DAWG News June 2019

June 2019 Vol. 2 #6

Our May demonstrator, Charles Jennings, shared with the group his expertise and passion for turning some small things. He turned a toothpick holder, a small weed pot but, the main focus was on Christmas ornaments. One of his first remarks was that the kinds, shapes and styles of ornaments you can make on the lathe is rather infinite and is limited only by ones imagination. He told us that a wood turner is an artist. He stressed that ornaments can be made using all kinds of materials and showed the group how he makes blanks of all sizes and shapes based on scraps available that he collects and keeps in separate bins for future projects. He observed that miniature bird houses have been the most popular ornaments over the years, but there were many other ornaments that one could make.

Charles Jennings – Ornaments By Ramon Chow

Continued on next page

DAWG News June 2019 Page 2

Bring-Back-Box

Bob Stancil won the Bring-Back-Box and holds the lovely bowl made of Crab Apple wood, which was turned by Lloyd Speer, last month’s

winner of the B-B-B. Nice work Lloyd!

One problem encountered in turning these small things is holding it on the lathe. Charles showed us how he makes his own mandrels or arbors, to hold the piece he is turning between centers on the lathe. These are especially useful when turning a series of the pieces the same size, shape or form. One of Charles’ favorite tools, when making ornaments, is the 3/8 detail gouge, which has a shallower flute than a spindle gouge. He shared with the group the following safety tips when working on the lathe: "Do it between center, this reduced vibration and results in better cuts." "Put on your safety glasses upon entering the shop and never forget to use a facemask." "A respirator is highly recommended.” "A pair of glove with cut off finger tips is used to protect hands and fingers from hot wood chips generated when turning dry wood.“ A good source of inspiration if you want to turn birdhouses is: Dick Sing Turns Miniature Birdhouses, Schiffer Publishing Ltd. We all thank Charles for a great demonstration. ●

DAWG News Pictures by Tom Barksdale

DAWG News June 2019 Page 3

President’s Challenge Pictures by Tom Barksdale

Charles Jennings – Twisted Vase – Dogwood Charles Jennings – Compote –Cherry

Bob Stancil – Vase – Cherry

Jared Bruckner – End-grain Bowl Elm/Walnut

Charles Jennings – Pens for the Troops – Various

Show & Tell Pictures by Tom Barksdale

Jared Bruckner – Failed Hollow Form – Maple

DAWG News June 2019 Page 4

Show & Tell Pictures by Tom Barksdale

Rick Urban – Textured /Colored/Platter – Big-Leaf Maple Burl

Rick Urban – Pierced Ball & Stand – Cherry

Jared Bruckner – End-grain Bowl – Elm/Walnut/Holly

Lloyd Speer – Bowl – Elm/Walnut

Jared Bruckner – End-grain Bowl – Elm/Cherry/Yellowheart

Lloyd Speer – Bowl – Elm/Walnut

DAWG News June 2019 Page 5

Show & Tell Pictures by Tom Barksdale

Rick Urban – 5 Textured /Colored Balls – Maple

Doug Anderson – Vase – Red Bud

Doug Anderson – Bowl – Crepe Myrtle

Remember to patronize our sponsor Woodcraft

DAWG News June 2019 Page 6

Help Desk By Rick Urban

If I Could Have but One Tool What tools do you really need? That question came up at the last meeting, and it seemed like a good tropic for the help desk. Most of the woodturning tools on the shelves or hanging on pegs in your favorite woodturning store are useful. Most of those, however, are not truly game-changing innovations. They are most often variants of other tools and may or may not be improvements. Most woodturners I know who have been turning a few years have experienced "needing" that latest and greatest invention. Most of the woodturners I know who have been turning more than a few years have discovered they seldom use many of the tools in their shops. Almost all the woodturners I know have a favorite tool or a small number of favorite "go-to" tools. It seems the more you know the less you need.

Disclaimer: Tool variations can make some operations easier and more efficient, so there is a place for more than a single tool. A skew can be used for beads as well as grooves and flats, but if I'm having a bad day I might as well pick up a spindle gouge and move on.

All right then! How do you decide what tool(s) to get if you can't have them all? If all you have is a hammer, and the only fasteners you use are screws, you probably need a different tool. Likewise, if you only want to turn bowls, that skew in your starter set should not get much use. Therefore, what tool you need is a function of what you want to turn. My pick for that first tool is one that never comes in a "starter set." It is also one that comes in variant shapes that behave differently. My pick is... (drum roll please) ... a bowl gouge. Specifically a bowl gouge with a more narrow, V-like flute, not the one with a very wide flute bottom. (I've had a surprising number of vendors correct me if I call it a V-shaped flute.) Here is my reasoning. I can use a bowl gouge as a spindle roughing gouge, but a spindle roughing gouge shouldn't be used like a bowl gouge because the tang is wimpy and bends too easily. Also, the shape of the spindle roughing gouge flute can be really "catchy" if used as a bowl gouge. The bowl gouge is beefier and can take the beating better than a spindle gouge as it alternates cutting side grain and end grain. I can use a skew to "peel" and "plane" a surface, but I can also present the cutting edge of a bowl gouge to act like the skew for these operations. (Remember my disclaimer.) I often use a scraper to smooth curves and eliminate humps and ridges, but I can also present the cutting edge of a bowl gouge to act like the scraper for at least some situations. A bowl gouge can do grooves, coves, and beads like a spindle gouge; maybe just not quite as small or tight.

Continued on next page

DAWG News June 2019 Page 7

Help Desk By Rick Urban

If I Could Have but One Tool - continued

A bowl gouge can also be used for some hollowing in deeper vessels, but I will admit I rarely pick it up to do that. I started with the V-like flute so that is what I grew to be comfortable with. I experimented with the wider bottom flute but never perceived a reason to change. In fact, I find the wider flute more "catchy," but that's a very subjective judgment. Of course there are limits to any tool's versatility, but the way you grind the gouge can have a big impact on how well it will work as you approach the frontiers. A review of the different ways to grind a bowl gouge is enough for an entire Help Desk article all by itself. If you don't believe it, ask three experienced turners how to do it and just listen to the resulting discussion. Here is my bottom line for your only (or first) tool. Select a traditional tool designed to do the kind of work you want to do. Master that tool. Understand it's limitations. Seek a new tool when... (1) the work you want to do exceeds the limitations of the tool you have, or (2) you need (want) greater efficiency, effectiveness, productivity. When you do decide you need something better, remember to talk with other experienced turners you trust about the pros and cons. Don't simply believe what the manufacturer says about their new and improved, innovative, game-changing solution to all your problems. ●

Wood Talk By Lloyd Speer

Southern Magnolia The Southern Magnolia is found in Southeastern United States and grows to 50-80 feet tall. The trunk diameter is 2-3 feet with bark that is thick, scaly, light brown or gray. Other names for Southern Magnolia are Evergreen Magnolia, Flowered Magnolia, and Bull Bay. The three primary magnolia species that are commercially harvested in the United States are: Southern Magnolia, Magnolia grandiflora, Cucumbertree, Magnolia acuminata, and Sweetbay, Magnolia virginiana. Of these, the Southern Magnolia is the hardest and heaviest. Today our magnolias are known as sub-tropical trees. Only their fossils in the rocks remain to tell us that they once grew in the Far North. There are now about thirty species of magnolias in the world, all confined to eastern North America, southern Mexico, and eastern and southern Asia. Here in the South there are nine. There are ten if we include the tulip tree, which also belongs to the family.

Continued on next page

DAWG News June 2019 Page 8

Wood Talk By Lloyd Speer

Southern Magnolia - continued

The are leaves 6 inches long and the flowers are 8 inches across. As far as we can tell, they were the first trees to develop flowers. And the blooms of some of them are among the largest borne by our trees today. The glossy green foliage, the exquisite waxy flowers, and the “cone” which isn’t a real cone, all add to their charm. These trees were named after Pierre Magnol, a famous French botanist of the seventeenth century. Standing out startlingly from the dark green foliage, these blooms look like great camellias or water-lilies. William Bartram, an early American botanist, said they seemed to him like great white roses, and that he could distinguish them at long distances. Because the fruit of this tree is a little similar in shape to those of the conifers, it has been called a cone. But it is no true cone. Somewhat oval and three to four inches long, it is made up of many seed-vessels that have grown together. Its color is rusty brown and its appearance velvety. It contains several flat, scarlet seeds. When released from their capsules, these seeds hang for a time on slender white threads, then fall to the ground, or eaten by birds. The very wide sapwood is a creamy white to grayish color, turning to brown when exposed. The comparatively narrow heartwood color ranges from a medium to dark brown, sometimes with green, purple or black streaks. The grain is straight, with a medium to fine uniform texture and a moderate natural luster. The endgrain is diffuse-porous; small to medium pores in no specific arrangement, numerous; solitary and in radial multiples of 4 or more; growth rings distinct; narrow rays visible without lens, normal spacing; parenchyma marginal. The wood is rated as non-durable to perishable regarding decay resistance, and it is also susceptible to insect attack. There is no characteristic odor. Although severe reactions are quite uncommon, species in the Magnolia genus have been reported to cause asthma-like symptoms and runny nose. The Southern Magnolia is generally easy to work, both with hand and machine tools. It turns, glues, stains, and finishes well. It is readily available within the Southeastern U.S., though difficult to find elsewhere. Prices should be low for a domestic hardwood. Common uses are: veneer, plywood, interior trim, upholstered furniture frames, and general utility wood. The average dried weight is 35 lbs/ft3, with a specific gravity (Basic, 12% MC): .46, .56. The Janka hardness is 1,020 lbf (4,540 N). Crushing strength is 5,460 lbf/in2 (37.7 MPa) with a shrinkage of Radial: 5.4%, Tangential: 6.6%, Volumetric: 12.3%, T/R Ratio: 1.2 ● Sources used: The Sibley Guide to Trees by David Allen Sibley, Trees of the South by Charlotte Hilton Green, http://www.wood-database.com/southernmagnolia

DAWG News June 2019 Page 9

Turning Pages A book review – Jared Bruckner A book review – Jared Bruckner

Unique Wood Lamination Projects By Jerry Syfert

When choosing a book to review, I often pick one that I have used recently. That certainly is the case this month. My copy of the book (which I believe was once the personal copy of the author) has been off the bookshelf and opened almost daily for the past month. Most of the time I spent in chapter 4. But let me tell you about the book. It is thin, only 88 pages. It is printed in full color on good paper, so the pictures show very nicely. There are 19 chapters, 14 of which are descriptions of various projects using the lamination techniques described in chapters 4 (Wood Laminating) and 5 (The Basket-Weave). The first three chapters (Introduction, Tools, and General Procedures) are short, but contain some interesting sections. One section that I found very interesting was on Padauk. Here, Syfert describes developing a rash from exposure to the wood. I found that I was allergic to Padauk too! While some of the projects described may interest you, none were of much interest to me. Not one of them mention turning! But chapter 4 on Wood Laminating was great. I had become interested in turning blocks of wood that I made by gluing different types of wood together. Specifically, I had been gluing blocks of wood that measured 6” by 6” by 2”, and turning small bowls out of the blocks. I had turned some boxes and a couple of toothpick dispensers out of glued up blocks before, but did not know how to do the type of laminations that I found in this book. I have only begun to experiment with doing these laminations, and am toying with the idea of turning things other than small bowls out of laminated blocks. If you are at all interested in making laminated turning blanks, you need to see this book. ● Syfert, J. (2005). Unique wood lamination projects. Fresno, CA: Linden Pub. Available from Amazon used for under $15.