Wood turning: small canister

I made another small canister (1.5" X 3.25") turned from a small piece of Mahogany. No stain or finish except woodworkers wax..

Lathe-turned chain-pulls

I made some chain-pulls for the ceiling fan/light fixture in our dining room. These are about 1.25" wide and 2.5" long. These are made from scrap wood pieces found in my shop. I made a third one for another ceiling light in my studio. Just looking for something to made to get some practice with different lathe tools.

A tool-making tool

The other day while doing ceramic restorations in my studio, I needed a mallet to tap a piece into place. All the mallets I have are way too big for the job. Then I remembered, "Hey, I have a lathe. I can make the mallet I need." So, I found some scraps of Oak and glued them together. When the glue was dry, I put it on the lathe and turned a mallet head just the right size: 1 inch wide and about 2.5 inches long. I drilled a hole in it to accept a 3/8 inch hardwood dowel and I was in business. I will glue a piece of rawhide on one of the faces of the mallet, so I have a hard side and a soft side.

Another small bowl

I turned another small (1.5" high X 3.5" wide) made from a 2x4 scrap from my shop. For this one I had a bowl gouge. It's kind of rough, but a 2x4 isn't a real good wood for this kind of thing. I'm surprised I actually got a bowl formed from this wood. Knots are not good in wood turning. Can be dangerous. It does look kind of cool though. I'm not doing another bowl until I get some better wood.

More from the lathe: my first bowl

This is my first attempt at turning a bowl. It's a pretty small bowl (2.75" wide X 3.25" tall) made from Redwood. When I turned this I didn't have a bowl gouge yet. Very tough, and kind of dangerous, to do the inside of the bowl without a bowl gouge.

More lathe turnings

My next lathe turning: a small wooden canister (1.5 inches wide X 3 inches tall). Made from Cherry wood, from a tree branch in my own back yard.
This is kind of an advanced project for a beginner, but I didn't know that when I started it. This took about a half hour to make. The lid fits perfectly, opens with a pop.

I got a lathe recently

I got a lathe recently. The first thing I turned was a handle for a file: a real simple item to make. The photo to the right is of the second thing I tried turning: a mini wooden vase. Looks like a duck call.
I haven't used a lathe since high school. That was a long time ago. I'll post the things here that come out of the lathe. Stay tuned.