Communion Plate

Hi Everyone,
Well, I've been really busy catching up on projects and one that I just finished is a communion plate. I have a friend who is an Episcopal priest and he is about to embark on his first position as the vicar of a church in Minneapolis. He's a wonderful soul who loves what he does and will be absolutely smashing at this new job.

And to celebrate this I've made him a communion plate. It's made out of black walnut, American cherry, and red oak. It's laminated and as you've seen me make many plates and bowl out of laminated blocks, I won't elaborate. But you do get to see the photo:

Many blessings Phil and God bless!

VW

Some History and Wood Working-Richard III's Coffin

Hi Everyone,

Well, here's a posting you don't see everyday and it concerns the discovery of English king Richard III.

Richard III's remains were discovered underneath a parking lot in England about a year or so ago and through DNA analysis, some of his descendants were found living in Canada. One of them, Mr. Michael Ibsen is a cabinet maker and he was asked if he would make Richard's coffin for his reinternment, which is to take place later this week.

The coffin was made out of English oak and yew, two historically important woods in English history. It's a first rate looking job and it's interesting that Richard's great great nephew is a cabinet maker.

Anyway, here is a link to an article about Richard and the coffin:
Richard III's Coffin-Daily Mirror

VW

My Nephew's Salad Bowl-completion photos

Hi Everyone,

I've finished my nephew's salad bowl-here are the completion photos:

Zilla Luna, the official SWW shop mouse couldn't resist getting into the act:

I also finished a small, individual salad bowl that I made last year. This bowl will be delivered to the folks who get the walnut platter (I'll post about this later this coming week):

Laminated turning blocks are a good way to go for bowl turning material. Just make sure that you glue up and clamp the block tightly so you have a solid block to work from.

Ok, I'll be placing this in the mail tomorrow. I still have the walnut platter and the jar lids and I'll start those tomorrow as well.

See you then,
VW

Shop Safety

Hi Everyone,

Those of you who have been reading the blog for a while will remember my mentioning Arizona wood turner Lynne Yamaguchi and the terrible turning accident she had several years ago. She was injured  when a piece she was turning suddenly came apart and hit her on the left side of her face. She had a long recovery from that and has been getting back into turning.

She wrote a very good article that details her injury, treatment and recommendations re turning safety and it's a good idea for everyone to stop and read it. Here is a link to her article:

http://lynneyamaguchi.com/Yamaguchi_SafetyMatters.pdf

Remember to be safe in the shop-you're worth taking care off!

VW

The Annual Mother's Day Turn-O-Rama will be back for a third year!

Heads up everybody,

The Third Annual Mother's Day (May 10 in the US) Turn-O-Rama will be back this year! This year's project will be a small turned wooden gift box for your fav mom. As always a step by step posting along with photos will be on the blog site and this year I'll be doing the project a week ahead of time so folks who want to replicate the project for Mother's Day will have time to do so. Stay tuned!

VW

Salad bowl for my nephew

Hi Everyone,

Well, the temperature outside is 65 degrees-perfect turning weather so here we go.

In my previous blog I mentioned a salad bowl that I was working on at the time my lathe broke down last year. It was to be a Christmas present for my nephew Michael. He's quite a fellow-he's swimmer and a lovely young man whose had some really difficult health issues over the past 5-6 years. He's come through that trying time with flying colors and amongst many other characteristics, he's a very healthy eater, hence the salad bowl.

The bowl began as a laminated block out of hickory and lyptus wood. It's about 11 inches in diameter and about 4 inches deep. I had finished turning it and I was sanding it when I stopped working on it. Today I picked it up again and here is a photo of it:

This is a closeup shot of the interior and if you look carefully you can see scratching inside of the bowl:

So I placed it on the lathe with the intent of finishing the sanding and getting the finish on it. I sanded it for about an hour and I barely made a dent in the scratching. If you look carefully below, you'll see the scratching is still visible on the surface:

I could re-cut the interior but after all these months, the bowl isn't perfectly round any more so that's not an option. It has to be sanded. So I decided to go ahead and put a coat of salad bowl varnish on the bowl with the idea that the varnish will dry and stiffen the wood fibers on the surface. Hopefully this will make sanding and smoothing easier to accomplish.

So that's what I did. This is a photo of the bowl at present. It doesn't look bad from a distance:

But a closer look shows the scratching on the surface:

So I'm going to let it dry for several days and then place it back on the lathe for more sanding. Stay tuned for more about this project.

VW

Replacing the On-Off Switch on the Delta Midi Lathe 46-455 and 46-460

Hi Everyone,

Before I begin this year's postings I wanted to let the wider wood turning community know what replacement switch works with the Delta Midi Lathe. If you have the same problem of a worn on-off switch here is what I used:

EReplacementParts

Delta Switch 
Part Number 489105-00 

http://www.ereplacementparts.com/switch-key-p-82956.html

If you have a question re the installation of the switch send me a note.

VW

The Lathe Works! Selkie Wood Works Returns

Hello Everyone,

Well, it's been a while since I've had a post here on SWW but I am returning with great news-my lathe is up and running once again. I finally found a switch that works and the lathe runs forwards, backwards and at variable speeds. So I can resume turning wood once again.

I haven't worked in the wood shop for a while as its been so very cold here this past winter. I really thought that I would not be able to resume turning and so I packed up everything. So later today I'm going to unpack my equipment and set up my shop again and get back to work. So I'll be posting regularly from now until it gets too cold at year's end.

I have several wood turning projects that have been uncompleted-a salad bowl for my nephew Michael and some jar lids for a friend of mine-and that I'll finish and post about so you can see them. I also have two lovely young friends who are getting married later this year and I'm going to make them a large salad bowl as a wedding present and I'll post about that as well. I also need a few things myself such as a larger cutting board for my kitchen and a small table for my deck and we'll do those together as well. And my youngest son is moving out this summer and he needs some stuff too and I'll post about those as well.

So you and I have a busy year this year so grab some coffee and drop by the wood shop. The adventure begins again!!

Best Always,
VW