Myrtle Wood

Dan Mosley

Member
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Location
Palm Springs, Ca
Had a day off and free so I turned a couple myrtle logs - the first one was ruined as i turned right thru it near the bottom while hollowing. After that I chucked up another log and roughed turned the one in the picture. The wood is Myrtle that brother in law brought down from Oregon and its size is 11 1/2" wide and 12 1/4 tall. So, what did I learn from turning this vessel/vase ??

The log was originally 14 inches diameter and 14 inches long.....I was going to use a faceplate but decided to use a 2 prong. Mounted it up and turned the tenon for my powergrip jaws (Nova chuck). I usually start by making the tenon right off the bat incase there is any slipping or problems I can take it off and mount it in the jaws. It payed off this time because it did start to slip. Reversed it into the chuck and turned the profile - reworking it due to bad spots etc-. The form was done and started to hollow which is where I made a error - I turned the lip and opening thin and it busted when i hit the side on accident with the hollowing bar. I know most other turners leave the opening area thicker and the very bottom...............
but ............I didn't..........

It would have been fine if I had not hit it with the bar.........Ok so I have a friend that has wanted a Cookie Jar made out of wood so I decided to open it up nice and wide and make it into one.

Finished the hollowing and took down the base to a cut off tenon for later. Started rough sanding up to 100grit and applied a coat of Waterlox to the outside and Linseed oil cut down with MS to the inside then put it inside to dry. Spin it really fast for about 10-15min and rub it down good with a cloth....... Later ill rechuck it and finish sanding when its dry and apply the finish.

I found I can turn to finish if i apply some oil to the inside and out and let it dry inside as long as I have turned it thin.
 

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The form was done and started to hollow which is where I made a error - I turned the lip and opening thin and it busted when i hit the side on accident with the hollowing bar. I know most other turners leave the opening area thicker and the very bottom...............
but ............I didn't..........
It would have been fine if I had not hit it with the bar..........

That is the curse of my hollow form experience and I do it to myself. arrrrrrrgggggggggggggggggg:eek: I keep wanting to improvise and get extra mileage out of a tool that should not be used that way. But I think Im just about over it. I hope. Really. For reals.
 
yeah i hope the same but i to keep pushing the limits.......not sure if I will stop but losing a very nice turning due to a error you know you should not have made just burns on you.........When it happens I intentionally stop what im doing, and analyze what just happened and why - then think about it some more. I would like to think that each time I learn something but like I said I am always trying new things so I guess I should expect some disasters.....................;)
 
Goint to be a nice looking cookie jar. Are you going to make a lid for it?

You said you put linseed oil on the inside. Just curious, linseed oil and MS have a smell. A good smell in my opinion (well I love the smell of the Linseed oil) but I would be afraid it would taint the taste of the cookie. Espically if it is a closed cookie jar. Do you think that well be a problem?
 
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