How to ruin a platter

[Haldane]

Hi All

Took some WIP pictures of the platter I was turning for this months comp. But it all went horribly wrong very near to completion, so I thought I'd post them as an example of how not to do it. ( if you can't stand the suspense just go to the last picture )

Started with a off cut of Elm that had been a Shelve/desk in my sons bedroom. It had some interesting natural defects? that I hoped to incorporate into the design

cut a large a disc as possible on bandsaw without thinking ( this was possibly where things started to go wrong, no forward planning, in my defence I was enjoying myself to much to notice )

Came out at about 14" dia

Turned the headstock on the lathe and mounted the wood on a screw chuck and trued up the piece

Rough shaped the back and turned a spigot for the chuck jaws

The wood near the defects was quite soft and i was worried about it breaking away I had planned to use filler with brass powder in the gaps and decided to put some in at this point to try and offer some support to surrounding wood

This turned out to be a bad idea as the wood was strong enough and i just blunted chisels and knocked chunks of filler out.

With the defect on one side of the platter i wanted to try and balance it out so put a small wedge at the back between the chuck jaws and wood to create a slight wobble and then cut some grooves also to try and act as leading lines into the more natural area, if that makes sense?

Anyway got my final shape more filler to replace chunks that I knocked out and also into the grooves ( would have saved a lot of time and filler if i'd just left it to the end. Live and learn! ) Applied lots of finishing oil the timber just soaked it up but while it was wet the grain just popped out it looked great and i new i'd be able to keep adding and build up the finish.

Time to finish the back get the cole jaws out and realise they will only go to about 11" dia

So decided to make temporary plywood set just to finish this project

In my defence the temp jaws worked very well and griped the platter very securely but did make a bit of a strange noise when spinning even at low speed which I have decided to blame for what happened next as it masked the sounds coming from the platter which would have warned me this was about to happen

#-o #-o #-o #-o

Anyway thats how my afternoon's gone, back to the shed to look for another piece of timber but i'm almost certain I will not find anything as nice as the elm!! and not much time left to be starting again!

Dave

 

[jumps]

I think I would be tempted to apply more filler................

Shame overall because the wood certainly looks lively.

 

[gus3049]

How strange that the last shot should have the word 'POW' right by the hole

I too have had to rush this month as work and body got in the way. So its a bit basic - maybe less is more!!

 

[Jonzjob]

If I had that I would turn a tapered hole in the bottom to take a low foot. Turn a foot to fit the taper and also with a tenon so that you can remount the whole and turn the inside face of the bowl. Glue the foot into the tapered hole (make sure the 2 tapers match). Then reverse it again onto you BIG chuck and turn the foot down to whatever you want.

You can either use a contrasting wood, or more likely a peice of the wood you cut the blank from!!

Good 'ere 'init already my boy 8) 8)

 

[petercharlesfagg]

It makes me so happy to see that other people do the same as I do!

I am, nonetheless, unhappy that this has happened, is there no way of cutting a larger hole and gluing in a replacement piece for the base?

Regards Peter.

 

[boysie39]

So near and yet NOT so far!!
as has already been said cut a piece from the waste you have left and patch it up simples. :idea: :idea:
It must be terrible for that to happen :roll: :roll: but now I know what to do if it ever happens to me
Go to it all is not lost

REgards Boysie

 

[Jonzjob]

Al you have to do Boysie is to ask the masters of screw-ups :shock: :shock:

 

[skeetoids]

Hi Dave,

All you've done is force yourself to become very creative. There is loads you can do with this platter to make it even better now. Let it breath for a bit and I bet you'll come up with a beauty.

If I where you I would take out the bottom altogether, say about 2-3 inches wide, turn a ball out of the origianl wood and plug the gap, it will allow the platter to sit on it's edge in a creative way and can also be spun or rotated easily too. Isn't this the month for the creative platter anyway?

Cheers,

Lee.

 

[Leo]

Sorry for your loss,after so much hard work, I know too well,it hurts like hell.
I am though,, glad to see that I am not the only one who does this sort of thing.

Better luck, or should that be better look, next time.

Leo

 

[boysie39]

There you are help coming from all angles, too nice a piece to lose.

Master John, may try for a direct line to you re;cock ups.

REgards Boysie

 

[Blister]

Haldane

Opps !

Shame it did not go to plan , but as others have already mentioned it is savable


One thing I need to point out , having now seen the platter you were going to enter I have a question ?

Would it have been judged ?

The forum members ( Some ) were not to happy with previous rules for the challenge and brought the judging into question

So with Barry's stricter rules and requirements for the Decorated platter Challenge would your entry be within the requirements

It states the following

Decoration allowed in this challenge will be as listed below
1, Carving
2, Piercing
3, Colouring
4, Burning ( Including Pyro work )
5, Texturing

I cant see fiberglass resign use in any of the above

I was going to use " Other types of decoration " but decided not too in case my entry would not be judged or fall within the requirements

Allen

 

[Silverbirch]

Well, the brass inlay is coloured, and it's pierced now too

Ian

 

[Jonzjob]

Be my guest Boysie. I can cock thingd up as fast, if not faster, than anyone else I know 8) 8)

Mr Blister said "I cant see fiberglass resign use in any of the above"

But it isn't fibre glass, there's no glass in it. It's polyester resin and surely if there's a brass enlayed entry then this should be OK? Apart from the fact that this peice has been posted before the photos are posted? Who cares though???

 

[Blister]

Be my guest Boysie. I can cock thingd up as fast, if not faster, than anyone else I know 8) 8)

Mr Blister said "I cant see fiberglass resign use in any of the above"

But it isn't fibre glass, there's no glass in it. It's polyester resin and surely if there's a brass enlayed entry then this should be OK? Apart from the fact that this peice has been posted before the photos are posted? Who cares though???

John

I just read what it said on the tin

Davids

Fastglass Resin

For use with glass fiber mat and tissue

and next to it a bottle of brass powder

Though I would mention the allowed methods for this month to avoid any disputes ( Hopefully [-o< [-o< )

 

[Jonzjob]

Just trying to help Allen :mrgreen:

I'll bet that your glass is always 1/2 full?

That reminds me of why I was an engineer.

To the optimist, the glass is half-full .

To the pessimist, the glass is half-empty .

To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be .

 

[boysie39]

Just trying to help Allen :mrgreen:

I'll bet that your glass is always 1/2 full?

That reminds me of why I was an engineer.

To the optimist, the glass is half-full .

To the pessimist, the glass is half-empty .

To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be .

To an Irishman who loves his Guinness The glass is never big enough.

REgards Boysie

 

[gus3049]

Just trying to help Allen :mrgreen:

I'll bet that your glass is always 1/2 full?

That reminds me of why I was an engineer.

To the optimist, the glass is half-full .

To the pessimist, the glass is half-empty .

To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be .

To an Irishman who loves his Guinness The glass is never big enough.

REgards Boysie

Yup I agree. My cup runneth over so it must be way too small.