of dishes and pots

I had a few small cuttings of timber kicking around the shed which were really too small for anything big, and too big for anything small. One piece of elm was only around 4″ in diameter by ¾” high. “What can you do with something that size?” I wondered. So I turned a little shallow dish. A skill builder so to speak.

The grain is absolutely beautiful. Finish is wipe on melamine lacquer.

This piece may be hawthorn, but I really don’t know. I found it in a box of odds and ends and decided to make a natural edge dish from it. It is even smaller than the elm dish, being roughly 2½” across at the widest point, and is roughly 1½” deep in the centre. There is no finish on it. I don’t like sticking my fingers into odd-shaped edges as they spin.

You can see where it rested against the jam chuck when I was turning the bottom flat. The little nub supported by the tail stock came off allowing it to spin against the waste block.

And finally. I turned an urn from green silver birch, and set it and the lid aside to dry. The urn itself worked out beautifully. Unfortunately the lit split in several places. I turned a lid from maple yesterday, and finished the urn at the same time.
The whole piece is about 4½” in diameter, by about 7″ high. The wall thickness is just a tad over ⅛”.

The finish is melamine lacquer.

What I have learned is to think carefully before turning anything, with a view to turning the other side later on. Hot glue is your friend, but make allowances for getting the work off the glue chuck later. Double stick carpet tape is strong enough to hold light items while turning and sanding. It has limited capabilities on heavier items, and can twist & burn if you get a catch. Silver birch discolours if left uncovered.

I am learning though, and definitely getting better with each project.