didnt turn what I wanted to turn. learning experience. Warning.........see post

allen levine

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WARNING: If you are a serious wood turner, do not go any further.
This thread was not posted for humor.

So I figured, start gluing up all my 2 inch or more strips and I can turn bowls, little bowls, plates, whatever.
So my first glueup, I wanted to turn a square bowl. I have no clue how to do it, watched a video of a similar thing, but figured, hey, its scraps, jump in.
Made sure the block was all square, flat, didn't have a 2.5 inch forstner to chuck it up, so I used the faceplate.
Starting turning bottom, realized too soon I went to far, and then I had chip offs of the ends, must have used a heavy hand, but in my defense, I was getting a lot of shaking on the lathe, gonna have to weigh it down. The shaking was making it difficult for me to keep the end cuts still and soft.
anyway, I had to sand down the ends eventually to make them look even.
cut a hole on the bottom to put into chuck, and turned some inside.
Since I split an attempted plate recently, made it too thin, I decided Id just turn this shallow.
I ended up with something that looks like a 1970s ashtray. Not what I wanted.
thought about trimming off the edges and just turning a bowl out of it, but decided to put some oil on it, Im sure someone in my house will want it.
Now Ill just glue up another blank.

Even though I really don't have a clue yet, this is so much fun.

Lathe gets a rest now, next week I must get going on the cabinets.
\
heres some proof I had good intentions.I might need a whole lot of practice.

IM thinking tomorrow Ill rechuck it and keep turning and see what shape I get.
 

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Well Allen, you certainly are jumping right into the deep end anyway :thumb:

For a 1970's era ash tray its pretty sweet. Would also work nicely as a change tray.

I haven't attempted a aquare turning yet, so no advice but imho looks pretty decent as a first attempt.
 
I'll second Ryan's comment. Square bowls are not easy at all. Especially with laminated blanks where there can be inconsistencies in the wood grain. But everything you turn is a learning experience, so just keep it up. :thumb:
 
I followed your advise and didn't go past the subject line.
Knowing that...are you ever happy with what you turn? Let me know if I should look at your complete post.
 
Hey i am with Elen, call me crazy i like chunky. Looks like a great catch all for keys and change and other bits a pieces.
Move on to next one.
Not every turning needs to be thin as can be. Beauty is in the eye of the viewer.

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk
 
gonna go out in 3 minutes and chuck up a piece of 1.5-2 inch thick cherry and start again.

My son asked me about his cabinets yesterday, I told him as soon as I get the turning stuff out of my blood stream, cant seem to shake the desire to ruin more pieces.

the shop is full of cut to size birch plywood waiting for dados and shelf pin holes, and ofcourse, assembly.
 
returned it a bit.
not exactly again what I wanted from the beginning, but got a bit closer, Im learning what to do and what not to do.
getting a bit more of the shape I wanted.
 

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My son asked me about his cabinets yesterday, I told him as soon as I get the turning stuff out of my blood stream, cant seem to shake the desire to ruin more pieces.

the shop is full of cut to size birch plywood waiting for dados and shelf pin holes, and ofcourse, assembly.

:rofl: He could end up waiting a while if you're going to wait until you get it all out of your system :D. His best bet is probably that you'll eventually need the space :D
 
Here Allen is a video to help you with your turning

View attachment 83572

:rofl:

And here's another helpful video:

MV5BNTIxMzQ0NzIyMV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMTM3MDgzMQ@@._V1_SY317_CR4,0,214,317_AL_.jpg
 
I don't think its an addiction. Its frustrating like any sport that you compete with yourself to get better scores, like golf.

The thing is, after 6 years of mostly flatwork, the quick turn around on projects, the ability to finish something you can use in 2 hours, an hour, make things out of firewood, find logs in the street and make something, the satisfaction is amazing compared to building a set of cabinets, at least right now for me.

before I made my first Adirondack chair near the end of 2006, I didn't really own a tool, besides an old black and decker circular saw I used in my store to cut shelves.
I used 99 cent store screwdrivers, etc.......wasn't important to me. I needed something done, I called in someone.

hand tools? next week Im making my own gouge handle. I find this hard to believe someone like me is even saying this. while a lot of you guys grew up with tools and knowledge of tools, this is totally new to me. Me making my own handle, well, I cant tell you how good it makes me feel to achieve something like this. Its a good thing for me.

*hope elen isn't mad after she told me to leave it alone, I went and returned it down to something I could live with

one more note*
Id like to thank Mr. Thompson for making a fine tool. While I may not be an experienced turner, his high quality tool is a great place for someone like me to start.
 
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"While I may not be an experienced turner, his high quality tool is a great place for someone like me to start."

Amen, brother. If more rank amateurs started with quality tools, they would have easier success. And if they decided they didn't like it, they would have some worth selling to recoup some of their money. Buying junk tools because you are just beginning is counterproductive. Selling junk tools brings junk prices.
 
The thing is, after 6 years of mostly flatwork, the quick turn around on projects, the ability to finish something you can use in 2 hours, an hour, make things out of firewood, find logs in the street and make something, the satisfaction is amazing compared to building a set of cabinets, at least right now for me.

That in a nutshell is, IMHO, why its addictive. Basically its sort of like a lot of addictive practices where you have a bit of a challenge (the down) and then get a nice reward afterwards (the up). I see peiople intentionally exploiting this same pattern for things like games and similar to suck people in.
 
Oustanding Allen!!! When did you get the big lathe? I have the same one and love it.

Looks like you are deep in the vortex now. Fun isn't it ?
 
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