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Jeff Bower

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This is my first post to this forum.....and this is a pic of my first attempt at a natural edge bowl. I think it is locust finished with Minwax Tounge Oil Finish. It's around 3.5"hX5.5"w. Critques are welcome. Thanks.
 

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Welcome aboard, Jeff. :wave: Looks like a nice little bowl, especially for your first stab at a natural edge. Critique-wise (for the next ones), I'd suggest trying to make the foot smaller. A lot of new turners -- me included -- tend to try to keep as much wood as possible, and end up with wide-bottomed bowls. I think you'll find a smaller foot helps lighten the look of a bowl.

All that said, it's still a great first. :thumb:
 
Welcome Jeff! :wave:

Way to go, we like pics and your first post has a pic, and it is of something spinny :thumb:

Sure is a nice looking chunk of wood, do you have more?

If you have the time, a short shop tour would be great, we always like seeing other guys shops, usually a good idea or three with can borrow ;) :D

Again, welcome to the family!:)
 
Many thanks

Thanks for all the comments/questions. To answer a few of them....I got my lathe when my grandfather past away about 6 years ago, but just got started using it seriously about 6 months ago.
I do have a few more pieces of this wood so more pics will come. I also do plan on doing a quick shop tour if I can find the time. For starters here is a pic of my lathe. My granfather made it out of an industrial clothing press and a washing machine. I have varible speed, including reverse, using the spin cycle buttons/dials from the washing machine.
 

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Welcome Jeff

Your grandfather did a good job designing and building the lathe. He would be proud to see it been used to turn out wonderful work.

Coffee pot is on!
 
Hi Jeff,
That's a great bowl for a first. You've already gotten some good advice so I won't repeat it. But that lathe is incredible. I love seeing things that involve that kind of ingenuity. Hopefully it still holds some of Granddads trick that you can coax out of it.
 
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Great looking bowl and really cool lathe. Glad you found your way to the family!
 
Thanks for all the compliments and welcomes!

I think that lathe wins the "Cooler Than All Get Out" award. It's one to be proud of.

I can't wait to tell my dad about this comment! He helped me put it back together and showed me how he thought you were supposed to turn. He came back into town a few months later, I gave him a ShopNotes with an article on how to make a lathe and he made it. After a few months he decided he needed something bigger and ordered a Grizzly G0462. Now he turns everynight and my mom calls herself a "lathe widow", as does my wife.

I often wonder what my grandpa could have come up with today with all the improvements in lathes and turning equipment.
 
Jeff, if you get a chance, could you take some more pics, close ups etc, of your "Heritage" lathe?

I recently made my own bandsaw, so I like this kind of stuff, and I'd love to take a closer look.

That lathe is surely something to be darn proud of, and I'm sure with some more time at it, you WILL do your grandfather proud :thumb:

I'll bet he is looking down on you, nodding his head in approval!

Just because it was made a while back, don't mean you will not get years of use out of it :clap:

Cheers!
 
. For starters here is a pic of my lathe. My granfather made it out of an industrial clothing press and a washing machine. I have varible speed, including reverse, using the spin cycle buttons/dials from the washing machine.

this is too cool jeff! my first lathe was powered by a salvaged washing machine motor too, but it only had on-off and was a factory built unit.
i`m still cobblin` together tools and find it a great inspiration to see what others have done. you`re doin` your grandpa proud! tod
 
Stuart, I'm planning on rehabbing the lathe a bit, new paint, new bearings, and adding a ballast box for more stability. I've already raised it 6" with a some new feet. I plan on documenting all of this with pics so I will submit a pictoral of this. Would the correct place to put it be Old Iron or should I leave it in Lathe Land?

Tod, do you have any pics of your first lathe?
 
Tod, my grandpa made my lathe in the late 70s....does that make it old iron? Digital pics do make it easier to "hang onto" pics doesn't it. I probably have 500 pics of my 2yr old daughter on the computer but only 30 or so in print.
 
...I plan on documenting all of this with pics so I will submit a pictoral of this. Would the correct place to put it be Old Iron or should I leave it in Lathe Land?...
Either place would be appropriate. Whichever place you put it in, you could post a note in the other one giving folks a heads-up to go look at the pictorial. ;)
 
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