Saturday - Playing around in the garage

Pictures 1-5 of a hollow vessel I did today. I started to realize or understand what that friend was talking about when he asked about adjusting the laser. He said he had kept cutting thru the vessel most of the time and today I thought about what he was saying with a bit more clarity.
I usually adjust frequently and take more time that I did today but I was pressed for time and wanted to turn some wood someone gave me to see what it was like.........soooooo,
I got a bit lazy and was rushing and I took a couple short cuts. I used the straight bar and hollowed as much as i could with it only adjusting it once at the start. Then changed to the 45' degree cutting bar and did the entire vessel excpet the neck area which I left thick on purpose till the end (only adjusting at the start). The last bar I used was the swivel tip to do the neck area and same only adjustiing at the start. I set it about 1/4" each time.
Finished hollowing and started to rough sand it on the outside using 100grit to get rid of the steady rest marks etc......and I noticed that the wood flexed alot in the mid portion of it. I took a light and looked inside it and realized I had made it almost paper thin all the way down...........ohhhhh ohhhhh - I never meant it to come out that thin.........ahhh well at least it didnt fly apart or break...........
So to my friend that emailed me or others - I understand your question a bit clearer now............LOL........it taught me I need to slow down and measure frequently like I have in the past to ensure your thickness stays consistent..........

Pictures 7-8 - Neighbor wanted to throw away some excerise equipment and I asked if I could have the base - So, I got the base and thought I may make a free standing rig out of it. The wife thinks its junk and I need to get rid of it, along with my hand carved statues and some of the bowls and vessels stacked up around the house............hummmmmmm

I am glad it didn't fly apart. The vase is beautiful.

Looks pretty good Dan. I have found that it doesn't pay me to rush because I always do something I shouldn't have. Kinda like the famous last cut.

Thanks for the compliments - and yes I have done that one last cut thing and ruined the entire project. The other day I was turning a very large vessel say 14" Round and about that in length - I had spent a good half of the day creating the form, and hollowing it.

I usually set the laser to the tip when im first hogging it out. Later I set it to the edge of the cutter because of the pull cuts are cutting on the side of the vessel with the side of the cutter......and I keep the 1/4" distance at all times................

Anyway, I had the wall thickness down fairly well and I was working my way down the inside. I was about at the middle and was taking very light cuts to smooth it out. I could feel the light cuts and knew it was smooth and thought I had enough thickness to take another cut....Wrong....went right thru the side wall of it and ruined it.......Problem I think was mine - I did not reset the laser from the tip to the side - even though they are 1/4" away.

I threw it in the designer wood pile - cleaned up and called it a day - something about spending all that time and destroying it just ruins the mood............ahhhhhh well there will be another day

Then there is this one in this post (thin enough that you can push on it with your finger and it will flex) which got me thinking about someone that wrote me on wall thickness v. setting the laser and how I do it.....I do not intentionally turn them that thin - I'm over that - I just want them to turn out nice and would be happy with the 1/4" or so thickness.............Not sure if my way is correct but it works and thought others would chime in about how they use the laser or if they do it differently...............Thanks Dan