Thread Chasing: #4

 

Here's another Pear wood canister with a threaded lid. It measures 1.75 inches in diameter and 3.25 inches tall. This is my 4th attempt at thread chasing and the first time I got good alignment and tight-fitting threads. I still need practice though. This isn't easy, but I'm getting better at it. This canister was finished as the other recent turnings: Wet sanded using butcher block wax/oil and sanding grits up to 400. This wood feels like satin to the touch. Beautiful wood, though not much in the way of grain, it turns and finishes very nicely.

Top View

Bottom View

Side View with knurling and beads.

With cap off, showing 20 TPI threads.

Thread Chasing: 3rd Attempt

 

Side View

My 3rd attempt at thread chasing on this Pear wood canister. This started out as a 4 inch tall canister, but with each failed attempt at threading (3 of them) it kept getting shorter as I cut off the bad threads and started new ones. I finally got it to align (badly) but it does twist together and close tightly . . . but barely. So I ended up with this "stubby".  This measures about an inch and a half tall and an inch and a half in diameter.

Top View

Bottom View

 

Side View showing threads.

Learning To Chase Threads

 

I'm teaching myself how to make threaded containers on my lathe. I'm using the Sorby Thread Chasing Tools to accomplish this. That takes practice. In this case I'm making 20 TPI (Threads Per Inch) tools which are pretty small, with easy-to-break threads. You need to use hard, tight-grained woods.

So, this is my 3rd attempt. I'm getting a little better each time. This one's not bad. The thread alignment is a little off but it works, and closes tightly. I'm using Pear wood here again. I like this wood for turning. I'm also using the Sorby Texture tool here as well. I'm liking this tool, and having fun experimenting with it. 

This canister measures 1.75 inches in diameter and 3 inches tall. Wet sanded up to 400 grit using butcher block wax/oil. 

Top view

Bottom View

Knurling on cap.

Threaded Pear Wood Canister

 

Trying something new. Here's a Pear wood canister measuring 1.5 inches in diameter by 2.5 inches tall. My first attempt at a threaded lid. It's not a great result. The threads just barely match up but it screws on tight. This Pear wood is a dream to turn. It's a beautiful wood though not much grain. This has a finish on it that feels like satin, and it was only wet sanded with mineral oil. No other finish added. I'm looking forward to making more threaded boxes to get better at this. I'm using the Robert Sorby thread chasing tools to do this. 

I also got a new texturing tool; the Sorby mini-texture tool. Considering that this was the first time I touched this tool to wood, the result isn't too bad. This tool can make a wide variety of marks on wood. I'm looking forward to exploring its possibilities.

Please pardon the dusty merch. 

Making Inside-Out Christmas Tree Ornaments

 

 

 

I'm just learning this technique but getting better at it with each ornament I make. I thought I'd document the process so you can see how it's done. This is one of several ways of making the inside-out ornaments.

3 More Inside-Out Xmas Ornaments

 Here are 3 more inside-out Christmas tree ornaments. I turned one yesterday and the other two today. On these, I painted the insides gold. I left the outside plain, unstained wood. The wood will darken some with age, more of a golden brown color. Each of these is about 5 inches long and 1.5 inches in diameter. I made a video of make one of these. I'll post it when I'm done editing it.

Small Plum Wood Box

 

Here's a small Plum wood box I turned today. It measures 3 inches high and 2.25 inches in diameter. It was wet sanded up to 400 grit with butcher block oil. Feels like satin to the touch. There's a textured detail on the bottom and a blue glass marble knob on top. There are a couple of small patches of bark inclusions. I cut ring details on the bottom.

Small Plum Wood Bowl

 

Here's another Plum wood bowl, 4.25 inch diameter and 1.5 inches high. Wet sanded up to 400 grit with butcher block oil. This one has a notch in the rim where there was some rotten wood. There are bits of bark inclusions in places (the very dark wood). Very nice, all natural colorful grain. I did a little textured detailing on the bottom. This is nice wood to turn. Fruit wood is hard but cuts nicely on the lathe.

Plum Wood Bowl

 

Here is a 6 inch diameter, by 2 inch high Plum wood bowl I turned on my lathe last week end. This is wood from a small Plum tree in my yard that was killed by disease. There is a small amount of spalting in this wood, as well as a bit of "fiddle back" grain. There is also some bark inclusions on the sides, bottom and rim. The color you see is all natural. There is no stain used on this bowl. This bowl was wet sanded up to 400 grit with a butcher block oil containing citrus oil and  mineral oil.

Plum Wood Lidded Box

 

I made this Plum wood lidded box today. I have some funky Plum wood from a tree in my yard that died this year. I cut it up and set the usable pieces aside for wood turning. This box was made from a couple of small piece of that wood. It measures just over 2 inches in diameter and 3.5 inches tall. It had a loose-fitting lid with a finial. I made a detail ring on the inside of the lid as a decoration using my home made texturing tool. Fruit wood generally is nice for turning. It cuts well and has nice grain. This was wet sanded up to 400 grit, this time using a product called "Butcher Block Conditioner". It contains citrus oil, mineral oil and natural waxes. I'm trying this as a new wet sanding and finishing oil. I'm liking it so far. Wood turners call lidded things like this a "box". So, if you turn a bowl and make a lid for it, it's then called a box. There was a split down one side of this that closed up once I hollowed out the interior. You can see it in the second photo. This came out rather well, I think. I can't wait to try turning a larger piece of this wood. 

Christmas Ornament

 

Trying something new: Woodturning an inside-out Christmas ornament in spalted Maple wood. It measures 4.5 inches long and 2.25 inches in diameter. It's a bit difficult to explain how this is done. I need to make a video showing the procedure. Essentially, 4 long blocks (square on the ends) are temporarily glued together, then turned with my ribbed design. Then it's taken off the lathe. The blocks are pried apart, turned 90 degrees so that the ribbed design is on the inside, then glued together permanently. Then I turn the outside. It's tricky and a bit difficult to do but it came out OK. This was my 2nd attempt at this. The first one came out OK but doesn't look very good. Below is another shot of the same piece.

Pear Wood Canister

 

Click on an image to see a larger version

 I had this small piece of Pear wood with cracks in it and a bark inclusion, and weird grain going in all directions. Can I even make something out of this? I'm a bit surprised it came out as good as it did. I got the grain to line up with the lid. I hollowed out the interior with a Forstner bit and finished the inside bottom with a spindle gouge. I pulled the bark out of that little cavity because it was coming apart as I turned this thing. Fortunately, that cavity had a textured black lining, so it looks even better than I planned. There's also a small natural hole in the side, which doesn't go through the wall of the canister. I left it as is. I added beads to the top and bottom edges of the lid and the bottom. I formed a short faux knob on the lid top. There's also a textured rosette on the slightly concave bottom. This box was finished as per usual, wet sanding, etc.. Finished finally with Museum wax and buffed. The grain on this is amazing.

Another Pear Wood Bowl

 

Click on image to see a larger version.

This Pear wood bowl measures 6.5 inches in diameter and 3 inches high. This one has rounded sides and includes a couple of small knots. The grain is a little nicer than the last Pear bowl I posted. The finish treatment was as usual: mineral oil wet sanded up to 400 grit, then high-speed burnished with its own shavings. I added a center texturing detailing on the outside bottom of the bowl. That black spot you see in the detail ring is a knot. You can see the other end of the knot on the photo of the inside of the bowl.

Pear Wood Bowl

 

I made a nice 7 inch diameter bowl, 3.25 inches high from a Pear wood log section. The sides on this bowl are nearly straight vertically. There was a bit of bark still attached at the edge of the base, but it fell off. I left that spot as is. I did some texturing detail at the center of the bottom. For this I used a home made, by me, texturing tool. It involves rotary carbide burr Dremel bits set in bearings at the end of a tube, with a handle on the other end. Hold this tool, at different angles, against a rapidly spinning piece of wood to make interesting rosettes. The rings were cut with the tip of a parting tool. This wood is a dream to turn. Cuts nicely and finishes beautifully. As usual I wet sanded with mineral oil up to 400 grit. This bowl feels like satin to the touch. 

Small Pear Wood Dish

 

Here's a 4 inch diameter dish, 3/4 of an inch high, made from Pear wood. This wood is a real pleasure to turn. This was wet sanded with mineral oil up to a 400 grit, then burnished with its own shavings. The grain is subtle but beautiful.

I have some larger pieces of this wood from which I plan to make bowls. . . soon.