2009 Demonstrations

 

Month Demonstrator Subject
January Steve Worchester Hollow Forms
February
Larry Walrath
Kel Mcnaughton's Center Saver tools.
March    Tom Farrell  Metal Spinning on the Wood Lathe
April Alan Lacer  Oval Turning Bowls or Platters
May Ken Rodgers Deep Hollowing Techniques
June Glynn Cox Piercing Demo
July  Delbert Dowdy    Turning Items from Antlers
August Oren Zehner Turning Spheres
September Mike Jones  Turning Negative Space
October Randy Johnson Pen Turning
November
Fred Denke Three Corner Vessels
December No Demonstrator Holiday Banquet.

Nov 2009

Three Corner Vessel

Demonstration for Woodturner’s of North Texas by Fred Denke

Nov 19, 2009 

Our November demonstrator is Fred Denke. He has been turning for about 10 years and also is a member of WNT for about the same time. He is a retired engineer who spent 42 years in the aircraft industry. After retiring in an effort to fill his extra time he started woodturning and has enjoyed the hobby or craft whichever you prefer. To learn the best woodturning techniques he has attendedall the hand-on spring WNT demonstrating.  This month Fred will demonstrate turning a three winged vessel. This project starts with a square block of wood. With some interesting cuts and uses both between center turning and holding with a scroll chuck and a jam chuck will be used. 

          This project is somewhat of a advanced nature.  The cuts and turning tools required are standard.  The use of interrupted cuts and the extended use of remounting the piece is more than use on most turnings.  

Demonstration Handouts :  Hand out 1               Hand out 2

 


 

Oct 2009

Pen Turning

Demonstration for Woodturner’s of North Texas by Randy Johnson

October 29, 2009 

Click for Hand Out

I believe that I joined the club in October or November of 2004. I cannot say that I have been turning since that date since when I joined I had never turned anything in my life. The first meeting I purchased two raffle tickets and to my shock, I learn that if I won I had to bring back a turned item. I had never turned anything in my life, wait a minute, I had already said that. The gods of “raffledom” shined down on me and thankfully I won nothing, story of my life. But I get ahead of myself, how did I get involved in woodturning? It goes back to a past president and a new Wood working store coming to town, Rockler’s.

When I received a flyer in the mail that there would be a pen turning at Rockler’s on a Saturday, I ask my wife if she would like to go and look, after all it was a free demonstration. To make a long story short, she decided that buying a Jet mini-lathe would be a great thing to keep me from being such a couch potato. I caution her that I would need more than just a lathe to turn a wooden pen. She said no problem and sure enough my first slimline only cost a little less than $600. Do you know how many pens you can buy for $600? Well this was in October 2004 when Mike Wallace introduced me to the “Vortex” of woodturning. I have been buying woodturning stuff ever since. My Vicmarc VM-100 chuck cost more than my mini-lathe and for some unknown reason my tools got dull and I did not have a way to sharpen them. The vortex had me and I have yet to escape and the truth be told, it is one of the most enjoyable hobbies that I have ever taken up. I still have my mini and have since added a Jet 1642, can you spell V. O. R. T. E. X.

 I still consider myself a beginner to immediate turner and was fortunate to have my first lesson with Alan Lacer this year. I still turn pens from time to time but have moved into boxes as one of my favorite items to turn. If only it was easy to cut end grain. That is my one area I am still trying to improve. I just turned my first goblet, now I am only three years behind Steve Ott. But don’t worry Steve I don’t think I am going to catch you. In the time that I have been with the club, I have seen a subtle shift it what I believe are many club members interest. When I first came to the club it was mostly bowls, a lot of natural edge bowls and big bowls (Jim Tanksley). That is still the interest of many members but I believe that spindle turning is increasing an area that many members are interested. Part of the reason for this is I believe is because of the ready availability of good well built small lathes that lend themselves to spindle turning. Pen turning is nothing more than spindle turning and the tools for spindle turning are not necessarily the same as with bowl turning. Skews and spindle roughing gouges just do not have a place in most bowl turnings. Technique and tools control are different for each.

Pen turning is where I started in woodturning and will always have a special place in my heart. Hopefully my presentation will kindle an interest in you if you have never turned a pen and maybe address some issues you are having in your pen turning. I hope to see you at the October meeting and hopefully I may answer any questions you might have.

Randy Johnson


Sept 2009

Don’t Avoid the Void

Demonstration for Woodturner’s of North Texas by Mike Jones

September 24, 2009 

Turning wood with defects is almost something that a turner cannot avoid.  Using found wood, wood donated by friends, or going and cutting your own almost ensures that you’re going to end up with wood in your turning pile that is less than kiln-dried perfection.  So what do you do with those less than perfect specimens - especially those with gaping holes or highly contoured surfaces that aren’t straight 4x4s? 

There are many strategies and skills that a turner can use to deal with voids in wood being turned.  Some of those strategies include: 

Walk Away – Sometimes the nature of the void in the wood is such that there are no viable options that allow you to turn the wood safely.  Please note that “safely” is a somewhat relative term and is impacted by the turner’s equipment, skill, experience, and the quality of the turning blank.  A turner should not turn wood in which they feel unsafe to be around.  Better to be safe than sorry. Ask any turner in our club for a scary story about the one that got away. 

Blank Trimming – One of the most obvious ways to deal with voids is to minimize them or remove them when preparing the blank for turning.  Either with a chainsaw or band saw, many times you can isolate most, if not all, of the void.  But be careful, you may be cutting away some of the nicest features the wood has to offer. 

Turn It Off – Sometimes the nature of the blank lends itself to minimizing the void areas and reducing its effect on the finished piece by simply turning the void away on the lathe.  This is effectively accomplished by turning the piece between centers, thus giving the turner a wide variety of options for repositioning the piece before more restrictive chucking methods are employed. 

Focus On It – To me, some woods look boring when in a perfectly healthy state and they only get interesting when they have dramatic rot, water damage, insect infestation, or impressive cracks and voids.  In these cases, choose to highlight the voids in the turning.  With a sense of balance between positive and negative space, you will effectively use the natural effect of the “imperfections” to create a dramatic piece. 

Turning Wood with Voids Safely…

 Special care needs to be taken when attempting to turn a piece of wood with considerable voids.  Some of the items mentioned below are good to observe during any type of turning, others are more common only with defective wood.

Face Protection – Notice I didn’t say “eye” protection!  When turning wood that contains defects, the chance of encountering or causing loose debris is almost a guarantee.  Simple eye protection is not enough.  Get your whole face covered.  Even a smock that comes up around the neck is a helpful protection from flying bark, rotted wood, or dirt clods.

 Hand Protection – Since much of your cutting will be through bark, rotted wood, or around sharp cracked areas, wearing quality turning gloves is a good idea as debris leaving the lathe near your hands can be pretty brutal.  I use an open fingered glove that allows good “feel” and control of the tools while protecting the majority of my hand.

 Lung Protection – Dust is always a threat to the turner and we need to continually remind ourselves of this nuisance.  However, when turning decomposing wood adds the additional factor that harmful and irritating fungus spores and bacteria can be inhaled and severely impact the turner.  Use appropriate respiration protection during all turning. 

Loose Clothing/Long Hair – It is never a good idea to wear loose hair or articles of clothing (unfastened arm sleeves, un-tucked shirt tails, etc.) around turning wood, as the chances of the material being caught in the piece is likely.  This is especially true when the turning blank has uneven surfaces and voids that sometimes attract airflow into and through the turning wood. Fasten long hair into a cap and secure sleeves and shirttails before turning.

 Sharp Tools – Since much of the turning in wood with voids involves making interrupted cuts where first wood and then void is presented to the tool as the piece rotates, it is extremely important to use well-sharpened tools.  A sharp tool cuts easier and requires less pressure to get a shaving.  When a tool gets dull, additional pressure is required for it to cut.  This additional pressure has the devastating effect of pushing the tool into the void and causing dramatic catches. Sharp tools and an easy touch are good safety ideas for any turning project but especially with voids. 

Allergy Protection – Many turners realize that there are specific woods that cause allergic reactions when they use the material.  Please learn what woods adversely affect you and take appropriate precautions.

 Vibration – When turning wood with voids, unwanted vibration is inevitable.  Make sure your lathe is anchored as best you can before turning.  Never turn your lathe on at an unsafe speed.  The vibration can rip the piece from your lathe in the blink of an eye.  For those with adjustable speed controls, start off with the piece stopped and increase the speed to a comfortable turning speed.  Sometimes one needs to speed up or “spin past” a place of destructive harmonics.  This is when the rotation cycles and the mass of the wood work with each other to create the most intense vibration. Sometimes a slight increase the turning speed will get past this amplification of vibration.  But be careful!  Higher speeds also mean greater centrifugal forces that can cause the project to leave the lathe without your permission to do so.

 Examples of turnings with voids…

                                                                         


August 2009

Oren Zehner

Spheres

Hand-out for demo: Click Here

My name is Oren Zehner.  I was born in Tonkawa, OK where I attended Northern Oklahoma College and finished my teaching degree at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, OK.  I started turning in high school and continued while I taught for 29 years both in the public and vocational schools with classes in woodworking, drafting, cabinetmaking and woodturning for high school students and adults.  Once retired from teaching I sought out another career in Microtechnology and Watchmaking.  Currently I am  employed with Richemont North America in Ft. Worth in the Quality Control Department for Cartier, IWC, Baume and Mercier, Piaget and Panerai watches.   

When I graduated with my second career we moved from Oklahoma and settled in Roanoke and one of the requirements of the house was a three car garage where I would have a place for my lathes.  The three lathes I own include a Vicmarc Mini, One-Way 1224 with extension and a VB36 bowl lathe.  I do not specialize in any particular turning style although I like turning miniatures and that was what actually peaked my interest in a watch making career.   

I am a current member of the Northeastern Oklahoma Woodturners Association where I presided as president, vice-president, treasurer and demonstrator for many years.  Recently I became a member of the Golden Triangle Woodturners and have been a member of the AAW for many years.  If you have ever watched the Woodturning Workshop hosted by Tim Yoder from Tulsa, OK you might have seen me on the television.  I have attended several AAW and SWAT symposiums and numerous seminars which include classes taught by John Jordan, Ron Flemming, Frank Sudol, Trent Bosch, etc.   

Turning spheres started out with a friend of mine, Larry Elizondo, where we would gather unique and different types of wood, share with each other and turn spheres.  This developed into a unique wood collection.  The standing joke was “who had the biggest sphere, the smallest sphere and the most spheres”.  You can see from this how things can get out of control.  To turn the spheres we had to develop holding devises to fit into the headstock and tailstock so another friend, Larry Anderson, was brought in to help develop and create ideas for us to use.  This lead to a club demonstration in which the three of us put on for the Tulsa club.  The next stop on this adventure was on the road where Oren did a demonstration for the Oklahoma City club and the culmination was being on the Woodturning Workshop and hosted by Tim Yoder.  The Woodturning Workshop is a syndicated program presented on PBS. 

 

 


July 2009

Delbert Dowdy

Antler

Demo Handout

Antler is a fascinating and easy material to turn. It is also a good medium to use when making small objects such as pens, key chains, and kaleidoscopes. Items made with antler can hold special appeal with many people, especially hunters. How many people do you know that have a deer antler kaleidoscope? Although antler turns similar to wood, there are some special techniques that are helpful to know. This demonstration will show how to make a pen combining a bullet and deer antler. We will also discuss how to make modifications when increasing the size of an object.

We will briefly cover how to drill, shorten, prepare and size the inner tube, and shine the bullet. Moving on to the qualities of antler, we will discuss special ways to drill the antler, install the copper tube, and size the antler to length. Turning antler is similar to turning wood but porous antler material, which is common, must be treated after turning.

Drilling holes for the kaleidoscope can be difficult. My technique of drilling holes for the kaleidoscope is to drill a small hole, turn the antler round, mount it in a chuck, drill a larger center hole, and finally drill a larger end hole.

Delbert Dowdy

www.Genevaconcepts.com


June 2009

Glynn Cox

Piercing Demo

My name is Glynn Cox and I am member of the Woodturners of North Texas and Golden Triangle Woodturners clubs.  I retired 5 years ago from a 37 year career with Bell Helicopter where I was in charge of Customizing Engineering. 

Several years ago I did a little wood gouging but not until I retired and told myself that I was going to truly learn to “turn” did I actually produce anything to be proud of.  I have specialized in turning bowls and prefer using rough, figured or burl wood.  I generally like to keep my turnings in their natural state without any surface embellishments.

While looking at the Instant Gallery at SWAT in 2007 I saw some pieces that had been pierced.  Some were quite well done and others no so well but I thought I might like to try my hand at it.  I used my Dremel tool with some success then checked out the available information on the internet.  I found that there were some very expensive tools available in the form of high speed dental handpieces and straight craft handpieces all in the $400+ range.  Being the frugal engineer and consummate experimenter I built a system from surplus parts for about $100.

I use this system to produce pierced areas on my turnings, some of which I have brought to the club meetings.

John Horn has asked me to do a demonstration on piercing.  Watching someone do piercing for an hour is like watching paint dry or grass grow so I thought it would be beneficial to demonstrate the construction of a piercing tool setup using low cost components and talk about how each works within the system.  I will then attempt to turn a thin wall bowl and do some basic piercing.



May 2009

Ken Rodgers

Deep Hollowing

I plan to demonstrate some deep hollowing techniques, including the use of a Sorby-type arm brace with hooker tool versus the use of a stabilizer bar w/laser pointer. I will also show hollowing through a narrow opening versus using a wider opening. These techniques will allow hollowing a vase through a relatively large opening and then the addition a rim that makes it appear that the hollowing was done through a small opening.
 
Lately I have been making pierced masks and if time permits, I will show some aspects of how those are made from a thin-wall end-grain vase.

Ken R


April 2009

Alan Lacer

OVAL TURNING DEMO WITH ALAN LACER

 
 
In this evening demo Alan will share with you the unique world of oval turning.   First a little background.
 
It is very likely that Leonardo de Vinci (1452-1519) drew the plans for the first oval turning chuck.   It is a question of math and geometry (one of de Vincis’ strong points) to achieve an elliptical spinning orbit on a wood lathe.  Whether he was the first to describe such a process it is clear that oval turning starts appearing in the 1500’s, quite popular in the 17th and 18th centuries and probably reached its peak in the 19th century--especially with the interest in oval picture frames.  One American company, the Old Schwamb Mill near Boston, keeps this tradition alive even today with its production of oval picture frames  (although on a limited basis).
 
    Fast forward to the 21st century.   Oval turning had almost been forgotten and certainly little seen, a modern version of the oval chuck appeared recently which allows turners to produce work that is a break from circles.  Overcoming some of the problems of older chucks—such a balance, changing the dimensions of the ellipse, adapting to different lathes, noise level an safety issues—is this new chuck or, as the makers like to describe it, an “oval turning device.”  Designed by Professor Johannes Volmer of Germany and produced by Vicmarc in Australia, this is an amazing piece of engineering.  
 
The chuck is only part of the story.   Turning ovals is quite different from working with circles.   First, there is no individual center point as in normal turning.  What occurs is a horizontal plane where all cuts and sanding activities must occur.  Outside of this plane is another oval shape; working outside of the true plane results in a smeared or irregular shape.   Some turners work with a trapped tool system that is setup to stay within the confines of that plane.  Other turners work free-hand but use a laser level that throws a horizontal line to “show the way.”   And some turners feel the correct position and see the stable part of the oval within a blurred image—the turning then is very much like ordinary circle turning.  
 
Alan will bring examples of plates, platters and even hollow-turned oval vessels that he has been pioneering.  In the demo he will take you through most of the process in making an oval bowl.
 
To read up on oval turning go to the following sites:
www.alanlacer.com   (Alan has an article he wrote on oval turning at the Old Schwamb Mill )

March 2009

Metal Spinning

Presented by: Tom Farrell
Reported by: John I. Giem

Tom Farrell
Medlow, TX
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
(806) 548-4621

At the August 7, 2008, meeting of the Rocky Mountain Woodturners, Tom Farrell presented a demonstration on Metal Spinning. As demonstrated by Tom, metal spinning is performed on a standard wood lathe with a few additional tools and forms most of which can be shop fabricated.
 

In the above diagram, one can see the basic elements needed for holding and shaping the sheetmetal disk. Mounted on the headstock is the mandrel (chuck, form, buck) upon which the metal is to be spun or formed. The metal disk (2) is held against the mandrel by the Back Block (3) which is mounted on a live center (4).The mating surfaces of the mandrel and the back block have matching complementary surface shapes.

By using a live center with interchangeable tips, one can make custom shaped back blocks to accommodate each situation.

The mandrel is turned from wood to create the internal shape of the part to be spun. You should use a wood that has fine uniform grain without hard and soft spots. Any imperfections in the surface of the mandrel will also show up on the surface of the final spun metal shape. Some woods, such as olive and pine have hard and soft areas corresponding to spring and fall growth. These hard and soft areas may show up as ripples in the final spun piece. There are several alternatives to wood for mandrels. Tom has had good results from using Corian, the same material used for counter tops. Often scraps are available from Installers but you may need to glue several layers together to get the size you need.

When designing and turning your mandrel, be sure that the diameter of the form never decreases when moving from right to left, the direction the material is spun. If a smaller diameter is encountered, the metal will flow into it thus locking the metal onto the form. (Some times this technique is used to make a weighted lamp base.)

The metals used for spinning include: pewter, aluminum, copper, brass, silver, stainless steel, and cold rolled steel. For the demo, Tom used the aluminum alloy 1100-0 which was 16 gauge or 0.050 inches thick.

The tool used by Tom to form the aluminum onto the mandrel is called a Combination Spinning Tool or sometimes called a Finger Tool. A large radius is need on both the top and bottom of the tool. Its basic shape is shown in the diagram above. He made his own Finger Tool out of 4140 alloy round bar stock about 18 inches long. (Drill stem sucker rod also works well. )It was mounted in an old shovel handle giving it a total length of around four feet. This long length is necessary to allow placing the non-working end under his arm pit so that his whole body could be used to leverage the tool during the spinning process.

He made his own tool rest from stock steel about one inch square and one foot long. It has a series of holes spaced along the top that are fitted with a pair of movable steel pins. In usage, Tom uses the pins to leverage the finger tool against the spinning aluminum.

While spinning the metal, it must be lubricated to prevent galling or damage.
There are a lot of different recommendations as to what should be used but Tom has found that one of the best and yet economical lubricants is the wax from a toilet bowl seal obtained from your local hardware store. (Be sure to get an unused one.)

For first projects, Tom recommends that the mandrel should be designed to make an object that is twice as wide as it is high.

This shows Tom using the finger tool and tool rest to flow the metal down and around the mandrel.

Spinning small bowl.jpgTrimming top of bowl.jpgThe top of the bowl is trimmed up using a trimming tool, a steel bar fitted with a 1/4 steel lathe cutting tool. Another shop made tool. [I found a box of five carbide tipped 1/4”cutting tools at Harbor Freight for around $5. JIG].

The bowl is then reversed and final trimming of the top is performed

 When spinning the metal, use less pressure as you move further out on the mandrel. Too much pressure too far out on the mandrel can cause cockling (wrinkling of the metal). If the cockling is not too bad, the end of the finger tool can be used to lift up the edge and move it slightly back toward the tailstock. Then using a backing stick in your left hand, put it under the cockled metal and use the finger tool to iron out the wrinkles. Yes, you are using the backing stick in the left hand and the finger tool in the right hand at the same time. Both tools are across the toolrest prying against the pivot pins trying to iron out your mistake. And yes, you will be very busy at this time. If is not cockled too bad and if you are lucky (good) you will be able to salvage the work, otherwise start over.

bowl reversed and trimming up top.jpg

After spinning the bowl, Tom sprayed it with WD-40 and wiped it down with a rag to remove all of the wax lubricant.

There are a lot of different style tools available for metal spinning and a lot of opportunities for our incorporating it into our woodturning.

References given by Tom:
Book: The Art of Metal Spinning: A Step by Step Guide to Hand Spinning By Paul G. Wiley, Available from Amazon.com for about $17.00.

Terry Tynan is a professional metal spinner with over 20 years of experience. He is the host of a web site named http://www.metalspinningworkshop.com.  The phone number for the Metal Spinning Workshop is 610-277-7460

Metal spinning tools, tool rests, metal disks, videos and polishing compounds are available from http://www.cuttingedgetools.com/

Tom also handed out a ‘Metal Spinning Tutorial’ he downloaded from the internet.   

V1.0 Metal Spinning P e t e r R u b i n F l e t t e r •perf• 11.10.95, I found it at: http://www.fdp.nu/mikelldevice/spinning.pdf

Other Documents

February 2009

Larry Walrath

Larry is wood turner, engineer, singer, trumpeter, photographer, husband, father. He comes from a family of wood artists; his father and grandfather both made furniture and turned wood. His ancestors include wood artist from the Alsace-Lorraine area in the black forest who emigrated to America in 1712.

Larry has been turning wood since a child. A member of the American Association of Woodturners, Central Texas Woodturners and Brazos Valley Woodturners . Larry teaches wood turning lessons at his studio in Round Rock, Texas. His work is displayed in local shops and galleries. On the web at http://www.larrywalrath.com

He will be giving a demonstration on hollowing bowls from half logs using Kel Mcnaughton's Center Saver tools.

Teaser:Being able to cut multiple bowls from a single wood blank offers numerous advantages including increased profitability, lower cost per bowl and is an environmentally sound approach to woodturning. 

Professional wood-turner and instructor Larry Walrath has cored hundreds of bowls using the McNaughton Center Saver. Drawing on his years of experience, Larry will be joining us for a demonstration on bowl coring and nesting using the McNaughton Center Saver. He will show step-by-step how to properly use the center saver with efficiency and ease in all it's applications.

Whether you already own a McNaughton Center Saver system and want to improve your skills or you're thinking of giving bowl coring a try, come and enjoy the wet chips flying.


January 2009

Steve Worchester

I started about 12 years ago like many others, turning pens. Actually took a class at Woodcraft and spent $1200 in the first week. Selling the pens at shows paid for the first lathe and accessories. From there, eventually I started doing faceplate work and migrated towards square turning. My first article on square turning was published in the AAW journal in 1999 and led to a 3 part series published early on in Woodturning Design.

But how did I get to hollow forms?

My son and I attended our first AAW symposium in San Antonio (1997), where we watched David Ellsworth demo. After the demo, we walked up to a large crowd standing around him chatting and David parted the crowd to introduce himself to my then 12 year old son. He stopped everything to introduce himself to him! The next year I took a class from David at his house. On a side note, if you ever have the opportunity to take a class from someone of this caliber, you will never regret it. Remember Clay Foster is in your own backyard! As a turner, you will grow leaps and bounds in a short period of time. The learning curve shortens dramatically.

After working with his tools for some time, with mixed results, I started to experiment more. Keep in mind, I am OCD and a computer field engineer by trade. These traits have molded me into a turner who looks at everything as a step towards the end (the never ending end). I look at each task methodically as how I would be able to communicate it to someone else as if I were writing an article or demoing the technique. OK, so sometimes I have a communication failure.

The evolutions of the tools for hollow turning have come quite a long way. From the invention of the tooling (in modern days anyway) with David Ellsworth’s hand held tools to the start of the captive turning with Hugh McKay’s articulated tool to the current version of the Jamieson and lower cost captive bars. Several articulated systems have been introduced like the Kobra and the ELBO to name a few. Also of mention are the arm rest type tool holders from John Jordan, Sorby, which evolved from the Stewart system. These are just the tool holders, then you have the bits and lasers and wall measurement devices.

Keep in mind, these are just the vehicle. Any of those, properly utilized can hollow out a vessel. However an ugly hollow vessel, no matter how thin the walls are, how beautiful the wood is, is still ugly. It doesn’t have to be light weight, but it must be visually light, it must have pleasing curves that flow and look intentional. As with all woodturning, everything must look intentional. The cuts must be clean, and cut with a gouge. Sandpaper is not a cutting tool!

But we may be getting ahead of ourselves here. My intent is to demonstrate to you my particular method of hollowing, taught by or influenced by my years of reading, being taught, and experimenting. My style of demonstrating and teaching is very light hearted, it shouldn’t be hard, let’s not make it that way. I try to put as much humor into the event and teach you how I got there, and have fun. If you don’t have fun and learn from your mistakes you will not progress. Each mistake, each piece you blow the walls through, isn’t a mistake, it is a progress towards the end result. Once you hit that result, you perfect it and then some more.

This is how I got to adding glass to my work as well as bleaching, burning, dyes and paints. Sure, the embellished work isn’t for everyone; some are purists some are extremists. The lathe to me is just a tool to assist in the end result. What I do is turn a small hemisphere with a rounded top, during the process I make a vacuum form mold, then hollow out the inside. After the form is manipulated (bleached, nothing like a white canvas to start with, airbrushed maybe, dyed, etc., if need be) it is shot with automotive clear coat urethanes, sanded and buffed (the good custom painters don’t need to buff, yet another learning curve). The mold is used to give me a plane to form the glass on as it is filled with high temperature “plaster” and can be used to kiln form the glass at up to 1400 degrees Fahrenheit. (Yet another learning curve! Thanks God for books and online forums to help).
The way I look at the above process, it is just a start, as after each set is finished I think how I could change or improve the next. Different wood, dyes, glass patterns, and outside influences in your everyday life that can alter your path.

Along the way, I was one of the founders of the Dallas Area Woodturners and have been fortunate to demonstrate at venues throughout the US, including two AAW symposiums and the featured Texas turner at SWAT. I am also a huge advocate of the AAW and the administrator of the AAW forums. I hope that you will come by and have some fun with us as we answer questions you have about hollow turning and the techniques I may show you and if nothing else, expand your mind.

Did I mention that along the way, I started the business and website, WWW.TURNINGWOOD.COM which is a provider of premium sanding supplies and StickFast glue? Like other things, helps pay for more wood and glass.