May Woodturning Challenge - PLEASE POST YOUR ENTRIES HERE

[henton49er]

Please post entries for the May Woodturning Challenge on this thread.

Challenge Requirements: “Three different Woods”

This month’s rules are:-

The Challenge is open to anyone and everyone
Your entry must be new and made specifically for the Challenge
Entries must be made of three different types of wood each of which to be turned on a lathe using woodturning tools (either turned individually or together)
If you submit three separately turned pieces, they must relate to each other in some way (e.g. they could be three parts to be assembled into the finished entry, or be three items that go together – tea plate, cup and saucer for example)
There are no maximum or minimum size restrictions

Segmented turning, decoration, colouring, piercing, hollowing, pyrography and texturing are all allowed, but the principal requirement is for the judge to be able to see that you have used three different woods and to show off your turning skills.

Please post 3 images of your work along with a brief note about how you made it, what tools and finishes you used, what woods you used and the entry’s dimensions etc.

1 showing a general view
1 showing a top view
1 showing a bottom view

A fourth picture may be added (but is not compulsory) if needed to show all aspects of your entry.

Image size - please use image size 640 x 480 0.3 mp, as in previous challenges

Please upload your pictures and description between 10pm on the 27th May and 10pm on the 29th May.

Please also send me a PM giving me your own opinions of 1st, 2nd and 3rd places amongst the entries (other than your own) between 10pm on 29th April and 10pm on 31st May (for me to compile the entrants’ scoring).

Roundup

 

[dennisk]

A box in pernambuco, birdseye maple and ebony. All scraps from my friend the instrument bow maker. Cut 20 staves at 9 degrees and glued them up in sections with a sliver of ebony in there as well. Hollowed the bottom half of the inside and then made a bottom of the maple to fit with a tenon type fit . I had finished and waxed the bottom of the box and the maple before glue up. Any way, various chuckings and frowings and then i had a box.Made the lid as I would a 2 piece top . Waxed with Claphams twice and then buffed up and waxed with the oneway wheel system. Thanks to all and please support the challenge!! I used scrapers for everything, just because.


Mod Edit to correct orientation.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

3 wood apple fruit bowl (including the bowl). The woods are oak (the bowl and 3 of the apples), Olive Ash and spalted Horse chestnut. The method was that described in Richard Findley's thread (ie reverse turned using a home made screw chuck). Again my thanks to his expertise in helping iron out the wrinkles. The finish on the apples is Cellulose SS followed by MC wax. The finish on the bowl is food safe oil.

Dimensions, bowl circa 10" diameter and the apples are mostly from 3" square stock, a couple are smaller than that to mix it up a bit. Strictly speaking there are 4 woods because the stalks are turned from ebony. Because they're such a small component I figured that wouldn't be a deal breaker but if it is then imagine one of the other wood apples is gone so it's still only 3 species Many thanks.

 

[Wybrook]

Vase and Tulips

The vase is made from Yew, turned with spindle gouges, skews, a scraper and parting tools then sanded to 600 grit, cellulose sanding sealer and a right good buffing with carnauba wax as the final finish. The tulips are from Oak and (I think) Wenge which came in a box of unidentified offcuts I picked up in the States. The tulips were turned to the outer shape, the centres hollowed out and then marked up for cutting using the indexing system on my lathe. The rough cutting was done with a Dremel and then lots of hand sanding to complete the shaping and a coat of sanding sealer. Finally a small hole was drilled in the bottom before parting off. After that the finishing was a good buffing, the same as the vase. The stems are actually Acer from a dead branch in the garden, but as they were never on the lathe I’m not counting them as another wood. Same as Bob, if it's a problem then remove a tulip

Thanks !

 

[Sheptonphil]

This month’s entry is inspired by, and totally and unashamedly plagiarised from a WIP by Chas (CHJ).

This has turned out to be my most complex piece I have ever attempted with the segmentation, hollowing and box-work.

It is made from 28 pieces in total, Sycamore from a dead tree felled a couple of years ago in my garden and a reddish mahogany type wood from garden chair legs that the joints had succumbed to over the last ten years, leaving lots of good turning wood. The lid is made of a disc of Sycamore with a smaller disc of Walnut added, turned and shaped to give a knob handle in relief.

The method was as described by Chas in his work-through of making segmented lidded boxes.

I used two alternating thicknesses of Sycamore around the box, 6 x 12mm and 6 x 8mm with 12 x 20mm of the Mahogony. Finished size is 110mm diameter, 105mm height. Tools used were 3/8 bowl gouge, 3/8 spindle gouge (the outside is all face grain), scraper and 1/8 parting tool. The box was reversed onto Axi C jaws which fitted the opening snugly to finish the base, the lid reversed onto cole jaws. Walls and base are 4mm thick. Off the chisel, straight to 320 grit (so good getting such a sharp gouge so quickly from the Pro-edge), finishing at 600 grit, 3 coats de-nibbed sealer and buffed with Carnuba on a wheel.

 

[Dalboy]

Did not think I was going to be able to enter so the last few days was a bit frantic making this box from Sapele, Ash and Beech and measures 8 1/4" to the top of the finial and is 3 1/4" across.

Turned the main box from ash using my crown revolution tool to hollow. The base and lid are Sapele these where turned with my bowl gouge and finally the finial from beech was rough turned with the roughing gouge and shaped entirely with the 1/2" skew from then on.

All parts were sanded to 600 grit and sander sealer applied then buffed on the chestnut buffing system The brass rods where buffed using a metal buffing system similar to the chest nut one and finally dipped in a sealer and then waxed after fitting hopefully this will help prevent tarnishing.

The lid has a slight lip to help lift it from the main box.

 

[Tazmaniandevil]

Right. My May challenge entry was to be an hourglass. When I went to the shed on Sunday however, the glass was mysteriously broken in its polystyrene packaging.
I had already turned another couple of items, but had decided not to enter them.
This is one of them. A travel mug, turned from birch, beech, and sycamore. Each section is 1cm taller than the previous, trying to match the expanding diameter.
The beech split, meaning the superglue and wood dust had to come out.

The inside finish I didn't take too much care with, because it gets a stainless steel liner inside anyway. The outside is finished in a couple of coats of melamine lacquer before parting off and drilling for the assembly screw. In hindsight I could have done a bit of sanding on the bottom, but it gets a felt pad stuck on to prevent scratching surfaces.

Final assembly needs just a screw from the inside into the handle, and a screw into the bottom of the liner.

Turning was done with a 1/2" bowl gouge, and outside was "planed" with the skew before parting off.

 

[Grahamshed]

OK, my May challenge entry is a small spill vase or 'pen pot' 105mm by 55mm.
The base is American black walnut, the main body sycamore and the celtic knot is a rather pale cherry. This was my second attempt, the first had the knot in ebony but it was to 'smack you in the face blatant' I wanted something a bit more subtle.
Tools used were a roughing gouge, spindle gouge, Hope 6mm hollowing tool and a parting tool.

Photography still causing a bit of a problem
<edited to add> I forgot to say it was sanded to 600 grit and finished with hard wax oil.

 

[Woodmonkey]

This is made from plum, ash and laburnum, its about 150mm across. Good way to use up those odds and ends! Turned in the usual way using a bowl gouge, reverse chucked in cole jaws finished with cellulose sealer & wax. The ash was an odd looking piece I picked up in Yandles a while ago, full of figuring it was labelled "p/s ash".

 

[sammo]

My entry.
The 3 woods are Sepal (not sure of the spelling!), Oak and Pine.
It's about 12cm x 12cm (including the finial)
I used a bowl gouge for the main parts and spindle gouge for the finial.

Have to admit I am pretty pleased with this - whilst in the main it was a pretty simply idea - especially the bowl part (3 bits of wood stacked) the lid was a different matter entirely - I wanted to make sure that i used all 3 woods in the lid; and making sure the 'block' of oak was central actually took more careful set up than i originally anticipated.

 

[Rich Morgan]

My entry.

Cake stand, The tools used were: Roughing gouge, bowl gouge and parting tool. The bottom tier is Yew approx 8'' dia, the middle tier is an unknown wood approx 6'' dia and the top is laminated maple approx 4'' dia.