Don’t Cut Corners

Woodturners cut corners. You might say that is axiomatic for the profession. The geometry of the turning blank dictates that the corner sticks out farthest from the axis of the turning. And, therefore, unless you are doing off center work or are using an ornamental lathe, the corners get cut first thing.

What would happen if turners gave heed to the adage to not cut corners? Then you would get a square bowl and a square lid.

Square Bowl and Lid

When I turned this bowl and lid some years ago, I didn’t do it with any feelings of virtue or smugness about leaving corners. I was just wondering what would happen if I did so.

A few people have looked at it at various shows. I couldn’t tell that it ever caused anyone to have a second look. So it has spent most of its life being ignored. It has been packed away, waiting its time.

This bowl and lid has surfaced again because someone just bought it. “I have always admired that bowl…” or something similar was the comment the buyer gave. And all along I thought I was its only admirer. I have occasionally pulled this bowl out of its box to look at it again.

Well, I don’t know how I feel about selling it. I am sending away a part of myself. I guess that is what art is about.

Ellis Hein, author of The Woodturner’s Project Book

This Too Is Wood Turned Art

In what seems like another lifetime, I considered making a career of building and repairing acoustical instruments. Today I am keeping warm and listening to the music from my wife’s cello. It is interesting to notice how different frequencies resonate in different areas of my body. Did the coals in the stove start glowing more brightly because of vibrations set up in the stove pipe? These are my musings today; perhaps my excuses for not facing the less than ideal temperatures at my lathe. But this is also wood being turned to art. Besides, I will be doing plenty of “woodwork” this afternoon sawing and splitting more firewood in preparation for the cold and snow coming for a visit. No, I did not invite them. I think they are just passing through on their way to you. Send them home by some other route, please.

Ok, the music has stopped. I have to get going. I have several woodturning articles to finish writing, and they won’t do it without me holding the pencil.

Ellis Hein, author of The Woodturner’s Project Book

2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,900 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 32 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

You Might Also Enjoy…

If you have enjoyed what I have written in these pages, you might like to read the following:

• http://heinfamilyenterprises.com Where I write about my journey to good health, the foods and supplements that brought me there, and why those foods help the human organism function properly. On this blog, I give some recipes for making lacto-fermented vegetables and grains.
• http://musicofwriting.wordpress.com My wife’s perspective on the craft of writing. Definitely not the usual how-to-write stuff one might expect.
• http://caseofbrilliance.wordpress.com My wife’s blog about our experience of raising two profoundly gifted children, what we have learned along the way, and how it can apply to problems and situations other families may be facing. See also her book, A Case of Brilliance
• http://nffquaker.org A website, sponsored by the New Foundation Fellowship, dedicated to proclaiming the message of the early Quakers. This site contains some of my writing.

And so we bring another year to its close and wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Ellis Hein, author of The Woodturner’s Project Book

Trivet

This time of year can be good for woodturners. Maybe you received some new hardwoods. Maybe you completed a few projects. In either case you probably created or you will create some scrap ends of boards. If you live with a wood burning stove, there is always the stove to feed scraps to. However, in the case of wood, what gives heat can tolerate heat. At least as far as a pot of soup is concerned.

Oak Four-Cornered Trivet

The cook is always looking for a hotpad to hold a hot pot of soup, one that will protect the surface of the counter or fine furniture. This turned trivet will provide four feet to carry the weight and an air gap to let heat dissipate. Just be careful of those corners when you are turning it.

Ellis Hein, author of The Woodturner’s Project Book

A Snag

I have hit a snag, one of those situations where I am at a standstill until I can figure this out.

I need to glue some beveled boards together to make a 60° angle. I need to make some kind of jig that will do the job, but I have not yet devised the setup.

One possibility might be something like a fletching tool used for putting feathers on the shaft of an arrow. Another idea is to have something similar to the Bessey Right Angle clamp. Only this would form a 60° corner instead of 90°.

Now, as I write this, it occurs to me that I can set my jointer fence to form a 60° angle with the bed. This could be a possible solution. If I get a chance in the next few days, I will give this a try. Meanwhile, if you have ideas, feel free to leave me a comment.

Ellis Hein, author of The Woodturner’s Project Book

Unplanned Intentions

Disguising your mistake is not a deception. It is just realizing what you had “intended” to do only you didn’t know it yet. Now wait a minute, isn’t that statement contradicting itself?

Yes it is, but for me some of my best discoveries have come about in this way. Something other than my cognitive ability seems to be dictating in those instances. But I am not getting into that debate here.

The Unfinished Vessel

I recently built a loft using 2 X 6, tongue and groove, pine flooring as the decking material. Some of my scraps were good enough to escape the firebox. I used these for an idea for a vessel featuring end grain.

Because of the construction of the turning blank, I created the likelihood I would pull grain while turning the exterior shape. I used some coarse sandpaper to abrade away those problem spots. This left scratches running across the grain. After trying everything I knew to do (except never start sanding with grit coarser than 180), I still had cross grain scratches. I had gotten rid of the spots of pulled grain only to create another problem.

After considering my options, I was hit with an idea. It may not have been rational. It may not have been intelligent. But it was an idea. “Polish the vessel using rottenstone and mineral oil,” I thought.

The Rottenstone Vessel

To my horror, I turned all the soft parts of the grain black; the hard parts were unaffected. I tried washing out the black with more mineral oil. I tried polishing with pumice and mineral oil. (Pumice is white.) The black was there to stay.

Then I noticed two things. First, the end grain of my vessel was now in the spotlight. Second, the black in the soft grain hid the scratches. That was when I realized this had been my “intent” ever since I had been grabbed by the idea to use rottenstone.

Ellis Hein, author of The Woodturner’s Project Book