Creme Coolibah - WIP

[Kathy Marshall]

The blank was a Christmas gift and I can tell you that I was absoultely thrilled to get it !
Since the lathe was down, it's just been sitting and staring at me, laughing at my inability to do anything with it. Well, who's laughing now ?
I took it out to the shop and contemplated how to mount it to get the best use of it. It basically was the shape of a clam shell (a giant one), thick on one end and tapering down to the other end. My plan was to turn an off center bowl with a very wide rim. I started it between centers, putting the spur drive as far away from the thin edge as I could and still leave enough clearance for it to spin. At the widest point, it was about 15" diameter, so with a 16" swing, I wasn't able to get it as off center as I wanted and it was REALLY out of balance, max speed of about 200 rpms.
So I removed it from the lathe and gave it a little more thought. I finally decided to swivel the head about 45 deg, that was enough so the ways wouldn't be in the way. To mount it, I used the screw chuck plate I got from Jerry Marcantel. I screwed the plate on the face and then mounted it in my chuck.
The DVR has a nice long banjo, but it's not quite long enough to get the tool rest out to give full access to the piece. I solved that problem by using reverse and turning on the right side of the blank. My new remote control is a godsend for this piece, I would not want to have to try reaching around it with the head swiveled out, to try and use the manual controls since there's really no room since the table saw it as my back and when the long wing swings around, there's probably less than 1 foot of clearance.
I've just taken the one pic so far, just have the tenon turned on the bottom. I now have alot of the waste removed, but needed to come in for a break before continuing. All of the intermitent cuts are taking their toll, along with the fact that I've lost a little of my turning condition while I've been lazing the days away, and turning in reverse feels a little backwards and feels like I'm using different muscles. I've also lost the calluses on my hands from holding the tools.
2013-02-02_15-17-54_182.jpg
I'm hoping to have the bottom done tonight, so I guess I better get back to it!
More to come ......

[Jerry Marcantel]

Kathy, I hope you see my reply before you get hurt. That chuck plate I gave you is supposed to be used between centers only........ Jerry (in Tucson)

[Allan Ferguson]

Get it in the chuck! Now you need the outboard turning attachment. There was one in SMC classifieds a while back, great for a project like this one.

[Kathy Marshall]

Kathy, I hope you see my reply before you get hurt. That chuck plate I gave you is supposed to be used between centers only........ Jerry (in Tucson)

Jerry, it held on with no problems. It probably helped that I was turning at such a low speed, about 250 rpms, and was taking light cuts. But I'll remember the warning in the future.

Get it in the chuck! Now you need the outboard turning attachment. There was one in SMC classifieds a while back, great for a project like this one.

Allan, the outboard attachment is on my list, but I'm not in a big hurry. The logs I usually get very rarely are over 16" diameter, which I can turn over the ways.

[Kathy Marshall]

Got the bottom pretty much finished, but I've got alot of sanding to do on it tomorrow. The bottom is an ogee shape, which doesn't show much in this pic. There's definitely a little learning curve in turning in reverse, or it could just be that this wood is hard. The pic doesn't show it well, but there's some nice streaks of color going through it.
Tomorrow I'll start on the inside, and then I'll worry about how I'll turn off the tenon.
2013-02-02_20-16-58_68.jpg

[Rob Boesem]

Can't wait to see that piece with some finish on it...That's going to POP!!!!

[Allan Ferguson]

That is looking nice.


























I have the outboard unit. It would provide easy access to the in side of bowls of any size. You just have to have room to stand, 90 degrees out from the lathe. Your bowl is looking good and has a promise of good coloring.

[Brian Kent]

I get it. WIP is "Work in progress", right? It takes me awhile.

[Kathy Marshall]

I think this one is going to take awhile to finish .
After I did some chores I went out to the shop and started sanding the bottom, and sanded and sanded.... about 2 hours later the sanding was done (I'll probably do some wet sanding on it when it's done).
I reversed it in the chuck and started leveling the top, about 1 1/2 hours later and it was almost done (the leveling that is) and that's where I stopped for the night. Tomorrow I'll clean up the rim and start hollowing the bowl.

These pics show the color a little better, but it should really pop after I apply some oil.
2013-02-03_18-35-054.jpg2013-02-03_18-36-014.jpg

[Kathy Marshall]

This is where I'm at now. Last night I got the face trued up, tonight I cleaned it up a bit more and did some sanding on the rim before I started hollowing the bowl. After the face was trued up, it reduced the diameter just enough so I could turn over the ways and turn in forward instead of reverse.
I'm hoping to finish the hollowing tomorrow, but it's slow going.

2013-02-05_19-43-039.jpg

[Tim Rinehart]

Oh my...that's going nicely! Look forward to seeing it once finished. Love the irregular natural shape.

[Kathy Marshall]

Tonight I got the inside finish turned and sanded. All that's left to do is finish off the bottom and then add the finish, which I'll do tomorrow.
I almost wet it down for the pics for a little preview of what it will look like with some finish, but decided not to.

2013-02-06_20-38-028.jpg2013-02-06_20-38-053.jpg