Got A Blow Out

[William Young]

No . . No . . not on a tire on my pickup truck . . It was on a bowl on my lathe .

Oh well , it happens occasionally especially with nice spalted wood .

But all was not lost. When I band sawed out the bowl blank I was able to salvage enough of the waste from the corners of the wood to make three bottle stoppers.
The wood was free in the first place so it's not a problem and I just chalk it up to experience (or lack of) .
It was my own fault for trying to get the walls that thin on that type of wood.

W.Y.

[greatdane2]

Is the wood flying of dangerous? Being accident prone that part of using a lathe scares me. I did try a wood lathe in grade 8 and lets just say I went back to the metalwork shop.

[William Young]

Is the wood flying of dangerous? Being accident prone that part of using a lathe scares me.

Not really. It didn't fly out . It just dropped down . I was actually sanding on low speed when that piece broke out. Spalted wood is very light in weight.
I didn't even have my face shield on for that piece.
A person learns to stand to one side or the other of the spinning piece rather than directly in front of it.
But there are some pieces I turn that I do use a full face shield just to be on the safe side. They only cost about $15.00 and are good insurance if in doubt about a piece being turned.

W.Y.

[campasano]

Well Bill, all was not lost the bottle stoppers came out great, I guess we learn by our mistakes.....Mike

[Dragon]

Bill
We see a lot of beautiful pieces that you turn but do you still scroll some? Just wondering.
Diane

[William Young]

Yes Diane, my scroll saw still gets a good work-out every now and again.
I have a bunch more desk signs to take to this Sat mornings craft sale for two different customers. I get a lot of repeat orders on those.
I do enjoy turning more than fretwork though because I have done my share of cutting many thousands of little holes in fretwork pieces and making a lot of nice projects only to find that my turnings are much more readily accepted and can be made a lot faster and easier and bring way more profit per piece than my scroll sawing pieces did.

I find turning more relaxing and less stressful than sitting at a scroll saw cutting out thousands of little pieces of fretwork and repeateing the same thing over and over and over for hours on end in order to make a fretwork clock like I used to and then there was assembly to do followed by finishing.

I wish I had got a lathe years before I did because so many neat things can be made on it and a professional quality finish can be applied in many cases right on the lathe instead of setting up spraying equipment after doing the fretwork and going through the finishing process as another time consuming step. It is also nice to be totally free of patterns . They are not required for turnings. Also , 95 % of my turnings are done with free wood . No more time consuming and expensive milling wood down into panels before even starting the fretwork or buying expensive panels of wood. I sold my $600.00 jointer a few years after starting to turn because I wasn't milling down oak into panels anymore. That paid for a good lathe and accessories.
Just put a chunk of wood on the lathe (usually from the firewood pile) and make a saleable item of beauty in short order.

It is nice to have both a scroll saw and a lathe because it greatly increases my variety at craft sales and more variety always means more profit. .

Oh . . did I mention I really enjoy turning ? ?

W.Y.

[bearfretworks]

Originally Posted by William Young

snip......................

I didn't even have my face shield on for that piece.

A person learns to stand to one side or the other of the spinning piece rather than directly in front of it.
But there are some pieces I turn that I do use a full face shield just to be on the safe side. They only cost about $15.00 and are good insurance if in doubt about a piece being turned.

W.Y.

Choice is a wonderful gift. No two of us choose the same way. I choose to ALWAYS wear my faceshield as I've found that no matter where I stand, it WILL hit me if it is supposed to hit me.

No disrespect meant W.Y. Nice stoppers BTW.

[William Young]

I choose to ALWAYS wear my faceshield as I've found that no matter where I stand, it WILL hit me if it is supposed to hit me.

I agree and that is the safest way. .
It is nothing but carelesness on my part.
W.Y.

[William Young]

Tried again with another piece of the same wood.
That wood is so badly spalted that it is hardly worth wasting time on because the soft areas are so soft that even sandpaper gouges out the punky areas .
I just wanted to see if I could get another bowl out of it . I oiled this one with tung oil and it is just for show on one of our shelves because it is too fragile to sell or give away.

Spalting is beautiful if caught at the right stage but when it gets to the point of too much decay it is best used for firewood.

W.Y.

[bearfretworks]

Too bad that is so punky as it is nice looking!!!!!

Have you ever used a "hardener"? I have been known to liberally soak a nice yet punky piece in poly. Then turn. CA works well if just small areas.