wood for finials as i have before because of the increased stability. With the green as i approach the thickness of a toothpick things get really volitale and can snap easier then if it was dry.....ahhh well
lesson learned................any other thoughts??
 

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The hollow form looks nice. I'd think that turning finial and lids from green wood is just asking for trouble, though. If the flex doesn't get you, the warping and cracking will. :)
 
I have to agree with Vaughn. I never turn finials out of wet wood anymore. I tried a couple of times and had nothing but problems. The warping, flexing and cracking will jump up and bite you. HF looks good.
 
yep your all right and i probably knew what would happen but i only have green spindle blanks and nothing dry. So I had to try it out -With the sycamore everything you mentioned happened -flex,break,bend,crack etc...
With the walnut it was a bit more forgiving and i made one small finial and stopped.......
I think ill bring the other spindles in the house near the fireplace and let them sit there awhile and maybe they will dry out faster.......not sure how else to speed up the drying of them.....there about 3x3 6-10" long
 
As others have said, methinks trying to turn finials from green wood is asking for frustration. How did you turn those neat tooth marks on the base of that thing? :rofl:
The hollow form is very nice.
Would it be rude to say your photography stinks? OK, I won't. :rolleyes:
 
Dan I wouldn't bring them in by the fire. I can almost say without a doubt they will crack because the outside will dry faster than the inside like Steve said. I had a HF that I turned out of green wood to 1/8" to 3/16" thick walls. Put my antique oil on it and brought it in the house to sit by a furnace duct so it would dry the finish quicker. Well it dried the HF to quick and the next morning it had split from top to bottom.
 
Really nice hollow form Dan. Love the wood and the form, you're learning just fine. Just keep practicing and soon it'll be like riding a bike. Vaughn and Bernie are right about the wet wood, get some pen blanks and practice turning finials, that way, your not out a lot of money and they make great practice.:thumb:
 
yeah ill just leave in the garage for a few months -im in no hurry to turn finials anyway. But i have to admit they ad alot of character to the hollow forms

Randy - thanks and that goose neck is great to use and glad i got it from you. I have been using it non stop.............
 
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