April 2021 Show and Tell
See photos from the April 2021 Show and Tell below, and be sure to see the stories behind a few of these projects below the photo gallery.
Robert Swank- "I have some maple that I retrieved from a neighbors felled maple tree a few years ago. Finally got around to turning some of it. I really liked how easy it is to turn, and blown away with how smooth the final sanded pieces are. Most of my turning to date has been skill learning with Cyprus from a neighbor's tree, and other softwood I've had lying around.
I experimented with the smaller french rolling pin a while ago. My wife said it was too small, so I just made the larger one, named "Le Mari Persuader". It started out 1-1/2” diameter x 18” long, limited by the size of my blank, but I got a careless catch (let the gouge slip off the end of the tool rest) and got a second catch while fixing the first. Final dimensions 1-1/4” diameter x 18”. Interestingly, this one will fit in our utensil drawer whereas the standard 20 in would not. I like it when my deviations work out to my benefit. Small one finished with danish oil, large one with food safe mineral oil.”
“The baby rattle is for our next door neighbor's first grandson. First time trying captive ring turning. Made a special tool to turn the rings, and the design loosely following a Mike Peace YouTube video. Unfortunately I cracked one of the rings and had to glue it back together so it's not perfect. Will be finished with food safe mineral oil."
Jack Lauderdale-"The smaller darker bowl: Black walnut on the top, bali on the bottom 3/4". Thought there would be more contrast, but the bali darkened to almost match the walnut. Wipe on varnish finish.
The larger bowl: American cherry. Wipe on varnish finish. The doorstops: Maple with a dark stain. I used 2" square stock, would use 1.5" stock next time."
Don Riggs- Don has been having a ball turning as usual. 64 spheres in all various sizes and species of wood.
Paul Bailey- (Our newest member) " I have a fairly large woodworking shop and have made mostly flat work for many years. I have approximately 100 wooded acres in NC and have always desired accessing some of the fallen or dead trees for projects but not having the means to process and dry the lumber I had never availed myself to its use. I had always thought about the possibility of using the trees in turning. Having recently retired and after taking a woodturning class last year and reading and studying on the subject I became excited about being able to utilize the lumber and go from a tree to a finished project. I ordered and received a quality lathe last July and my turning adventure began. I have mostly limited myself to practicing spindle work by turning non-hollowed vases and turning bowls starting with rough turning from logs I harvest. Attached are pictures of some of the rough turned bowls air drying and a finished twice turned sugarberry bowl and ambrosia maple vase."
RIchard McGann/Chuck Bates- The Bill Elliott in the picture is not the race car driver. He's a fellow woodturner from Phoenix Va. Chuck Bates,on the right in the photo, reports that he has 772 bowls in his basement and has given away 170 bowls as gifts. This just might qualify him as the "Bowl King".