flowers on the lathe

reible · Post by **reible** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 6:39 pm

I'd seen these at craft sales but I never even thought about how they were made... and now that I do I want to give it a try. Take a look here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWWw5HHz ... re=related

This looks like a really fun little project. So anyone here done these and what wood did you use? He is using hazel which I'm guessing is like our hazel nuts that grow on bushes??

When he says bone dry is that because it was dead wood, or did he dry it first or is it just wood taken in winter????

Where I grew up these thing grew wild in the woods. Since the hide on the nuts was so tough the squirrels and about everything else left them alone in the fall... well people have other ways of doing things so we would pick them leave a good number for nature to deal with. None of the bushes ever got very big nor did they look much like the woods he went in to to get his hazel.... leaving me thinking maybe there are different types of hazel??

For the pen turners this looks like a fancy end???

Come on now, lets here the goods on this.

Ed

reible · Post by **reible** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 6:44 pm

Second but related post. The lathe tool he is using reminds me of a lug wrench for a car. Since the materal, at least the old ones were made of forged steel. Has anyone ever tried to make a lathe tool out of one??

I might just have one extra one in the garage or if not I'm sure my brother does, that would mean I wouldn't have it till spring but that's ok. Hey I've had crazier ideas then this.

Ed

reible · Post by **reible** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 12:27 am

So has anyone even watched this video?

Do any of you know who Stuart King is?
Did you like the treadle lathe?

Want to read a bit more about him and have the option of checking out his site at:
http://stuartking.co.uk/

If you are interested in woodworking you might want to check in... besides we may have a pop quiz in a day or two.

Ed

a1gutterman · Post by **a1gutterman** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 1:13 am

reible wrote: ......This looks like a really fun little project. So anyone here done these and what wood did you use? He is using hazel which I'm guessing is like our hazel nuts that grow on bushes??

When he says bone dry is that because it was dead wood, or did he dry it first or is it just wood taken in winter????

Where I grew up these thing grew wild in the woods. Since the hide on the nuts was so tough the squirrels and about everything else left them alone in the fall... well people have other ways of doing things so we would pick them leave a good number for nature to deal with. None of the bushes ever got very big nor did they look much like the woods he went in to to get his hazel.... leaving me thinking maybe there are different types of hazel??......

Ed

OK Ed, I went and watched the video. It was interesting. I really haven't gotten into turning yet, but that looks like a good way to practice a little technique huh? My wife and I had a Filbert (Hazel)tree in the back of our first house. It was a tree, not a bush, much like the ones in the video. It was a stand alone, probably planted there rather than a volunteer. Far from being tough skinned, the birds and squirrels cleaned the nuts off, and there were lots of nuts, every year before they were ripe enough to pick! It did produce lots of chutes which would probably have worked well as described in the video. They were too green though. Maybe in the winter they would be dry, I just don't know. I wonder if he doesn't harvest the chutes and dry them before turning?

a1gutterman · Post by **a1gutterman** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 1:16 am

reible wrote:Second but related post. The lathe tool he is using reminds me of a lug wrench for a car. Since the materal, at least the old ones were made of forged steel. Has anyone ever tried to make a lathe tool out of one??

I might just have one extra one in the garage or if not I'm sure my brother does, that would mean I wouldn't have it till spring but that's ok. Hey I've had crazier ideas then this.

Ed

I agree that is exactly what it looks like, an old tire iron. Why wouldn't it work? They must be hardened steel.

reible · Post by **reible** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 1:40 am

Hi,

The ones they have in WI have a pair of "bracts" you have to deal with before you get to the nut. The tree you describe sound more like what he was looking for in the forest.

This is the WI one:
www.uwgb.edu/biodiversity/herbarium/shrubs/corame01.htm

I'm thinking of going out and taking a branch of out dogwood bush and maybe one from the sand cherries and maybe one from the pussy willow and give them a go. Of course if they don't work I will not know if it is me or the wood or the condition of the wood. The good thing is that is cheap to try and I should be able to hurt myself trying.

If I can do a few for the wife maybe she will let me buy myself a shinny new tool for Christmas????

Anyway thanks for looking and responding.

Ed

a1gutterman · Post by **a1gutterman** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 7:54 pm

Hi Ed,

All the picture details at http://www.uwgb.edu/biodiversity/herbarium/shrubs/corame01.htm of "your" WI Hazel look like "my" WA tree except yours is a bush and mine is a tree.

Here is a description of "my" tree http://www.willisorchards.com/product/American+Filbert+Tree

Here is a picture of "my" tree http://gurneys.com/product.asp?pn=08715

Greenvilleguy · Post by **Greenvilleguy** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 10:13 pm

I did go look at the video. It's late or I'd go down to the shop and try it with various woods. Maybe tomorrow.

james.miller · Post by **james.miller** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 10:54 pm

Watched the video, very interesting. It looks like he is harvesting the wood in the winter, no leaves. The tool he describes as 1/2" diameter High Speed, but any good heavy skew should work like an Alan Lacer 5/8" skew. To me the heavier skews are easier to control and the High Speed Steel makes it stay sharp long enough to finish turning a piece without resharpening.

He said the flower stays tighter if it is dry so I think green wood would give it a different pattern, also different woods would produce different patterns and colors. I think you may want a wood with minimal pith and the pith running down the middle so you are cutting along the ring. Experiment and let us know what happens.

Greenvilleguy · Post by **Greenvilleguy** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 4:45 pm

OK, I went down to the shop and tried it with the first piece of wood I came to -- soft maple.

I've included a picture of my first "masterpiece". OK, it was my first attempt. You will see that my petals aren't as long as his. That might be the wood or it might be my technique. I'd bet on poor technique.

Here are some things I learned in my 15 minutes of shop time.

1. You can't tell it very well from the video clip, but for this to work, I had to hold the skew at a very akward angle at least for me. The heel of the skew does the cutting and the long point needs to be almost parrallel with it along the axis of the work. Try it, it's different.

2. In the video, it looks like he is cutting at the very top of the piece -- he is. Again, nothing else in my woodturning experience is done with the tool on top of the work, but it's the only way to cut with the heel and avoid the larger cutting edge (planning edge).

3. In the video, he talks about moving the skew parrallel, but I found it easier to use the tool rest as a fulcrum point and pivot the tool to the left by moving the handle to the right. I was very careful to keep the larger cutting edge of the skew off of the work.

Anyway, I'd be very interested in other's experiences with this.