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Click here for Woodturning Tips from Curt Norman's Shop Table of Contents Click on a question
How do I care for my wood turnings?Simply dust them with a dry cloth or a feather duster as necessary. It is important that they are NEVER washed with soap and water; wood will warp and/or crack by doing so. What is the finish made of?Most of the turnings have a clear lacquer finish. On some of the smaller items a Friction Polish is used or the piece is buffed with a Carnauba Wax. Where is a good place to see wood turnings?There are many Galleries that have Woodturnings on display. Heller Gallery in Omaha, Nebraska www.hellerartimages.com/ is one example. You may also look on the internet under "Woodturning" for additional locations. The American Association of Woodturners www.woodturner.org has a great gallery page. Who should I contact to get involved with wood turning?The American Association of Woodturners has over 10,000 members. Look on the internet to find a local chapter near you. www.woodturner.org Two great places to get involved in this area is the "Loess Hills Woodturners Club" in Omaha, Nebraska http://www.lhturners.org/ and the "Great plains Wood Turners Club" in Lincoln, Nebraska. http://www.greatplainswoodturners.com/ Can I use my wood turnings to serve food?Yes --- Your wood turning is an art form and can also be used to serve the most elegant green salad for your family and guests to enjoy! It is recommended that as soon as the meal is finished, you wipe the bowl clean with a warm, sudsy cloth then immediately dry it with a fresh, soft towel. It is also great for serving chips, bread, or other ‘dry’ types of foods.
Do not
refrigerate your wood turned bowl.
NEVER soak
or machine-wash your woodturning – that treatment will make the wood warp, or
worse yet, crack.
What is a Hollow Form Turning? Hollow Form woodturnings are usually in the form of a vase or vessel with the opening smaller than the vessel size or diameter. The inside shape conforms with the outside shape and most often the wall thickness ranges from 1/8" to 3/8". Once the wall thickness is established the artist strives to maintain a consistent thickness throughout the entire piece. Here are pictures of my hollowing system. Once the outside form is turned between centers I then attach the piece to a large chuck on the lathe. While the piece is turning I open up the inside with the sharp cutting tool on the end of a bar that slides in a cradle which is attached to the lathe bed.
A Bud Vase is a vase with a hole down the center for the stems of flowers to fit in. Be sure NOT to put water in the wood vase. "Water on Wood -- No Good!" Artificial or dried flowers work well. Spalting is a by-product of the rotting process that is carried out by a vast array of stain, mold and decay fungi, that are found naturally on the forest floor. When the temperature and humidity are right, spalting can cause many different and beautiful patterns in rotting wood. The unusual coloration may be due to chemically induced reactions between the wood, fungi and insect deposits, often resulting in black, pink, grey and multicolored streaked wood. Once the wood has been cut and stabilized, the fungi can no longer grow, and the spalting process will stop. Example:
They are basically benign tree tumors. They occur when a
twig bud fails to grow normally, Click on the picture to view a larger size - Hit the BACK button to return to this page!
Example: Oak Burl by Pomme de Terre Lake in Missouri. Close to the home of Woodturner Dale Robbins.
Most of the wood I harvest myself in the local area around Omaha or with other members in our woodturning club. Some of the wood burls I buy from a guy in Oregon. The Osage and Cedar I get from my friend Dale Robbins in Missouri. Click on the picture to view a larger size - Hit the BACK button to return to this page!
Curt Norman playing --- I mean working!!!! On a wood/burl hunt by Dale Robbins house in Missouri Dust Collection System in the wood shop is essential.... A necessary requirement.... A health issue.... My shop is equipped with a Jet DC-1100 1-1/2 Horsepower 1,100 CFM Canister Dust Collector. The 6" to double 4" Y adaptor at the Jet Dust Collector is removed and 6" pipe is used for the main run with 4" drops to the all the equipment. For the drop down to the wood lathe I stayed with 6" flex pipe to a catch box. The box pivots back & forward and left to right to help keep the maximum dust collection in the area of interest. (The 1/4" bolts in the angle aluminum is where the pivot points are.) The 6" gate is homemade and works just as nice as the 4" gates I bought! Click on the picture to view a larger size - Hit the BACK button to return to this page!
How do I Sharpen Woodturning Tools? Working with SHARP tools makes woodturning very enjoyable and rewarding because of the finished product. A sharp cutting edge on the gouge, scraper or skew helps keep the wood fibers from getting torn. With the wood fibers having a nice clean cut from the sharp cutting edge of the tool the sanding requirements are reduced significantly. Most of my tool sharpening is done on the Grizzly G1015 knife belt sharpener. I use a 120 grit sanding belt most of the time. The grinding gigs are One Way Wolverine and do a fantastic job of keeping the same bevel and cutting edge on the tool every time I sharpen, which is often. Click on the picture to view a larger size - Hit the BACK button to return to this page!
What is a Vacuum Chuck Holding System? The basic principle of vacuum chucking involves the science of the atmosphere around us. Normal atmospheric pressure, at sea level, is just under 15 pounds per square inch. That means if we create a vacuum, such as a vacuum chuck, the barrier between the atmosphere and the vacuum, in this case our turning, has a pressure exerted upon it by the atmosphere. Vacuum is measured in inches of mercury or hg. A perfect vacuum is 30 inches of mercury (30 hg) and cannot be obtained on the surface of the earth. Most of the small pumps we use for our type of work are able to provide 22 to 28 hg, and this level of vacuum is more than sufficient for our purposes. In round numbers, the pressure exerted by the atmosphere is about one-half pound of force per square inch for every inch of mercury. This sounds confusing. Your system will have a gauge that reads from 0 to 30 hg. Divide the number on the gauge in half to find the pounds per square inch of force exerted on the turning. As an example, you have built a vacuum chuck that is 6 inches in diameter. You attach it to the lathe and apply vacuum and hold a turning. - The 6 inch diameter chuck has just over 28 sq. ins. of surface. If you run the vacuum up to 20 hg, the external pressure is about 10 PSI and the force exerted against the turning is a total of 280 pounds. 28hg increases the pressure to 392 pounds of force.
VACUUM CHUCK HOLDING POUNDS In Round Numbers 2 INCH CHUCK ------- 31 lbs. @ 20 hg 45 lbs. @ 28 hg 3 INCH CHUCK ------- 70 lbs. @ 20 hg 100 lbs. @ 28 hg 4 INCH CHUCK ------- 125 lbs. @ 20 hg 170 lbs. @ 28 hg 5 INCH CHUCK ------- 190 lbs. @ 20 hg 275 lbs. @ 28 hg 6 INCH CHUCK ------- 280 lbs. @ 20 hg 395 lbs. @ 28 hg 7 INCH CHUCK ------- 380 lbs. @ 20 hg 540 lbs. @ 28 hg 8 INCH CHUCK ------- 500 lbs. @ 20 hg 700 lbs. @ 28 hg (π X r² X ½hg = pounds of force) The pressure exerted by the atmosphere is about 1/2 pound of force per square inch for every inch of mercury Area in Square Inches of a Vacuum Chuck = π r² (3.14 X Radius Squared) Inches of Mercury on the system gauge = hg Curt Norman 1/15/06 For more information on Vacuum Chucking look at Bill Hrnjak’s write-up on this web site; http://www.woodturners.org/tech_tips/vacuum_chuck/basics_of_vacuum_chucks.htm Closed Cell Foam from; McMASTER-CARR 600 County Line Rd. Elmhurst, IL 60126 Ph. 630-600-3600 Part Number 8647K81 Black 1/8” X 42” X 72” About $36.00 (shipping included) Click here for Woodturning Tips from Curt Norman's Shop Email: curt@woodturner1.net |
