[JustinAhrens]

Hey guys,

So I've been hard at work since I arrived in Korea in October. I'll post a few photos of stuff I've made since then.

Here is a pretty simple segmented bowl. It was the first bowl I made after arriving here. It is made out of maple and a wood that the Korean seller called ebony, but it certainly is not the jet black kind. This ebony has a lot of swirls and looks more like walnut to me, but is more dense and turns beautifully.

 

[clpead]

That is very nice. Is the bottom turned separately?

 

[JustinAhrens]

Here is my current project. It is a Federal Style Night Stand. I am using the plan out of Glen Huey's "Building 18th Century American Furniture".

This is my first attempt at building furniture with turned legs. I have been practicing quite a bit with the skew and spindle gouges and getting better. I keep watching Raffan's "New Turning Wood" video, as well as John Lucas' youtube videos. I can cut nicely smooth long tapers with the skew, and sometimes are lucky cutting beads, but still get a lot of catches. I'm sure I am missing some detail. Hopefully I will have an "Aha" moment and connect the dots sometime.

I am actually a bit further on than this photo shows. I have cut the legs to length, glued the sides up and hand planed them to fit. Next will be to glue the front and back rails between the sides.

It is made out of the only lumber I can buy in the Army woodshop I am working in. The Korean shop manager calls it Luan, but it looks identical to the Philippine Mahogany that I have used before. It is quite soft and not the easiest to turn.

One area I could use some help in is staining it. I have not found anywhere to purchase wood stains here. I have mixed up a batch of steel wool and apple cider vinegar just to see what that looks like, but it is very dark. I will try diluting it and applying it to some sample pieces first. I would like a dark brown. If any of you have some recommendations, that would be great!

I will finish it with shellac.

 

[JustinAhrens]

Clpead,

Thanks - no, the bottom is glued to the first disk of segments.

 

[JustinAhrens]

Here is a segmented pot.

This is my first attempt at a lidded bowl. The top was a challenge for me. I couldn't think of a good way to turn it, so I used a screw center on the top of the lid. Then I turned a recess in the bottom and mounted it on my scroll center. I then turned the top, leaving the hole from the screw center. Then I mounted it back on the screw center and turned the bottom with a rim that fit the bowl. Then I made a knob that fit in the hole left by the screw center. The knob was the most challenging part! I must have made 4 or 5 to finish one I liked.

 

[JustinAhrens]

Here are a bunch of misc. turnings.

A top

A mallet

A practice spindle (pretty happy - it is from 2x4 lumber)

A tool handle for the Thompson bowl gouge I have ordered.

 

[Hwood]

I think the bowl look great

 

[JustinAhrens]

Thanks Hwood!

 

[Nate Bos]

wow! lots of good looking turning! Keep it up:thumbsup:

 

[Coyote Woodshop]

Nice work👍

 

[Treeguysrule]

Nice work

 

[JustinAhrens]

Thanks guys!

 

[firehawkmph]

Justin,
Nice work. I especially like the furniture piece. When you do a lidded box, turn the whole thing between centers at the start. Turn a tenon on each end that will fit your chuck. Then shape the outside and figure out where you want to split it. Cut a small groove there then finish parting it with a thin handsaw with the lathe off. Now you can chuck up each half and hollow it out and get your overlap where they join to fit nicely. Sand the inside. Now put both halves back together and mount the bottom tenon in the chuck. Tape the top half on and bring up a cone center in the tail stock to support everything. Shape the top and get rid of the tenon. If you are going to be adding a finial, drill a hole slowly. Get rid of most of the bottom tenon as you finish shaping the base. When you are down to the last 1/2" or so, take it off the lathe and carve off the remaining nub and sand it smooth. Turn your finial and glue it on. Hope this makes sense,
Mike Hawkins

 

[Travico]

You do some FINE WORK!!!!!!!!!!

 

[20/20]

very nice. Wish it would warm up a few degrees so I could get out and turn & carve.

 

[JustinAhrens]

Thanks for the comments!

Mike,

Thanks for the method. I've watched one of Raffan's videos where he did pretty much exactly as you state for a solid bowl. For some reason, I didn't think of using that method for a segmented bowl, but it makes perfect sense. Next time, I will glue it up all the way including a segmented top, and then follow your steps.

Thanks!

 

[MagGeorge]

You make beautiful turning pieces. Like the pretty patterns and shape on that bowl, it makes a great table center piece. Great work!