All of the big/heavy stuff is out of the studio at www.junctionviewstudios.com. The mini lathe and daily use stuff is at the www.Columbusideafoundry.com (CIF) 5th Avenue location. The Powermatic 3250A, Unisaw and the big wood (bowl rough-outs, etc) are at the “soon-to-be-new” town street location.
Big thanks to Barbara Crockett, Alex and Matt with CIF, Phil Borkow, Chat Coats and Joe Lamothe for the tireless help in loading more than two 26 foot Ryder trucks with wood, cast iron and sawdust.
I’ll be setting up all week and CIF. As I was unpacking, sat two sandblasted ash pieces (7-8 inch tall) on the toolbox and really liked the accidental image that resulted.
Sandblasted Ash, 7-8 inches tall, unfinished
Here are some gratuitous shots of the new studio setup…
I’m giving a free demo this Saturday at Woodcraft Columbus from 1-3pm covering bowl turning, wood prep, sanding & drying . In addition options for different tool grinds will be covered. The demo will include 2 bowls (1 endgrain, 1 side grain) turned 1/8 inch thick with a hollow raised foot and discuss tips and tricks for thin turning. Please bring your questions/examples for a Q and A session at the end.
This final Agora at www.junctionviewstudios.com was the BEST EVER! Thank you all who came out to show local art some love. It’s good to know that even tho the building may fall; the people, the art, and the purpose will live on, grow and become something even stronger.
Now, if you exchanged contact info with me and I have not contacted you, PLEASE CONTACT ME via the contact form. An unfortunate event left me without some of the contact information and I want to speak with you to confirm/honor commitments.
10 days till our final show at http://www.junctionviewstudios.com
Agora X – The final show. http://www.agoracolumbus.com/ Preview night is Friday the 12th, and Open show is Saturday the 13th. Check out the website for details.
I’m hoping to have 30-40 pieces on display and doing live demo’s both days. Till then, I’m spending every waking moment in the studio getting ready. Below are some process shots. Hope to see you at Agora!
This is an urn for a close friend’s kitty. I love making these. I always visualise the pet and their family member who loving watched over them during their all-too-brief time here. The bond that was shared, the lives that were changes. Such an emotional purposeful experience.
Preparing for a turning demo with the Central Ohio Woodturners. I’ll be making an endgrain hollowed vase originally demo’d by Jimmy Clewes. This project is a great way to learn tool skills associated with endgrain hollowing. The open end provides easy access and helps associate cutting forces with tool presentation. This is excellent use for branches as the pith is usually off center. When possible, orient the pith such that it does NOT run through the supporting spindle at the bottom. The wood around the pith is unstable/weak. Use thin CA glue to stablize the pith where it exits the bottom of the vase and foot Dry in a paper bag for a few weeks then sand and finish. Happy/Safe turning.
Woodturning tools take a LOT of abuse. At my high end of safe turning speeds, the edge of the wood is moving around 25MPH and I’m cutting a mile of wood every 2 minutes (Many woodturners estimate max safe speed as “Diameter in inches x RPM = 6000-9000 = 25mph’ish”, ex. I “could” spin a 2 inch piece of wood 4500 rpm and be in the “safe” zone disregarding other factors such as loose bark, internal cracks, and checks: reality, I turn about 1/2 that fast.)
My sharpening schedule is as follows:
If the lathe is running, the grinder is running and the halogen light over the grinder is on.
Sharpen every 10 minutes when roughing out green wood. 5 minutes if there is bark involved due to embedded silica from dirt and dust. Sharper edges allow for bigger, heavier cuts with less force on the tool, lathe, wood and me; meaning I have more control and can work faster.
Sharpen right before the last finishing cut (the one that matters most), or ever 2 minutes in dry wood, whichever comes first. I’ll use a softer M2 steel tool when I can as it’s finer grain structure can be sharpened to a finer edge down to 1 micron (as opposed to 4-5 micron to 10-15v or up to 10 microns for TCT nano carbides) The 2-3 times greater edge holding ability of powered steels equates to 2-3 times less sharpness.
Hone skews every 5 minutes or so – just 2-3 swipes with a medium grit diamond hone on each face and on both long/short points. The sharpness helps us maintain a light touch on the tool so we can “read” feedback on how the tool is cutting. If I have a white-nuckled-deathgrip, it’s nearly impossible to feel when the bevel is coming off of the wood right before the “catch”. Plus, having a strong grip on the tool guarantees the force from the catch is going to travel through the tool and in to YOU resulting in an unpleasant kick at best. Catches are inevitable for everyone. Having a secure light grip allows the tool the slide back out of the wood and makes the incident much less severe to the wood and your sanity.
Scrapers – leave the burr (aka, the cutting edge) on the top of the tool for open grained woods like ash, oak, purpleheart, etc. Remove the burr for close grained woods like hard maple, rosewoods, exotics…. A negative rake angle is also helpful for closed grain woods and alternate materials like acrylic, plastics, etc. (more info at http://www.negativerakescraper.com/ – likely from Stuart Batty, the champion of this grind) Always flatten the top of the scraper to remove the old burr (if any) before resharpening to pull up a new burr.
High Speed Steel Cup cutters (munro hollower, sorby ultima, proform). Instructions say to use the spinning mandrel to dress the outside of the cutter on a fine wheel. I used a 600 grit 1″ belt sander to dress the edge, then a strop on a leather wheel with green (stainless steel) compound (regular compound isn’t hard enough). This extra degree of sharpness means a lot more control when you’re hanging a tool 12″ off the rest in a deep hollowform. I’ve had NO luck attempting to sharpen hunter, vermec or carbide munro cutters. I’m experimenting with a trizact diamond belt from 3m to see if I can pull up an edge on these carbide tools, but, given the short bevel, I’m not optimistic. The carbide cutters last a while and are only $20 bucks anyway.
I occasionally check my sharpening performance with a 40x UV lighted Jewelers Loupe like this one. They’re cheap and they help me understand the result of my efforts (although, it’s easy to “feel” the result with the tool on the wood.)
You’d think I’d burn up my tools in no time. The reality is, I burn up grinding wheels after a year or so and usually after a few hundred turnings. Again, I think its cost effective given the time I save on sanding. Since I only “dress” the bevel for 5-8 seconds or less, the cutting edge is refreshed quickly without heavy grinding.
I’ll share my grinding angles, jigs, and tool profiles in another post.
In case you haven’t heard, I’ll be hooking up with the Columbus Idea Foundry soon. They’re a collection of innovators/creators that are pioneering the “Maker” movement here in Columbus. They provide workspace to resident makers/craftsmen-women/artists as well as membership/subscription based access to wood, metal, machine and CAD equipment. The also offer classes (parent/child penturning classes coming soon, watch their site for announcements.)
I’ll be making use of their laser cutting/engraving services to add a personalized custom touch to pens and other small objects. These make great graduation gifts, awards (show above in tigerstripe/fiddleback figured maple), and promotional offerings. If you’re interested in commissioning a piece, hit me via my contact form. These are made to your specification with your choice of wood, writing instrument, finish and customized holder (if desired). Prices range from $30 for individual slimline pens (shown above) to $120 for sets including engraved nameplate case made of exotic woods. Volume discounts are available starting at 10 or more pens. Custom logo’s are available for quote.
Stumbled across an old post from Melissa . It’s part of a series featuring artists and their workspaces. I was fortunate enough to have been featuredin her Studio Snapshot series
You can find out more about Melissa and her work here. She’s one of the cornerstones in the art community here in Columbus.
