Monday, March 24, 2008

Woodturning

One of my professors is big into woodturning. He has a workshop with 4 of these huge lathes in his basement.
When I was a kid my grandpa had a lathe that I used to use. My professor has been teaching me how to turn more complicated things like bowls. My professor knows a guy who cuts trees for a living and he brought by some fresh pieces of wood one time. The first one I turned was out of green dogwood.
It is actually a lot easier to turn green wood but when its done it warps into a sort of oval shape. I like the look of the warped wood a lot because it looks unusual.

My professor wanted me to make a salad bowl next but I wanted to make a noodle bowl because we eat so much Thai food. On Saturday I turned a noodle bowl.
It was out of dry maple so it didn't warp at all. You can see it on the lathe in the top photo. After turning it I used a saw to cut the wedge out of the rim. Then I drilled the hole for the chopstick rest.

I am in the process of finishing it so that I can eat out of it. After my last wet sanding I have to wait at least 6 weeks to use it. Expect to see it in future posts a couple months from now.