johnny.t.
Established Member
Hello all, I took me camera out to the shed today and made a large(for my lathe) spalted Sycamore bowl.
First off I chainsawed up a log into a suitable roundish shape and drilled a hole for my screw chuck.
Next I mounted it on the lathe with the screw chuck and brought up the tailstock and then removed the lumps and bumps to get it a bit more in balance.
Then I roughed out the basic outer shape, at this point I noticed just how punky the timber was, so oil was applied to lubricate the final very light cuts with sharp a scraper.
Due to the punky/soft nature of the timber I decided to not trust the tenon I had left and instead cut a socket for the chuck jaws. Then a quick sanding with the drill using 120,240 and 320 grits.
The bowl was then reversed and hollowed out leaving a bit in the middle for support with the tailstock(I really didn't trust this piece of timber :lol: ) The punkyness was even worse inside.
The bit in the middle was broken out and after lots of light cuts the soft bits were still tearing out a bit so I resorted to wetting the soft bits with superglue and letting sanding dust from the sandpaper to fill them up.Then it was sanded the same as the outside.
Finally it was finished with boiled linseed oil. Its 11" wide 5" tall. I am left with the socket in the base to sort out but it needs to go back on the lathe for a bit of a buffing in the morning after the BLO is dried out.
JT
First off I chainsawed up a log into a suitable roundish shape and drilled a hole for my screw chuck.
Next I mounted it on the lathe with the screw chuck and brought up the tailstock and then removed the lumps and bumps to get it a bit more in balance.
Then I roughed out the basic outer shape, at this point I noticed just how punky the timber was, so oil was applied to lubricate the final very light cuts with sharp a scraper.
Due to the punky/soft nature of the timber I decided to not trust the tenon I had left and instead cut a socket for the chuck jaws. Then a quick sanding with the drill using 120,240 and 320 grits.
The bowl was then reversed and hollowed out leaving a bit in the middle for support with the tailstock(I really didn't trust this piece of timber :lol: ) The punkyness was even worse inside.
The bit in the middle was broken out and after lots of light cuts the soft bits were still tearing out a bit so I resorted to wetting the soft bits with superglue and letting sanding dust from the sandpaper to fill them up.Then it was sanded the same as the outside.
Finally it was finished with boiled linseed oil. Its 11" wide 5" tall. I am left with the socket in the base to sort out but it needs to go back on the lathe for a bit of a buffing in the morning after the BLO is dried out.
JT