Multi-purpose turnings

My daughter has been asking for candle holders for some time now, so I thought I better get some done. Tea-light holders are quick and easy projects, using a small amount of wood. Holders for standard candles tend to take longer and need more wood. Why, I thought?
Allow me to present my solution.

One end for tea-lights, and the other for standard candles. Both are from the same cherry branch, finished with moonshine friction polish.

Global warming my arse

How odd today has been. Standing in the shed turning, as a mini-blizzard was blowing snow around me. Errr… excuse me! It’s March you know.
I turned a little wedding goblet in pine, but I’m not 100% happy with the shape. I had an idea to make it similar to a thistle, but following an accident with the skew that was out of the question.

I wont make the mistake of trying to alter it now though. Been there, bought the tee-shirt.
I also turned a pair of tea-light holders on Saturday at the request of a friend. These are yew, and should resemble a bell in shape.

The recipient is delighted. I’m just glad I was able to get them similar enough to look like a proper pair.
And finally. A little yew bowl. Simple shape, nice grain and a lovely shine. I’m happy enough with it.

Perhaps I should have cleaned the dust out of it before I took the photo though…..

Long weekend next week, so probably no turning. I still need to finish a piece of furniture for the bedroom before decorating.

A bit of a mixed bag

I didn’t produce much this weekend. I had other things on my mind.
I was asked to produce a custom bat for a friend. Never having turned a bat before I decided to do a rough trial, before butchering a perfectly good piece of timber. This was knocked out of a bit of a broken scaffold board.

The prospective owner is happy with the outcome, and I now have a new toy for walking the dog.
The little bit of yew holding up the thick end is yet another tealight holder. I keep being asked for these. People have a love for the little candles for some reason.

This particular one is made to have a glass insert in it.
Of course, no weekend would be complete without me attacking a bit of cherry. I did a trial of a wedding goblet from a scrap piece. The real piece will have a much larger vessel, and the rings will be properly finished before parting them off.

Not too bad though for something that would otherwise have ended up in the bin.
I would quite like to have the real piece done quite soon.

Nothing to see here… move along

Here I am in the aftermath of another epic migraine. I have pretty bad vertigo, which makes driving a bit of a risk, so I’ve not been to work this week. Likewise, going out to the shed is not an option.
I have a magical wish list of things I would like for the shed, and spend a lot of time looking at the various options. This keeps me relatively sane during my bouts of cabin fever.
The problem of course is an extreme lack of finance for the things I would like.
I have been watching some shows on TV, where the presenters seem not to have much in the way of skills, and wonder how on earth they manage to land the gig. One bloke in particular bashes his way through projects and waxes lyrical about his mortise & tenon joints. Looking closely at them, you could hide the gaffer’s hat in them.
How do TV production companies decide on what would be a good format for a show? Trying to copy the New Yankee Workshop format using a presenter without the skills or presence of Norm? One of the points of NYW is Norm showing how various aspects of a design are transferred to the wood. The cut rate copy gives you, “I’m going to cut all these joints and glue it up, so why don’t you lot bugger off and watch a man making violins out of magpie nests….” There then follows a very boring monologue by some eccentric coffin dodger with too much time on his hands. Back to the presenter and, “There. Doesn’t that look great?”
Maybe I’m too demanding?

A Landmark Day

Well finally. I managed to finish one of the bowls I rough turned for drying last year, a natural edge yew bowl – and the bark stayed on……!
Go me!

This was how it looked when I had rough turned it, covered in superglue to try keeping the bark attached.

And this is the finished article. Pretty much all of the bark stayed on. Finish is “moonshine” friction polish. I’m quite chuffed with it.
I turned another couple yesterday from my rough turned collection and rough turned a couple of sycamore bowls today, which are wrapped in newspaper with the wet shavings from the turning. This method seems to work quite well with what I have turned so far. Not many splits or cracks this time round.
I gave a cherry tree in the garden a prune last year because it was interfering with my Sky signal. I prepped a few blanks last year and put them aside to dry. Yesterday I unwrapped a bowl blank I had put aside last Summer and got this out of it

A nice high-sided bowl from a crotched piece giving it 2 distinct grain patterns
I also unwrapped a bit of silver birch I had rough tuned

And produced a pot, which will be used to hide a plant pot, or a glass/plastic bowl for cut stems


And finally, a cherry pen. The photo doesn’t show the pen at it’s best unfortunately due to the glare from the flash.
All in all, a fairly productive weekend, with nothing breaking and no injuries. Maybe I’m getting better at this turning carry on…….

Mix & Match

Quite a good time in the shed on Saturday. Managed to make and progress a few things, and nothing broke. I managed to turn a gavel & block from oak & cherry.

I think the head of the gavel may be slightly too large, but I enjoyed working on it none the less.
I turned a wee tea-light holder from yew as well, which retains many of the natural features in the wood. Nice, simple shape – nothing fancy in the turning. Even better, I’ve had someone asking to buy it.

Again, just given a rub with friction polish. It’s amazing to me that such beautiful wood can be spun at a high-speed and have sharp things stuck into it – then come out still showing all the natural grain. This piece was an off-cut which might otherwise have landed in the scrap box.
Next week? Who knows? Maybe I will re-mount some of the rough turned items I have been drying. Time will tell………

First this year

Other than a visit to clean the place and to return the dining table to the roof-space, This weekend was my first time in the shed this year. My first turning of 2012 was a baby rattle for a friend.Big & chunky for little hands.
Turned a little bowl in Yew, but haven’t finished it yet so no photos.
Also turned a bowl in oak, but it had cracked during the drying process and shattered when I was shaping the outside.
Nice to be back in the saddle though, so to speak.

Belated Happy New Year

Oh for the shame of it. I have not turned a single item so far this year. I was given a new bowl gouge and a parting tool at Christmas, so need to get out there and put them to the test.
I also need to get the finger out and finish one of the “secret” projects I started before the Christmas holidays. The new tools will feature heavily in the creation of this.
The weather was just too miserable this past weekend, so I avoided the shed and spent my time off cuddled up with the dog on the sofa.

No Turning

No turning this weekend, too traumatised.

Some filthy pikey scum stole my beloved Subaru Legacy at the weekend. It was found burned out in the “Milton” area of Glasgow.
I, of course, had to be insured by the only company on the planet who are closed at the weekend. This is 2012! They pack up and go home on a Friday, then re-open on Monday morning. I suppose thefts don’t happen in their cozy little world?

Hidden in plain view

I’ve been working on some “secret” projects over the weekend. I was reluctant to post them, but a friend came up with this idea that they could be hidden in plain sight. So here goes.

This is a jewellery box. The rim of the box is drilled for earrings to be stored. The finial on the lid is for storing rings. The bottom part and the box itself are for storing other items.



I will clean the dust out of it before it gets a final polish.

The other project had to be halted after I found a large piece of rot in one end of the timber. I have filled it with wood shavings, sawdust and glue. Hopefully this will help stabilise the wood and add some interesting aspects to the finished item.