To Everything, Turn…Turn…Turn
Alan's Turning Log – Adventures in Wood Turning
Category: Tools
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Quite some time ago, I tried my hand at creating a “knot” design in a block of wood. I was limited back then because I was trying to make the cuts in the blank with a handsaw. My cover picture is the result of that trial. It turned out reasonably well, but the “strands” in…
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On Thursday night this past week I attended a Sharpening class at Lee Valley Tools. They have great classes from time to time, and I like to take new ones to learn different skills. This sharpening class however was the second time that I have taken the same class. The first time I took the…
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Most wood turners have a bandsaw to cut their turning stock for the lathe. These tools are very expensive and I have not yet saved enough for one. I can cut my blanks with a handsaw, and in fact did for many months, but then I started using my scrollsaw. The problem with a scrollsaw…
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I was making my first bowl last weekend (to be posted later) and in the “burnishing” of the outside of the bowl, I accidently caught my thumb on one of the chuck jaws. It wasn’t too bad, in terms of the potential dangers of using a lathe, but it was enough to make me stop…
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One of the best advances in wood turning has come from the world of metalworking in the self centreing jaw chuck. There are certainly ways to make anything on the wood lathe without a scroll chuck, but this speeds up many of the processes dramatically. When I purchased my lathe almost a year ago, I…
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I chucked up one of the Maple Offcuts from Lee Valley this morning. Wasn’t sure what I was going to do when I started. I was just winging it. I really wanted to work with some of the other tools, to try and see how they cut, and what kind of technique to apply. I…
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This blog all starts here with my new General International 25-200M1 Midi Lathe. More than I thought I was going to spend, but I have been looking for something since my class last September. I wasn’t sure whether the stand would be sturdy enough, but so far things are going well and the stand works…
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I was at Lee Valley (Again) the other day and found a bin of 4 X 4 X 12 blanks of Maple. Apparently they are offcuts from a Baseball Bat manufacturer… or something. Lee Valley is selling these for $1 each. A great deal for “practice” wood. Had my first mishap with the lathe that…
To Everything, Turn...Turn...Turn 