Just Turning: September 2011

Hi All

Day 2 of turning Monkey Puzzle.

Began shaping the log

While leveling off the bottom the log had a suprise in store. A couple of old hidden branch Knots. What has probabley happened here is that the branches either died or were broken off when the tree was quite young as they start quite close to the centre. As the tree grew it enclosed the stub of the branches until eventually they were hidden completely. Looking at the growth rings I would hazard a guess that this must have taken about 40 years. Not sure how these are going to behave, I would like to keep them to give a bit of interest to the bottom but old branch knots like these have a habit of dropping out just when you don't want them to so they may have to go!

A second branch knot but not as large.

Continued shaping the outside profile. At this stage I am just removing wood to obtain a pleasing curve. As things progress they shape may change completely.

At this point I turned the speed up another notch, still quite a bit of vibration but not enough to worry about. This is the problem with having a wooden floor in the workshop, when the lathe moves....so does the floor:) There is a way to cut down on this but I am looking out for an old kitchen worktop or something of a similar size so I can bolt it to the floor:)

More turning.....

I will have to set up the SLR camera on a tripod with time release as it is waiting for an accident to happen taking shots like these:(

At this stage it looks like a plant pot, would be good for plants but not as a turned piece, so more wood to come off.

As the shape of the curve increases this reveals more of the grain pattern, if this remains once it has been sanded and finished it will be a bonus, this shows up more on this side of the log as there is still quite a bit of sap in there. It is not clear from the photos (taken on camera phone) but there is some nice delicate grain in there as well. I am feeling a lot happier about not having the branch growth rings I was hoping for.

A little better shape but still needs some work

And of course a picture of where the wood has gone to, I cleared away the pile made yesterday and made a fresh pile:)

These curly shavings show that the tools are sharp and the wood is cutting well.

Final shot before I call it a night and go in for a cuppa.

It's Bible Study night tomorrow so wont get in the workshop. Hopefully may get some time at the weekend depending what "jobs" are lined up for me:)

Keep looking and God Bless

Hi All

Not posted anything on here for nearly 2 years!

This is a WIP (Work In Progress) account of a bowl made from Monkey Puzzle (Araucaria araucana) from a friend at work who had this cut down as it had died and was in danger of falling on her house.

The tree surgeon took the majority of the wood and I hear he is a budding woodturner so I think he has taken the best bits which show the branch growth which is the trademark of a good Monkey Puzzle bowl because, as you will see, there is non evident in this piece.

However, I had to try it on the lathe as soon as possible as any wood has design opportunities:)

The piece started off at 14.5 inches in diameter and 10 inches long.

I centred the piece as much as possilbe and dropped the speed down on the lathe to the lowest as I didn't want the lathe vibrating and walking out the door.

There was still a bit of vibration as God doesn't make perfectly round trees, but it was manageable, that's the beauty of wood, every piece is unique.

As you can see below, it only just fits on the lathe between centres.