We setup the shop for the workshop tomorrow and lopped the corners off the pecan slabs with the bandsaw.

John showed me some of the pieces he brought to inspire the students. My head is already reeling with the possibilities.

Waiting until tomorrow when the workshop starts is like a 5 year old awaiting Christmas.

We are going to have so much fun.

More tomorrow.

Mike

One of the pieces Ed showed us at the Chesapeake Woodturners meeting was a small flower vessel that he had veined. I still had some billets from the Beechnut tree that came down in a storm in June of 2008. Turned the vessel to shape and drilled a hole to hold the flower frog in the center.

Sanded to 220 grit and began the veining process using my Dremel tool and a diamond encrusted disc from Harbor freight. Overall it took 3 sessions to complete the veining process total time about 2 hours.

Next I remounted the vessel on the lathe using a chuck to hold the top of the vessel using the hole that will contain the flower frog. Finish the bottom of the vessel to define a clean line between the veining and the base of the vessel. Added my signature and finished the pieces with 3 coats of Watco Oil and epoxy set in the flower frog.

Here is the final result.

For the workshop we concentrated on turning a mini-blossom and then using a variety of tools off the lathe to carve and enhance the simple turning into something unexpected. We start with a block of dry hardwood roughly 3 by 3 by 4 inches. For this exercise we used walnut and cherry, but any basic hardwood works for these techniques.

Secure the blank in a four jaw chuck and begin by rough turning to a cylinder. Turning the bowl portion of the blossom is similar to turning a goblet. Start with the outside shape – see the attached sketch for dimensions and basic shape. Leave sufficient wood on the headstock end of the turning to permit carving of the blossom stem.

Once the outside has taken its basic form drill a 3/8″ pilot hole to a predetermined depth to mark the bottom of the inside of the blossom. Hollow the inside of the blossom taking care to match the exterior shape and finish with a wall thickness of about 1/8″. Remember that we are going to sand the interior and carve the exterior so too thin a wall thickness could lead to holes in the final blossom. Finish the interior of the blossom using scrapers and sandpaper to at least 400 grit.

Now that the interior of the blossom is finished it is time to visualize the stem making sure that the length of the stem runs parallel to the grain to resist snapping off the stem during the carving process. Once you have determined the basic layout of the stem, excess wood is cut away using a Japanese saw while the piece is still in the chuck. This helps to minimize the carving time and helps the eye see the stem as you carve. We used three cuts at various rotations to remove about 50% of the excess wood.

Now the carving begins. Using a Dremel tool and a small sanding drum the stem is “carved” from the stock remaining after the Turning and cutaway process is completed. Make sure you wear protection for your eyes and respiration as this process creates a lot of dust. In the workshop it took me about 40 minutes to shape the stem of my mini-blossom. The one key to remember is that we are going to use a small diamond disk to add the “veining” enhancement to the exterior of the blossom and we must make sure the disk can reach the bottom of any curves in the stem without aggressively removing material for the sides of the curve. Ed’s suggestion was to keep the disk you plan to use handy and check often.

With the shaping of the stem completed the next step in creating the blossom is to carve the petals on the rim of the blossom. An even number of petals always seems to look unnatural so for this blossom we chose 5 petals as the proper number.

Now it was time to start the veining effects using a diamond encrusted disk that fits in the Dremel tool. Using short pulling strokes the disk both burns and cuts the exterior of the turning to create a veining effect. Lots of over lapping strokes and accepting the basic premise that random looks more natural than perfect parallel alignment increases the visual effect of the veining. Make sure you “cut through” the edges of the petals to complete the effect and to smooth the edges of the petals to blend them into the interior and exterior of the blossom. One nice benefit of this form of enhancement is that the exterior of the Turning needs littler initial and no final sanding.

Veining is a technique that works well on a variety of pieces. Ed’s philosophy is to try it. After all at worse its only firewood.

Last Saturday Aug 22nd the Chesapeake Woodturners held our annual turnout and family picnic at Kinder Farm Park in Millersville, Maryland. What made this year special was a visit we made to the blacksmith shop at Kinder Farm maintained and operated by the Chesapeake Forge Blacksmith Guild.

Guild members have been working with members of the Chesapeake Woodturners to create various tools used in the wood turning process. Currently we are working on variations of the hook tool that has been championed by Alan Lacer and while it is possible to make the tool using standard shop equipment, using the expertise and capabilities of a blacksmith shop just couldn’t be passed up.

The tool making process begins with a 12-14″ length of O1 drill rod. The smithy heats the steel in the forge to about 2200 degrees - bright cherry red in color and then begins to shape the cutting end of the tool by hammering the drill rod flat for about 2 inches reheating as necessary.

The tool is reheated and when at the bright red stage the smithy forms the hook at the end of the tool. The image to the left shows a typical bowl gouge and the shape of the hook tool. We are experimenting with different hook diameters, shapes and sizes. Hook tools are especially good when working end grain and help to eliminate tear out.

Now that the basic tool shape has been attained its time to begin the process of hardening the tool so that it will hold its shape and a good cutting edge.

First step in that process is to reheat the working end of the tool to a consistient bright cherry red. Attention to detail and patience is need so as not to burn away the hook. The forge is worked by the smithy to ensure a constant color over the entire hook area. Then he quenched the heated tool in olive oil. Olive oil has a flash point of around 450 degrees and finishes with the tool in a hardened but brittle state.

The tool is test for hardness using a file or a grinder. If properly hardened the hook area of the tool can not be filed with a standard file.

While in this state to tool is hard but brittle and would shatter if we tried to turn wood at this time. The working wnd of the tool needs to be tempered. This is the process of slow heating hardened steel to a particular temperature softening the steel just enough to hold an edge and hold up to the pressures of wood turning. For turning tools this temperature is 490 degrees.

Best palce to accomplish this is in the kitchen oven. Place a clean tool on the rack in your oven set the temperature for 490 degrees and when the oven reaches that temperature hold it there for 60 minutes. At the end of the hour turn off the oven and allow the tool to cool slowly. Add a handle, sharpen the hook on the outside edge to a bevel and a cutting edge. Hone with a slip stone and head to the lathe.

Great day and a great visit to the blacksmith shop. Find a blacksmith in your area and between the two crafts an endless arrary of special turning tools can be yours for a very low cost. Don’t forget to repay the smithy with a special turning with the tools he or she helped you create.

Cheers and keep making shavings

Mike

An Antique Froe

To render the stock components we will use a froe. I have had the froe I use for over 20 years and was an antique when I bought it at an estate auction. A froe is a tool for riving wood by splitting it along the grain. It is used by hammering its blade into the end of a piece of wood in the direction of the grain, then twisting the blade in the wood by rotating the haft (handle). Th woodworker uses the haft as a lever to multiply the force upon the blade, such that it possible for wood to be torn apart by even a small froe with remarkably little force applied to the haft. There are several sources of froes available on line and well worth the investment if green wood working is in your future.

The next couple of tools you can and should make yourself. The first is a simple V-block. We use the V-block to firmly stabilize the turned legs when drilling the first set of holes for the tenons on the rungs. The V-block is an 11″ length of 2×4 with a v-channel cut using a table saw.

Basic Project Supplies

The next tool is a dibble stick. Usually associated with gardening we will use our dibble stick when weaving the seat of our stool. My dibble stick was turned from a scrap piece of teak I had in my “I can’t seem to throw this wood away” box. Approximately 4 inches along pointed on one end and rounded on the other. The last tool you will need is a story stick. A story stick is a simple device that allows you to repeat measurements and markings without the variations of measurement. Our story stick is a 1/2″ wide by 1/4″ thick piece of handy scrap stock. I transferred the key point of the stool leg and then use it to begin each stool. I also have a 1/2″ hole drilled in one end to permit hanging the story stick near my lathe and of yes it is the size of the tenon on each end of the rungs.

Also appearing in the above picture are two examples of materials that can be used to weave the stool’s seat. As in our previous post, the walnut stool has a seat woven from fiber rush. The poplar stool in the first post has a seat woven from danish sea grass braided into a cord. All of these materials come in several diameters and there are several good online or look in the yellow pages in your town for seat caning supplies. Aone pound hank of this material will do one seat of the style and size I am presenting in this blog and generally should be less than $5.00 in cost.

Well here we are – start gathering and making the special tools you will need to begin working with green timber turning. While you are doing that I will be searching the roadside and yards for some new logs for our stool project. In the next installment I will go over stool dimensions and riving the components from the green log and preparing to turn our stool pieces.

Cheers
Mike
www.thewoodenquill.com

Turned Walnut Stool

But first a little background. I learned this technique from Temple Blackwood an awesome turner and a great teacher. Temple is also a member of the Chesapeake Woodturners a chapter of the American Association of Woodturners. He is by far a master of spindle turning and the skew chisel – one of the least appreciated tools in the woodturner’s toolbox. The first stool I made – pictured here – was as a student in an intermediate woodturning class where Temple was one of the instructors. As an aside no matter your skill level join a local chapter of the AAW near you. I have learned more in a short time from this giving community than is possible from years of trail and error on my own. Back to the project at hand. The turned frame components for the stool uses basic wood turning techniques and only 3 or 4 different turning tools. Preparing the stock for the turned components will draw on techniques that have been in use since the 17th Century. So as a final tease here is another example of the turned wood stool that I made from a poplar log I found laying on the side of the road after the electric company trimmed some trees near my house. Total material costs for this stool was $4.00 for the one pound of sea grass I used for the seat.

Turned Poplar Stool

So enough tease for now I’m off to the shop to work on the next segment. Coming up – “A look at the tools not usually associated with woodturning” Cheers Mike “The Wooden Quill”