Figgy pudding??

[gus3049]

Hi folks,

I actually managed to get a half hour on the lathe today for me.

Some Dutch friends gave me a small piece of a fig tree they have cut down. Quite impressed that after I had chain-sawed all the nasty bits off and rounded it off with the plane, it was in perfect balance first time.

Its the most delicate shade of pink. Still very wet and cuts like butter. I am undecided about the shape. I was going to make it fairly thin and flaring out to the natural edge but when checking how it was going, rather liked the 'pot' shape. I will have to do some hand work around the edges to keep them even but that should be easy as its so soft.

Any advice about this wood. I intend turning it thin and seeing how it goes. Does it move much, crack much etc etc. How does it dry? Hard, brittle??? Never had any fig before. Alternatively of course, I could leave it now and wrap it up but I am rather keen to see how it goes.

 

[bassethound]

nice piece by the look of it, i have a chunk smaller dia than that but about 4 foot long and i am trying to think what to do with it, never tried fig so will have to see, i know for a fact that it cracks a lot if nothings done in a short time.. :?

 

[MattF]

Very nice I cant wait to see it finished are you leaving the natural edge to it ?


Matt

 

[Alli]

Really like the shape in the first photo where it flares to the natural edge, great idea and execution. =D>

Please post a picture of the finished piece, I'd love too see it.

Cheers
David

 

[boysie39]

Hi Gordon ,have no experience of that type of wood but would be inclined to go along with your way of thinking and hollow out as thin as you feel nessesary and trust you instincts from there .I think you like to see wood find its own shapes so this is a ideal piece to have its way. Best of luck with what ever you decide .
Good to see you getting some lathe time again .

 

[gus3049]

Very nice I cant wait to see it finished are you leaving the natural edge to it ?


Matt

Yup, the edge is much too nice to destroy. Should be fun getting it all to look even as, in the flesh, its even more eccentric than it looks - rather like me.

 

[gus3049]

Hi Gordon ,have no experience of that type of wood but would be inclined to go along with your way of thinking and hollow out as thin as you feel nessesary and trust you instincts from there .I think you like to see wood find its own shapes so this is a ideal piece to have its way. Best of luck with what ever you decide .
Good to see you getting some lathe time again .

Hi Eugene,

Its nice to get spinning again although, now I'm 'retired' I seem to have more and more to do. It seems all those people who wanted stuff done, thought I'd be too busy whilst I was working and in and out of hospital.

So I have a 'list'. Mostly antique repairs. Shouldn't complain but I thought retirement meant the time to finally do exactly what I wanted to do rather than what I must.

Ha!

 

[Jonzjob]

Join the ******** club Gordon! We always wonder how the hell we ever had time to go to work! Stupid, but so very true!

That bit if figue looks good, but as for advise? I have only ever picked the fruit and there's loads of it growing wild around here. I will be looking out to see what you get and then I will be looking very carefully to see what I can find :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Glad that you can get some spin time at last. Just take it easy! I have an appointment on Thursday with the gas man for the operation on my right hand on the 25th. Partial fusion of the wrist and if it gets rid of the pain it has got to be worth the trip to Toulouse :mrgreen: I ain't looking forward to 6 weeks in plaster though? But then again I have always said that I would give my right arm to be ambredextrous and find some time to learn just how to spell it? But I always work on the principle that I have never made a mastike 8)

 

[gus3049]

Join the ******** club Gordon! We always wonder how the hell we ever had time to go to work! Stupid, but so very true!

That bit if figue looks good, but as for advise? I have only ever picked the fruit and there's loads of it growing wild around here. I will be looking out to see what you get and then I will be looking very carefully to see what I can find :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Glad that you can get some spin time at last. Just take it easy! I have an appointment on Thursday with the gas man for the operation on my right hand on the 25th. Partial fusion of the wrist and if it gets rid of the pain it has got to be worth the trip to Toulouse :mrgreen: I ain't looking forward to 6 weeks in plaster though? But then again I have always said that I would give my right arm to be ambredextrous and find some time to learn just how to spell it? But I always work on the principle that I have never made a mastike 8)

Good luck with the hand John, lets hope is the only op you need. I've had my two majors and am hoping to avoid the third.

The fig has been appropriated. Ronnie says its going to be a plant pot holder for her Roseriae!! So it looks like I won't be taking the shape further!! I've hollowed it out and its sitting drying out. It'll be interesting to see how long it takes. No-one seems to have used it on the forum so time alone will tell.

 

[Jonzjob]

Thank you Gordon and very very best of luck with your back too!

There is a fig tree on the bank of the Canal du Midi, about 3 miles from us, and it has the biggest and juisiest figs I have ever had. I would love to see what the wood is like, but as long as it produces figs as it does I'll wait!

 

[boysie39]

John , good luck on Thur. with the hand .PG everything turns out well .
That France Place seems to be a bad place for the auld aches and pains .
Mind you the EU seems to be causing pain all over .is it something in the water . :?

 

[Jonzjob]

Water :shock: Never touch the stuff!! I've seen wot fish do in it! They don't get out, like wot I were taught to, when they want a wee :shock: :shock:

 

[Tony Spear]

Water :shock: Never touch the stuff!! I've seen wot fish do in it! They don't get out, like wot I were taught to, when they want a wee :shock: :shock:

Even worse!

To quote W.C.Fields: "Never drink water my boy - fish f**k in it it"! :shock:

 

[Jonzjob]

I was trying (?) to be a touch more finnessefilllleddd, but???

 

[gus3049]

Good to see you getting some lathe time again .

Getting some lathe time is the hard part. There seems to be a growing list of 'other'. The antique restoration bit is OK but I also want to finish my 'antique' computer desk and then...........

....my wife runs a rose nursery and we are doing a big show this weekend. "oh by the way, some of the roses are over 4 feet high and we need cover - oh and we have so many plants, they won't fit in the car so we need to put a tow bar on the car and build something or other on the trailer" :shock:

The trailer is an old tent thingie, so I had to strip it all out and build a gypsy caravan on the top. The tow bar arrived yesterday so today was an 'interesting' one. The towbar is on and the caravan is almost ready for painting. Just the door hinges, locks and electrics to sort.

Time for turning huh!!! At least my desk has some turned legs so it sort of fits in this section. Note the tool of choice for the serious craftsman on the desk. I don't mean the drill or the battery

 

[Jonzjob]

I had realised that you meant the watch makers calibrated knockometer Gordon. At least, I hope that it's calibrated?

4 lbs?

 

[boysie39]

Time for turning huh!!! At least my desk has some turned legs so it sort of fits in this section. Note the tool of choice for the serious craftsman on the desk. I don't mean the drill or the battery

Do you mean the persuader, or is it a sawn off sledge :lol: .
Wheather turning or whatever else, its good to see you up and about ,as they say

 

[Jonzjob]

This isn't your side of the ditch Eugene. We use proper sledges and besides there's no snow here at the mo?

It's called a knockometer mate 8) 8) Carefully calibrated and if it can't fixe yer watch wiv it then don't forse anything, use a bigger one 8)

Obvious really :mrgreen:

Also, out where and about what? :?

 

[boysie39]

This isn't your side of the ditch Eugene. We use proper sledges and besides there's no snow here at the mo?

Oh ,will stay on my own side from now on , did'nt mean to intrude , sorry !!!!

 

[gus3049]

This isn't your side of the ditch Eugene. We use proper sledges and besides there's no snow here at the mo?

Oh ,will stay on my own side from now on , did'nt mean to intrude , sorry !!!!

Now now Eugene,

You can't get offended by these southerners - the sun down there affects the brain somehow (and sometimes the hands)

Anytime you feel like a trip to this side of the pond you will be very welcome. Please don't be offended by my accent though. I tend to be a bit of a sponge and it soon appears that I am trying to take the p.ss.

My French accent is terrific. If I had a vocabulary of more than ten words, I could pass as a native. A native what, I'm not sure (thats in case John picks up on the expression as he is bound to do)

Back to the caravan now I think, together with a bit of reversing practice.