Cherry Log Vase - Creation Process

[Matt Hutchinson]

If I'm not mistaken, he also has my lathe. It would be so sweet to own an Oliver #26.

[Gary Conklin]

There is a guy here in Charlotte NC that doe's it all the time.He is has a web site to show his trrnings.His last name is Anatolle. I think thats how you spell it.Had the site saved on another computer but it crashed.

http://www.anatolytsiris.com/?page_id=28

[Jeff Nicol]

Hutch, Just to add to what we have been dicsussing in PM's , the biggest thing is to have more weight outside the hollow form. This compensates for the leverage as the length over the tool rest gets greater as you go deeper. I don't have a captured system yet so I use the right tools and try not to take too much wood each pass. There is a guy in Hawaii that uses some very long handles on his tools and that is the key to keeping ahead of the whole deep hollowing operation. Since you are going to have a fairly large opening that you will be hollowing through so you will be able to get a tool rest made to go into the throat to keep you as close to the cutting tool as possible.

We will all get you to the end of your dream, I believe you have a good idea of hollowing out the bottom too, this will mean that you may only have to hollow the top about 3' or so.

E-mails later.

Jeff

[Mike McAfee]

Since you are going to have a fairly large opening that you will be hollowing through so you will be able to get a tool rest made to go into the throat to keep you as close to the cutting tool as possible.
Jeff

I was wondering if that was an option! I only dream of turning in the LARGE at this point but hope to make it a reality some day!

Good luck with the project and I'll look forward to the updates!

MMc

[David DeCristoforo]

Thans for the link. Interesting stuff and without a doubt LARGE. But, at the risk of being arrogant, I don't really like most of these forms. They seem somewhat graceless to me even though the scale is impressive.

[Cathy Schaewe]

this will mean that you may only have to hollow the top about 3' or so.


Jeff

Wow.

[alex carey]

David I completely agree, both the links lead to very impressive work as far as size goes, but the shapes they make generally don't work for me either.

[Neil Strong]

.... There is a guy in Hawaii that uses some very long handles on his tools and that is the key to keeping ahead of the whole deep hollowing operation.

Jeff, I think the turner is Elmer Adams. There is a series of videos on YouTube. A good starting point here. Why anyone would think Soren Berger has a hard accent to understand beats me....

....

[Thomas Canfield]

You might look at Elmer Adams website www.elmeradams.com . He is a turner of big urns on the Big Island. I have enjoyed seeing his work there and it is bigl. He has some description also.

[James Combs]

Here's another guy who likes to turn "big stuff"..

http://www.virgiltreeart.com/Welcome...7/Default.aspx

When I got into turning just a few months ago I didn't realize it could lead to forklifts and chain hoists. Oh my oh my. Hey LOML your going to have to sell a few more pies.

[Jeff Nicol]

Hutch, Here are a few that I need to get finished one of these days, the range from 16" up to around 28". They are good sized and yours will be huge in comparison, but I have hollowed these all out with out a captured system and not that large of tools. I do have the 6' long 1 1/4" steel harpoon that I use for the real deep areas but most are done with a 4' long old pry bar that I have retrofited with different cutters. I like the feel of what I am working on and that lets me know what the cutter is doing and if I need to change the angle or speed or whatever may affect the cutting happening. It will all come together and the monster will come to life!

Jeff

[Matt Hutchinson]

So now that the hollowing rig has been delivered, the piece has finally been started.

1) I started by figuring out where exactly I wanted the axis of rotation to be. For this piece to turn out the way I envision it, the axis angles across the log away from the concave curve. I then trimmed the ends and drilled holes to locate the centers.


2) After lifting the log one end at a time onto the lathe, I 'cribbed' it up until the centers aligned. A friend was there to help me with this.


3 and 4) To attach the log at the headstock I drilled a 1.5" hole 3/4" deep, followed by a 1.375" hole 1" deep that would engage the spindle threads.


Once everything was attached securely, I manually gave it a spin. Man oh man, talk about weight being to one side. The thing dropped to the heavy side like a rock. I was nervous to say the least.

Oh the apprehension......would it actually work?

[Matt Hutchinson]

So I decided to put the thing under power. I put it on the slowest speed, about 40 rpms, stood the side and threw the switch. AND......the slippery leather belt couldn't get enough friction on the wooden wheels to overcome the log's inertia.....lol. My friend and I had to hold the logs weight at the top of its swing, then let go and throw the switch to kinda "kick start" the operation.

IT WORKED! At that speed, not a bit of movement could be felt in the machine.

1) I proceeded then to make the first cuts. Holy cow it was slow. So tedious that I couldn't take it.

2) I then decided to trim away more material with my chainsaw, kick up the speed to 120 rpms, and give it a try. I was a little uneasy, but the lathe only had a gentle sway to it.

3) And the real cutting began. Definitely a bumpy ride at first, but much better than at the super slow speed.

4) I continued cutting until it was at a point where it was ready for my photographer. Tomorrow he will be taking action shots of the process.

I then reveled in the awesomeness of what was happening. I am so excited and can't wait to fire it up again tomorrow morning!! Here's a short video I shot of the spinning piece.

ArtPrize Piece Roughout

Hutch

[Baxter Smith]

Impressive looking pieces! Looks like a whole different kind of turning!

[John Keeton]

Hutch, you got GUTS!!