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Chapeau

The reason you need to seal the wood - with almost anything - is because of the hugely different rates of evaporation between along-the-grain (i.e. up/down the tree) and across-the-grain. The first evaporates up to 10x faster than the second. If you think about it the tree lives by passing water...

Similar bad experiences with eucalyptus - by all means have a go while it's green on the 'just for fun' principle. The thinner you get it the more it - potentially - moves....and it seldom has a very interesting grain either. Conifers vary hugely in size and form and potential, the turning...

Two thoughts..... 1 - silver birch has a reputation for rotting very quickly, so however long you decide to keep the logs checking them regularly for signs of rot (goes very spongy/soft) 2 - don't forget that real turners don't do waiting very well, so have a go at some green turning just for...

Lovells +1, or even +2, since I was so pleased with the first one etc etc Does the job perfectly. And absolutely firstrate customer service.

From a dim and distant greycell......Japanese oak was one of the few hardwoods available to woodworkers in UK (Europe?) both between the World Wars and after WW2. This at a time when the homegrown variety was in short supply. Which may well account for it's presence. So it's probably not...

Agree it's best to do the whole thing. trouble is that with time the felt moulds itself v closely to conform with the way it was laid....which means that torn or otherwise damaged it'll be v awkward to patch successfully. Another feature of the felt moulding to the roof/location is that it also...

A bit late for the vote, but I'd go with Elm. I've got some old Wych Elm which looks very similar. I've also noticed Elm tends to whiff a bit when worked (tho possibly just my luck to have a couple of smelly pieces!).

"Conifers" is a bit generic, but broadly speaking they're all ok at least for practice. In fact some folk will tell you they're very good for practice cos it's difficult to get a really good finish on what is a relatively soft wood with long soft fibres....but some can be quite close-grained and...

I'd agree that the 'mystery' wood looks like walnut.

It's the baby of the Record range - a handy size if you don't have much space. from memory it sold at about £175. Chucks vary in price per the type - collet chucks probably £35 to £50 new, scroll chucks probably £100 or more. Record chisels start at about £20 now. Generally an overall offer of...

Another thought for you to consider - Shavings management! When the shavings start to fly they will go everywhere and anywhere, and there will be millions of them! And then there's the dust from final sanding...... Anyone - including non-turning woodworkers who think it'll be a bit like a...

The RP3000's been around for quite a few years and usually works ok. It is fiddly when compared with a scroll chuck, but it's about half the price. You do need to make sure that your wood is a good tight fit in the jaws (The elastic band is only really used whilst you're assembling the...

From dimly remembered art classes many moons past......the head is one seventh the height of the entire body....and the legs and the trunk are respectively three sevenths of that same overall body height. Not too clear perhaps....if the soldier is - say - 5ft 10" high, so 70 inches, then his...

Free wood is always attractive! Search this forum (use the search facility above) for info/tips on preparing green wood and logs as this topic has been covered many (many many!) times.....and as you rightly suspect be prepared for some of it to split long before you get in on the lathe!

Being only a moderate obsessive, I only checked about half a dozen big retailers bangle sizes (M&S, Debenhams, Monsoon, Next, etc)....and all - as you might have guessed! - came out close to 65mm. Which is one of the reasons why your range of available sizes will be very well received! A...

Physics never was a strong point of mine.....but I seem to recall that some car cooling systems may be pressurised up to 2 atmospheres? Or sometimes more? All in the interest of maintaining a suitably hot operating environment.....Or is that complete wossnames? Whichever/whatever - any increase...

Laurel does tend to bland, but as a plus it can sometimes take quite a bit of detail - not a box sub by any means!

Agree with all the above, but...........as you might have gathered from browsing this forum one man's lathe is another man's grief machine. All I'm saying is keep trying different makes/models/setups until you find one that works best for you. The time investment will pay off. As you try each...

Most commercially sold bangles (eg John Lewis, Co-op, Monsoon, Next) are 65mm, most Caucasian hand/wrists will range from about 62mm to about 70mm, many Asian hands/wrists will range from about 52mm to about 62mm. There will of course always be exceptions to prove rules!