I will try to find a few pictures. I don't do anything fancy, although I did make some lided shave soap bowls for two of my kids. Sent from my DROID Turbo using Tapatalk
Here are the most recent bowls and figures. I hope to get back at it, but had this crazy idea to go back to school, killing a lot of my free time. Sent from my DROID Turbo using Tapatalk
Patrick, My own turning journey is a different one. I bought a lathe, tools and accessories 20 years ago or so. Had a good friend who was a high school woodwork teacher who got me hooked on lots of woodworking, including turning. I made bowls, legs for furniture, pens, other small turnings and basically had a good hobby to enjoy. Got married, had two kids, moved twice and the lathe gathered dust. I started wetshaving about 2 1/2 years ago. Saw some amazing wooden brushes and thought ‘I think I can do that’. Turned the cold room downstairs (has an outside entrance for ventilation) into a small lathe room, got the lathe, saws and grinder up for the first time in 15 years and started turning. Brushes and then bowls. Like you, I have found it to be a stress relieving experience...and yes, like you I am hooked.
Wow, you are doing some very nice, large vessel work. Awesome stuff! Love some of your spalted woods as well. Did you harvest them yourself? Any brushes yet?
That is really gratious of you. No brushes yet. I thought it would be a great idea to start another masters degree, which has killed my free time. I hope to try a few in the upcoming months. Most of the wood is from the back woods. The black walnut (my favorite) is from a coworkers yard. I refuse to spend much on wood, although I have spent a bit on exotic woods. All the spalted woods have come from the wood pile. Sent from my DROID Turbo using Tapatalk
I'll contribute some stuff when I get a little time. I've been in the shop quite a bit lately. I have a couple of requests from my daughter and niece right now.
Spalted wood is created by a fungus that gives wood a marbled appearance. It can also make the wood soft, which means you can end up with a broken piece, but they really make nice bowls. A burl is wood growth where the grain grows in many directions, kind of swirling around. It can be caused by an infection in the tree, but also from a part that doesn't grow right, such as an unformed bud that doesn't become a branch. Sent from my DROID Turbo using Tapatalk
Well, I'll give this a shot. If you guys have any questions please ask. I'm entirely self taught on the lathe. I wanted to make my own coyote calls and that's what started it for me. I like open reed calls the best as I feel they're more versatile. There are quite a few dead North Dakota coyotes that will attest to the fact that they work. No electronic calls for me. From there I got interested in bowls, pens, etc and have spent a fair amount of time with hollow forms(vases with small openings) which is really what I should spend more time with. I find them the most challenging. I give most of my turnings away or throw them in the closet in my shop and my wife will go through my stuff and hound me until I finish them. Most of my wood stuff is finished with tung oil. I use a Vicmarc chuck most of the time but have used most of the other stuff too. For shaving brushes my favorite material is cast acrylic. It's very hard stuff. I can only get about 2 brushes before I have to resharpen my tools, I literally wear them out. If you think straight razor are difficult to sharpen try some turning tools once. I've had to make some of my own tools for turning cast acrylic but use skews and bowl scrappers also. I always drill on the lathe and try and finish as much as possible on the lathe but there is a fair amount of hand work done off the lathe. I would encourage turners to develop style with the items they are turning. I usually don't like anything I do when it comes off the lathe, after a few days I can look at it more objectively. I am my severest critic. One thing I'll admit to is that I like problems and I like to figure them out myself. I'll add some more later and try and round up some of my turnings and take a few pics. There are some very artistic people in my mother's family, I didn't get that gene but learned to work around it sometimes. Have a good one.
Your brush handles are ... (Wait for it) Legendary! Folks who own them seem very happy to have received one. Can't wait to see what your other works look like!
Agree completely with the need to develop your own style. Your handles are stunning and instantly recognizable. I have often used Tung Oil for finishing wood as well, but have stuck primarily with marine grade Urethane for brush handles. I use scrapers as well. I also have a Crown Tools small fingernail grind gouge/beading tool that is very good for intricate work. I don’t find myself reaching for the Skew very often on handles, to be honest. Do you make your handles one at a time? I have only done a few resin pours- a question I have for someone who is very experienced with it: What do you use for casting forms?
Yes, I only make one at a time. I will mix my own finish at times too. I would like to try pouring my own resins, maybe this summer sometime. I like color. I have played with stabilizing wood. I worked for the city and knew the City Forester quite well so if he found some interesting wood he'd usually save it for me, basically burls. I live in an area that's not a tree rich environment. Unfortunately my straight razor habit keeps me broke most of the time so I don't have the the cash needed to experiment as much as I'd like.
Thank, Paul, but you don’t see the ones that hit the garbage! My next resin/wood combo after this one didn’t harden properly. I think my basement was too cold, actually. Ended up binning a few blanks.
Super rad topic. As far as approach goes... First, music is turned up real loud- Motorhead or Bongzilla would both be excellent choices. Then I'll rip the blank on my table saw so it's pretty square. Mount it in a chuck with a live center and part off the very top edge so it's clean. Drill out the hole with a forstner bit on low speed, sand, and coat with 4 layers of CA if there's anything non-resin exposed. If the hole only goes into resin I'll leave it alone. Flip it around and attach with pin-jaw chuck. Turn high speed to final shape with a live center. Remove center and finish bottom. Drop to slow speed and sand, 10 coats CA, wet sand, polish, and buff all in reverse rotation. ( I find it easier to do this stuff with the handle pulling away from me rather than pushing towards me.) These were the only pics I had on hand- 3 different blanks but you get the idea.
