Woodturners

karltimber

Just about to finish 2 24" yew platters over the weekend.

Had them finish drying for the last 4 months in the house - should be stable enough.

What are ye woodturners doing at present ??

karl.

Alun

A bit quiet at the moment as a matter of fact. Like you I've got a few rough turned pieces doing their thing in the house waiting to be finished.

Now about that 24" Yew ... where did ya get it? There aren't many Yew trees of that size around, I'll bet. BTW I'm looking for a good number of Yew branches, any size will do, for mushrooms and small boxes ... any ideas?

karltimber

I can throw a few branch bits of yew your way if you like --

I got a full trunk of 24" yew about a year ago.
Cut it into 24" blocks and then cut into 3" & 4" planks with a chainsaw mill.

Wet turned and left 15 platters to dry.
The yew is just fantastic.

will post pics of them when finished.

pm me if interested in yew - am in Navan/Leixlip.

Alun

PM Sent

bitbuilder

Not much at the moment, A lamp out of yew this weekend, just to try out the long hole boring stuff - much harder than I thought, I think i'm doing something wrong! back to the books.

Alun

What's going wrong with the long hole boring? I assume you have all the necessary kit i.e. the auger, the hollow centre and counterbore drive centre? There's not too much that can go wrong really. About the only bit to watch is that you need to be constantly boring a bit, and then taking out the auger to remove the crud, also don't try and press too hard, just do an inch or so at a time and be patient.

bitbuilder

I think you might have a point, I was trying to do too much at once before clearing the swarf, that was leading to the auger "sticking" and being hard to get out again.

The hole went through ok, but it took longer than I expected - just being greedy I suspect.

Thanks for the advice

Alun

Yes, if you press too hard and let the swarf build up you'll not only get a lot of heat build up, but it can make the auger expand, gum everything up and make it even harder work to remove the auger. Plus, if you really overdo it, the swarf you remove can be black and smouldering! (Think potential fire hazard in a typical sawdust / shaving filled workshop !!!).

Good luck

karltimber

when long hole boring - keep the speed very low and turn the item around and do the hole in 2 sections instead of 1 long hole,

yew lamps are fantastic - I usually leave bark at the bottom with a curved smooth finish to the actual lamp fitting - very nice - what finish do you use on your yew lamps ?

I tried neutral shoe polish and it works fine.

karl.

hargo

just starting out in the turning world with bits of deal and having fun. looking forward to the day when i too will be brave enough to turn yew or my special piece of black oak i took back from a visit to Yeosmite. Great to know that there is advice on hand when needed and it will be needed!!!! so thanks in advance.