Interest in a beginner's turning class?

[aed...@yahoo.com]

I need a new carver's mallet, among many other things, which I plan on turning. If there is any interest I'd be happy to guide others along as I turn one.

I believe the lathe you have is large enough for one, as well as the Shopsmith if it can be configured right, and I could bring in my lathe for a total of three. I only have enough tools for two though so if anybody has a set of gouges that they could bring that would help.

Also if anybody knows of a good source of hardwood, that would really help. Say 3 x 3 x 18 minimum. Larger pieces could be cut down and/or glued ahead of time and maybe even turned down to blanks of course. I can throw some money at this, else I wouldn't have offered, but if we could find some decent exotic or semi-exotic domestic hardwood on the cheap that would be all the better. I have enough sandpaper and oils to finish plenty of pieces, wood would be the only real cost.

Thoughts or considerations? Other beginner's turning ideas?

- Andrew Jones

[Jim Owens]

Can you just use a chunk of a tree? After all these storms I expect the city probably has a fair bit of fallen wood.

Jim

---

From: aedalas via Makers' Alliance <makersa...@googlegroups.com>
To: Makers' Alliance <makersa...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, March 29, 2017 10:29 PM
Subject: [makersalliance] Interest in a beginner's turning class?

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Makers' Alliance" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to makersalliance+unsub...@googlegroups.com.

For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[aed...@yahoo.com]

Well, yes and no. Raw lumber really needs to be dry which takes around a year per inch of diameter. A kiln can reduce that some though. Also the heartwood of most trees is pretty terrible and prone to cracking so you would usually cut that out. Which means that you would need rather thick logs and a chainsaw to process them before drying. It's feasible, but we'd be looking at several years before it could be done unless somebody has some that they started drying out years ago.

That being said, I'm always looking for logs of any cool woods if you come across any. Green or dried.

-Andrew

[Sam Harmon]

This would be really cool! I would definitely be interested.

We have some gouges (one or two sets worth?) in the cabinet underneath the lathe in a blue container. I’ll show you where they are next time.

I believe the Shopsmith would need a chuck or faceplate and a live center for the tailstock- it has a dead center on the tailstock at the moment. I can look into getting those.

I know Woodcraft in Oakwood has various hardwoods, but I don’t know that they’re especially cheap. A search online showed some other potential stores, but I don’t have any experiences with any of them.

If anyone is interested in pen turning, we have a mandrel for the blue lathe, and a bag of assorted blanks floating around somewhere. All you’d need to get are the pen kits available at Woodcraft or online.

Sam

> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Makers' Alliance" group.

> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to makersallianc...@googlegroups.com.

[Jim Owens]

Andrew;

My father in law had a large limb fall off a cherry last year ... it is still intact ... would that be at all interesting? 

Jim

Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to makersallianc...@googlegroups.com.

[Robert McTrusty]

or ash from 2 years ago

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to makersalliance+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Makers' Alliance" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to makersalliance+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

[Bryan Duxbury]

On the other hand, green (wet) wood is the way to go if you're aiming to make bowls. You turn them to rough size / shape when they're green so they cut fast, then let them dry slowly so they don't produce a ton of cracks during the drying process. Plus, it's way easier to find large chunks of interesting wood that's discarded as useless firewood rounds than it is to purchase bowl blanks from... anywhere.

If anyone has any leads on some bigger diameter walnut logs I'd love to have them!!!

-Bryan

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to makersalliance+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

[Andrew Jones]

Sam, a drive spur would work and it's probably a lot cheaper. I've never looked into faceplates but chucks are around a hundred bucks unless you want to trust a Chinesium one at a thousand rpm. On the other hand, with a chuck we could do other neat things like little tops. I made one out of ebony recently and everybody keeps playing with it when they stop by my desk. I'll be stopping by Woodcraft before Tuesday because I can't help myself and end up there every week anyway. I'll see if they have anything good that's reasonably priced.

Jim, I'd absolutely be interested. Unfortunately it wouldn't work for this because it's too soft but the mallet was just a thought. Any other easy turning projects could be done instead. And I'm interested for personal stock too.

Bob, ash would definitely work. Depends on how large the pieces are but two years is a good start. I've been meaning to get to that mill in Peninsula, maybe I could ask about getting some in one of their kiln runs? If not, again I'm still interested for personal stock if you're willing to sell any.

Bryan, absolutely right. I even have a few myself in rough shape drying. Your question about walnut is eerily well timed... I'm heading back home tomorrow to visit my dad who said he cut down a black walnut tree last fall and has some logs for me. They're green, but I'll be bringing a trunk load back Sunday.

I should also mention that I'm not super experienced turning, I suggested a mallet because it's so easy it's hard to mess up. There definitely are other options though. I'm just confident I could teach something like that to a total beginner whereas more complicated pieces may not go as well. Also for all I know you have a bunch of people way better than me.

[Jim Owens]

So go ahead and contact me offline and we can work on the cherry. I am gym...@yahoo.com and my name is Jim.

---

From: 'Andrew Jones' via Makers' Alliance <makersa...@googlegroups.com>
To: Makers' Alliance <makersa...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, March 30, 2017 8:35 PM
Subject: Re: [makersalliance] Interest in a beginner's turning class?

[Bryan Duxbury]

Wooo! I'm dying for some big walnut blanks. The lathe in my shop can spin something as big as 22", so don't be bashful if you've got big stuff. (I could of course figure out a way to do a pickup myself if it's too hefty for you to stick in the trunk.) Maybe I could finally justify buying that coring jig I've had my eye on.

Turning without a chuck is possible but no fun. You can pick up a PSI baracuda for like $150 and it's perfectly solid. I still use this (even though I secretly lust after a bigger / better chuck system.)

[Andrew Jones]

They're trunk sized as far as I'm told. You probably don't want to take a 400 mile round trip into the heart of heroin country for it either. Even I don't tbh. I'll see what I can get back here with then let you know.

It's smaller, but Woodcraft has the Nova G3 on sale for 80 bucks this month. It should handle anything that you could turn on the shop lathes.

[Andrew Jones]

Well, I'm not sure what to think now. I'm not well versed in raw lumber or walnut but this stuff looks like it's 90 percent heart wood to me. What do you think about it?

http://i.imgur.com/WblFDra.jpg

[Bryan Duxbury]

Walnut has dark heart wood and white / light sapwood. The crack in the pith (center) is normal for something that's been sitting. You'll have to cut that out but a few inches on from end should be reasonable chance of solid. 

On Apr 1, 2017 12:34 PM, "'Andrew Jones' via Makers' Alliance" <makersa...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Well, I'm not sure what to think now. I'm not well versed in raw lumber or walnut but this stuff looks like it's 90 percent heart wood to me. What do you think about it?

http://i.imgur.com/WblFDra.jpg

[Andrew Jones]

Yeah, I'm just worried there isn't a whole lot of usable meat there. I grabbed a few pieces though, do you ever come on Tuesdays?

[Bryan Duxbury]

I've actually yet to visit the space. (New in town, still lurking.) Let me know when you're planning to be there and I'll see if I can attend. I'll bring my chainsaws :)

On Sat, Apr 1, 2017 at 1:57 PM, 'Andrew Jones' via Makers' Alliance <makersa...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Yeah, I'm just worried there isn't a whole lot of usable meat there. I grabbed a few pieces though, do you ever come on Tuesdays?