Lathe Projects

[TexasBob]

Thanks for the comments and project inspiration.

Half the epoxy leaked out... I mixed up a different color to refill it. Lesson learned seal waaay better.



I keep scraps around so no epoxy gets wasted.




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[John Paul]

Wow. I bought a new lathe this last year and wow what a learning curve. Had two blow up on me and having a hard time with mesquite. I think I need to find someone to learn from.

[eaglegolfj]

Wow. I bought a new lathe this last year and wow what a learning curve. Had two blow up on me and having a hard time with mesquite. I think I need to find someone to learn from.

There is a lot of good stuff on youtube. I have had a few pieces that have come apart on me before as well. When I start a new piece. i get it as close to center as I can. Then stand to the side and run the speed up slowly and let it run for a bit on full speed until I feel comfortable enough that it is not going to come apart. Face shield is a must.

[SamHarper]

That got cool quickly.

[TexasBob]

Tried one of my homemade blanks. Lots of tear out on the epoxy but even the wood wasn't smooth. Feels like my tools are dull- easy wood tools rotated to a fresh section. Perhaps i need new cutters for them.

[Bill]

I’m putting in a 13x30’shop in our retirement home. A new lathe and my old Yamaha surround sound system are 2 things going in there.


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[ctom87]

Man had some cool looking wood I purchased, yellow with brown streaks. Unsure what tree it came from... Just looked cool as a blank. I thought it would turn out yellow once turned, and I had intentions of cutting it in half and making 2 pens that were lsu colors with a purple heart blank and maybe giving them away here.

Unfortunately, that was not the case. The yellowish blank turned into brown, and it looks like a t*rd sitting on top of a beautiful piece of purple heart. It has been relegated to the junk drawer.

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[3ChordTruth]

Hey ctom87, that looks to me like you started with a piece of osage also called hedge apple, horse apple, bois d'arc, bodark, etc. Working or cutting that wood first results in a beautiful, golden color, and then over time the sun’s UV light will turn the wood to that brown color. The best self bows are made of osage, and they all start out yellow and turn that brown color. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. All of my osage self bows have turned that brown color, and all the osage bows made by Native Americans now in museums are that brown color. That’s just what osage does, and to me that brown is beautiful. You did a nice job on that pen, and cool idea to have LSU colors, sorry the yellow did not stay yellow. I like the two wood colors you ended up with anyway, and I say don’t leave that nice project you made in the junk drawer.

[ctom87]

Hey ctom87, that looks to me like you started with a piece of osage also called hedge apple, horse apple, bois d'arc, bodark, etc. Working or cutting that wood first results in a beautiful, golden color, and then over time the sun’s UV light will turn the wood to that brown color. The best self bows are made of osage, and they all start out yellow and turn that brown color. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. All of my osage self bows have turned that brown color, and all the osage bows made by Native Americans now in museums are that brown color. That’s just what osage does, and to me that brown is beautiful. You did a nice job on that pen, and cool idea to have LSU colors, sorry the yellow did not stay yellow. I like the two wood colors you ended up with anyway, and I say don’t leave that nice project you made in the junk drawer.

Lots of great info here. Thank you for sharing! Had no idea I was turning Osage... Just bought it from a junk pile at my local Woodcraft. I am not familiar with the properties of Osage as you are, but I did know that Osage was great for bows. Personally I don't care for the color combination. If I can get another slimline pen kit, would you want the "twin" that I end up making from the two remaining halves of each blank?

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