Well, I finally made it back into the shop for more than fifteen minutes at a time. I still can’t stand at it for an extended time but I got this piece done today. I think the New (to me) lathe is a winner! I also got to use some new parts and tools I’ve been picking up for the past six months or so that I couldn’t use with my smaller lathe: new tool rests and a vacuum chuck to complete this odd piece in the accompanying photo. It is spalted oak, a stub of a limb that was sawn off the trunk before it was slabbed on a sawmill. It took some coercing to get it mounted suitably on the lathe and I had to start turning at about 250 rpm, which caused quite a few catches due to the extreme shape of the blank but once I was able to turn it up to about 700 rpm it got much easier. It still ranks as one of the sketchiest pieces I’ve turned yet but I’m happy with it. I hope to be able to try the coring system later this week but first I have about a dozen commissioned pens I need to finish.
More updates to come!
