Lacewood bowl

The thickness is nice and even and the color is great. Sometimes we get so excited, we just can’t wait to see the finished product and…Oops. I think it gives it an added flare.

-- Jesus is Lord!

How did you chuck this, Steffen?

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

I started out by screwing the blank to a face plate so I could rough the outside and turn a tenon on the bottom. Then I put it in my Oneway scroll chuck and turned the inside of the bowl. Then I turned it around again and put it in the Oneway chuck with the Oneway mini jumbo jaws and turned the tenon off the bottom.

It was a lot of chucking and re-chucking for such a small bowl. Plus, it would almost be worth the expense to have a second chuck to mount the mini jumbo jaws because they are a pain to take on and off. (I know I’m gonna loose a screw one of these days)

http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/cgi-bin/shopper?preadd=action&key=130-1175

http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/cgi-bin/shopper?preadd=action&key=930-0800

-- Steffen

How was it turning the lacewood?

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

I didn’t like it. It was very very hard and it dulled my tools very quickly.

-- Steffen

I’ve always admired lacewood, but never thought about turning it. So, would you do it again? I’m guessing – no, but you tell me!

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

yes I would do it again but with much better tools…it really needs a really sharp edge and with the crown tools I have they are just too soft and don’t hold the edge well enough. It’s a very beautiful wood…

-- Steffen

What tools would you go for?

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

something like a Cryogenically treated M2 HSS. According to what I’ve read they hold an edge somewhere around 6 times longer. Then there are the hamlet tools which are made by powdered metallurgy technology and they hold an edge 4-5 times longer than stander M2 HSS.

I haven’t been doing it long enough to really know the difference. I bought my set of 8 crown tools from CL for $75. I’ve decided they are going to be my training tools for sharpening and all that so I don’t mess up the nice tools when I buy them. The tools I have are really great and for everything except that lacewood bowl they have been more than enough. I would like a scraper with a longer handle but I can just make a new handle for the one I’ve got, although that means buying the bed extension for my jet mini-lathe.

-- Steffen

Sounds good on the tools! I just have that Jet mini too, and cannot wait to upgrade!!! I really want to turn big bowls! But, I keep spending my dough on other tools that seem to be priorities…

$75 for the Crown tools was a steal! When I got my little lathe off of CL, there was a set of Sorbys (not complete by any stretch) and I picked those up too. I imagine they’re pretty similar to the Crowns? Are the Crowns standard HSS? Those Hamlet tools ARE impressive.

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

Yeah, I don’t have the dark handled crown tools…mine are just standard HSS. Nice wood box and all…I think I got a pretty good deal on them. My next purchas is going to be the 8” delta grinder with the wolf system…

-- Steffen

Exactly! I just picked up the Wolverine with a 25% rockler coupon and have the 8” Delta VS grinder on the list, but I have a 6” grinder and two individual 1725 motors that are set up for grinding, so I’m a bit hesitant to leave the old (very functional) set ups behind!

One of the motors is used with that Veritas grinding jig and the other with a shop made support to hold the Vari-grind jig, wihich I purchased on its own, before getting the main Wolverine jig.

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

Lacewood is indeed a bitch to work with.BUT look at the results. You coulda turned the bowl outa pine, but then what would you have. the easier a project the less total satisfaction.

-- Dan

Great looking bowl. Looking at the reflection in the middle of the third picture, did the wood shrink after it was turned>

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

Nice bowl!

I was tempted by those jumbo jaws, so I could snip the tenons off the bottom, but I’m holding out for a while until I upgrade into a full size lathe so I can get the larger ones.

Karson,

The wood was a little difficult to see the variations while turning it. I should have rubbed some oil into it while I was turning it. that’s just bad tool work on the bottom exagerated by the gloss finish.

-- Steffen

Thanks HandsOgold I appreciate the encouragment…

-- Steffen

Thanks for the reply on chucking, Steffen. I was wondering if you used vacuum chucking. The cole jaws are something I just ordered. I’ve been turning a dovetail recess into my bowls to chuck them with exspansile jaws. I like the security of the tenon but don’t want to go nutty with vacuum chucking.

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

Tom,

I looked at the vacuum chuck and it seemed a little too elaborate for me right now. I imagine when I get into more complicated projects it may come in handy. Most of the articles I’ve read about other turners seem to show less not more when it comes to tools. I don’t know, maybe we all have to go through the begining phase where more seems better. I watched a video I got off of netflix of Raffin turning boxes…dang he makes it look simple…using only three tools.

Has anyone seen the video on the woodworkers channel of the guy who turned the 600+ lb oak log into a table base? It’s pretty amazing.

-- Steffen

Haven’t seen that one, but have seen the Raffan and Stubbs bowl turning videos. Also, a kind of funny find from the library (worth watching though):

Wood turning into art [videorecording] / featuring, Jerry Crowe.
[S.l] : HandyCraft Media Productions, c2005.
Other Authors: Crowe, Jerry
Handy Craft Media Productions.
Call#: DVD 684.083 W95089 2005
Description: 1 videodisc (73 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in.
Summary: Demonstrates techniques for turning wood into lasting art treasures. Covers from the selection of the wood to be used through all the processes to the finishing touches.
Notes: DVD.
ISBN: 0976779730

If you have access to the videos on FWW, have you seen the Turn a Green Wood Bowl series?

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

Very nice, Steffen. Your work is very crisp and I like the way you photograph your work – quite professional.

-- CanuckDon "I just love small wooden boxes!" http://www.canterburybaptist.org/

Love the bowl, but I am particularly drawn to the concentric rings on the bottom. Nice touch!

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

Beautiful turning. All the way around, just fantastic.

-- Carpe Lignum - Seize The Wood,