Few bits from the last few months

[Hitch]

As usual no big exciting projects from me, but thought id share a few recent(ish) bits and bobs.
(One or two may have seen these on my FB page)

Been a pretty busy summer, so time for 'garage stuff'has been a bit limited.

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Pen, Spalted Beech barrel, superglue finish buffed back.

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Bolt action pen, a bit different.

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Pink ivory, actually timber that is naturally that colour, nice to work with.

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Peg shelf. Custom size, a peg each for each day for her two children.

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Ash bowl, with coloured pencils, purely experimental, turned out good. Gave this to my Daughters teacher last year, shed had put up with her for 2 years, and was retiring. There was a series of problems, mistakes with it, but each problem held the final result, looking at it, i'm glad it didnt turn out as first intended.

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Pen barrel from an acrylic blank, bit different this one, the cap is magnetic.

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Bit of a prototype this one. The other half saw it on the interweb, and wanted one Better quality pencils will be the key too mk2. Hopefully will get around to doing a better one soon.

[Retired]

Hi,

Top work Hitch to be proud of; very well done. Spalted Beech always looks good but is dangerous stuff to work due to the toxic dust but is fine if precautions are taken. The Pink Ivory is expensive timber and endangered species but comes up nice.

What finish do you use; what lathe do you turn on and what type of chuck do you use for your bowl work? Do you ever do any "chatter" work? I bet you know where "Turners Retreat" is and where "Craft Supplies" used to be?

Bron and I used to love a trip to Craft Supplies when they were based down the valley in Millers Dale; they then moved to another location in Derbyshire which was out in the sticks then sold out to "Turners Retreat" which we plan to visit someday.

http://www.turners-retreat.co.uk/

Thanks for sharing; I find it most interesting.

Kind regards, Col.

[Hitch]

Cheers

I tend to wear a half mask most of the time.
The pink ivory is very nice, but as you say, fairly expensive. Think that blank cost me about £1.80, so not really much dearer than most other exotics.

Finish, the spalted beech was done with CA, about 8-10 light coats.
The pink ivory i think was carnauba wax stick.

Lathe is an old Record RPML300, quite small, but ideal for the sort of things I like to do. The chuck, is a RP2000, Its a little on the small side really, but i use glue chucks a fair bit.

Cant say I have done any intentional chatter work

Never been to Craft Supplies/ Turners Retreat, bit far out for me. I tend to use a more local place which is fairly popular, Yandles.
Usually combine a trip there with a visit to my favorite cider farm as its only a few miles away

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks for your update Hitch. £1.80 isn't much for the amount of pleasure and enjoyment you derived from using the pink ivory. It looks excellent.

The old Record lathes are very good lathes; basic but robust and of cast iron will last forever. Bron kindly bought me my first new lathe from Tabwell Tools in Bakewell for Christmas about 25 years ago costing then £199 with a basic set of three turning tools; about a month later the same lathe was on sale at £99 which bugged me so much I complained to Record MD but didn't receive a reply. I still have this lathe and will never part with it; Later I bought a precision chuck to fit it but was never happy with the chuck which I believe cost £80. With three speeds via belt change it is still a delightful lathe to use. I bought a huge Dominion 2hp 3 phase lathe this being around 8' long with massive cast iron castings but I was running this and my Colchester Triumph lathe through a Transwave converter which I detested so much I ended up selling both lathes. I've also owned a couple of Union Jubilee lathes and recently bought a Union Graduate which I fully rebuilt adding 1.5hp 3 phase motor powered via an Huanyang VFD giving variable speed; I always aspired to one of these Graduates but for many years they were out of my reach financially; both the Record and Graduate are lathes I intend to keep. I bought a new Sorby Patriot chuck for the Jubilee which I won't sell but I do keep forgetting to buy a new excert adaptor so that it will mount onto the Graduate.

Yes I realize my local woodturning suppliers are too far for you to reach but I just knew you would have heard of them as I have Yandles; strange isn't it how turners soon get to know all the woodturning suppliers by name even if they cannot reach them? I believe Yandles offer woodturning blanks at reasonable prices and have a good stock and good selection?

For members unfamiliar with chatter tool work in a lathe here is a very interesting video; please note how fast the blank is roughed down at lightning speed.



The following video shows a Sorby texturing tool being used;



Sorry to hijack your thread Hitch but woodturning is such a rewarding hobby which can be practiced at little cost and is only limited by the operators imagination. I've not yet used my Graduate apart from turning a few test pieces but when I get the chance I like a session on the lathe; do you burn rings which is so easy (but dangerous) to do costing extremely little but adding character to a piece in seconds; I like the smell whilst burning which lingers in the garage for ages.

Kind regards, Col.

[Hitch]

Sounds like you have a good setup then. If I had space i would probably get a larger setup.
One day

A friend of ours was round yesterday evening, shes very interested in having a go at turning, wanted to know about it, so I turned her a bottle stopper whilst she watched, at some point she will be coming round to have a go herself.

Virtually identical to this one i did a couple of weeks ago.

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[Chop]

I've not put my hand to a lathe since GSCE's and that looks deceptively easy but I imagine a it takes a good deal of precision to match the components?

Do you buy the pen blanks or strip pens to make another?

[Hitch]

The pens need to be quite precise to match the components, they need to be well within 0.1mm, or you can feel a step between the parts. Some require a little less precision than others. You buy the kit of the metal parts and also the timber /acrylic blanks.
Lots of different designs available.

[adonis]

Those pens are lovely Hitch, shame I am not on your Xmas pressie list
I am always amazed at the shown skills on this site,
I wish I had the patience and the space in my shed to learn how to do that.

[ultimatehandyman]

Brilliant work as expected Hitch

I love the Bolt action pen, that is quality.

[nick200]

Quality work as always Hitch

[wine~o]

I want one of those.....

[Hitch]

Cheers guys

[mailee]

Wow, Hitch, those pens are beautiful mate. I can appreciate what work has gone into them. I do have a lathe but don't get much use out of it, normally only use it if I need to make spindles and the like for my furniture. You have some truly stunning work there.

[breatheasy]

Great stuff Hitch ! I like the magnetic blue pen especially.I watched the video 's Col. put on and it's magic to watch

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks Hitch; yes I've got a good setup for making most things from wood or metal and I like to make rather than buy where possible not only to save money but for the enjoyment of doing so. Lovely bottle stopper and I bet you really have encouraged your friend to take up woodturning; good on you; well done.

I'm pleased you liked the videos breatheasy and now you've seen a chattertool in action I don't wish to steal Hitch's thunder but here is my home made chattertool which cost extremely little but was an interesting project for me;

Machining flat..JPG (353.05 KiB) Viewed 4790 times

Turning handle..JPG (293.57 KiB) Viewed 4790 times

Completed chatter tool..JPG (304.54 KiB) Viewed 4790 times

I mounted a length of BMS (bright mild steel) into the tool post of my small Clarke lathe and added the flat; yes lathes can be used for flat work as well as turning; I used a milling cutter but a single point fly cutter could also have been used. I then turned the tool cutter retaining collar and drilled and tapped it to accept the securing set screw. The beech handle was an easy turning job on the Record DML24" and I added a couple of wire burned rings. A note about such wire burning; it is extremely dangerous for a novice doing wire burning because proper handles are needed for safety at each end of the wire; to simply wrap wire or in fact anything around fingers or hands whilst using a lathe which is in motion can and will result in loss of limbs. The cutters are strips cut from a plain cabinet scraper. The tool works well although I've only done a couple of test cuts and I still don't have time to play with my kit in the garage.

Kind regards, Col.