My wife took a bunch of my turnings to a craft show at her work to sell.
We did fairly good considering the company is small but the day after
a sales manager where my wife works came to her wanting to know if I
could turn a custom vase as a christmas present for his wife.

They have a vase in their bedroom but it is ceramic and a light color.
I have tons of aspen unfortunately but I recently got some black walnut.
However, the black walnut is very wet and only recently cut.

I've searched for other turning chunks but they are also either wet or
too expensive.

I'm debating on how to turn a 12 inch tall vase and keep it from
cracking as it dries. I don't think a little warp will matter and there
is just not the time to rough out the vase and dry it normally. I've
thought of boiling, soaking in LDD, and even using alcohol but all of
these take some time to dry after the treatment. I'm not also not set
up for any of these approaches because I normally rough out and slowly
air dry pieces.

I even thought of microwaving but 12 inch length and 7 inch width plus a
tenon probably will not fit in our microwave. I've even thought of
putting it in the oven on low for a day but the problem is that I do
turning outside and in Denver this time of year I can't count on having
too many outdoor turning days before Christmas.

So the questions is.....

Robert

said:

So the questions is.....

Robert

I believe he wants the Cabal's magical panacea for turning, drying,
and presenting a piece in less than 30 days. Sorry, William, your
membership shows to be expired... g


Greg G.

William
Someone is likely to flame me for this, but....
go ahead and turn the vase from green wood. If the grain is along the length
of the vase it will dry with some warping, but not too much. I tend to like
the effect anyway. Make sure you have wood well away from the pith. Turn,
sand and finish. Then let it rest for a week and see if it is going to
crack. Experience says it will crack by then if it is going to crack at all.
One caveat, this only works if the walls are thin, well under a quarter
inch, and uniform in thickness.

--
God bless and safe turning
Darrell Feltmate
Truro, NS Canada
www.aroundthewoods.com

On Fri, 18 Nov 2005 07:32:47 -0700, william kossack
wrote:

Not sure what you're asking.. maybe how to fast dry a turning and prevent
cracking?
That's magic and probably not going to happen, IMHO...

As an aside, you've brought up what I consider a trap that a lot of us fall
into, commissioned work..
Some folks can handle it, some can't... I don't know if it's a skill level as
much as a people handling thing... who controls who..

In your case, you're trying to fit your stock on hand with the guys desires... I
think it's a bad move, personally.. (though most of us have done the same thing)
IMO, the guy will either like what you turn the vase out of, or he'll pay more
to have it turned out of different stock... you say that other wood is too wet
or too expensive... Does that mean too expensive for his price range, or what?

As my brother keeps telling me, "Don't make other people's problems yours"..*g*

My personal theory is that the customer is always right... as long as we agree
and I make a profit... YMWV

My wife took a bunch of my turnings to a craft show at her work to sell.
We did fairly good considering the company is small but the day after
a sales manager where my wife works came to her wanting to know if I
could turn a custom vase as a christmas present for his wife.

They have a vase in their bedroom but it is ceramic and a light color.
I have tons of aspen unfortunately but I recently got some black walnut.
However, the black walnut is very wet and only recently cut.

I've searched for other turning chunks but they are also either wet or
too expensive.

I'm debating on how to turn a 12 inch tall vase and keep it from
cracking as it dries. I don't think a little warp will matter and there
is just not the time to rough out the vase and dry it normally. I've
thought of boiling, soaking in LDD, and even using alcohol but all of
these take some time to dry after the treatment. I'm not also not set
up for any of these approaches because I normally rough out and slowly
air dry pieces.

I even thought of microwaving but 12 inch length and 7 inch width plus a
tenon probably will not fit in our microwave. I've even thought of
putting it in the oven on low for a day but the problem is that I do
turning outside and in Denver this time of year I can't count on having
too many outdoor turning days before Christmas.



mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Black walnut is a pretty stable wood, so I thind that Darrell's advice is
sound: turn it thin and uniform, to completion, and you should be okay.

BUT, if you are going to filled with anxiety over this, and risk creating
problems for your wife if he is dissatisfied for ANY reason, you're better
off opting out.

One suggestion: turn the bowl for YOURSELF. If it turns out well, give
him a chance to buy it.

"william kossack" wrote in message
...
My wife took a bunch of my turnings to a craft show at her work to sell.
We did fairly good considering the company is small but the day after a
sales manager where my wife works came to her wanting to know if I could
turn a custom vase as a christmas present for his wife.

They have a vase in their bedroom but it is ceramic and a light color. I
have tons of aspen unfortunately but I recently got some black walnut.
However, the black walnut is very wet and only recently cut.

I've searched for other turning chunks but they are also either wet or too
expensive.

I'm debating on how to turn a 12 inch tall vase and keep it from cracking
as it dries. I don't think a little warp will matter and there is just
not the time to rough out the vase and dry it normally. I've thought of
boiling, soaking in LDD, and even using alcohol but all of these take some
time to dry after the treatment. I'm not also not set up for any of these
approaches because I normally rough out and slowly air dry pieces.

I even thought of microwaving but 12 inch length and 7 inch width plus a
tenon probably will not fit in our microwave. I've even thought of
putting it in the oven on low for a day but the problem is that I do
turning outside and in Denver this time of year I can't count on having
too many outdoor turning days before Christmas.


===Oh, my stars and garters! Ye of little faith!! "Our doubts are traitors,
and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt. I could
have your vase made and finished with four hours, old buddy, and you'd never
have to fear about warping or cracking. LDD, like rock-n-roll, is here to
stay!! *G*

Leif

Why not buy a 1x8 9' sanded on both sides and glue a block together??? He is
willing to pay isn't he?

"william kossack" wrote in message
...
My wife took a bunch of my turnings to a craft show at her work to sell.
We did fairly good considering the company is small but the day after a
sales manager where my wife works came to her wanting to know if I could
turn a custom vase as a christmas present for his wife.

They have a vase in their bedroom but it is ceramic and a light color. I
have tons of aspen unfortunately but I recently got some black walnut.
However, the black walnut is very wet and only recently cut.

I've searched for other turning chunks but they are also either wet or too
expensive.

I'm debating on how to turn a 12 inch tall vase and keep it from cracking
as it dries. I don't think a little warp will matter and there is just
not the time to rough out the vase and dry it normally. I've thought of
boiling, soaking in LDD, and even using alcohol but all of these take some
time to dry after the treatment. I'm not also not set up for any of these
approaches because I normally rough out and slowly air dry pieces.

I even thought of microwaving but 12 inch length and 7 inch width plus a
tenon probably will not fit in our microwave. I've even thought of
putting it in the oven on low for a day but the problem is that I do
turning outside and in Denver this time of year I can't count on having
too many outdoor turning days before Christmas.

It wasn't my idea but I've never turned down a challenge

Greg G. wrote:
said:


So the questions is.....

Robert


I believe he wants the Cabal's magical panacea for turning, drying,
and presenting a piece in less than 30 days. Sorry, William, your
membership shows to be expired... g


Greg G.

I think that is what I'm going to do after talking to a couple other
turners.

I'm interested in trying one of the techniques such as LDD or boiling
but I'm just not set up for it right now

Darrell Feltmate wrote:
William
Someone is likely to flame me for this, but....
go ahead and turn the vase from green wood. If the grain is along the length
of the vase it will dry with some warping, but not too much. I tend to like
the effect anyway. Make sure you have wood well away from the pith. Turn,
sand and finish. Then let it rest for a week and see if it is going to
crack. Experience says it will crack by then if it is going to crack at all.
One caveat, this only works if the walls are thin, well under a quarter
inch, and uniform in thickness.

Hi William

If I was in your place I would go with Darrell's suggestion, and yes
boiling the wood is a good idea after you have have turned the vase, the
only thing that I might change is the choice of wood if any, (I don't
know the wishes of your client of course) but some woods like Elm or
even Willow are less likely to split or crack, and you could dye the
color to your/his liking.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Have fun and take care
Leo Van Der Loo

william kossack wrote:
I think that is what I'm going to do after talking to a couple other
turners.

I'm interested in trying one of the techniques such as LDD or boiling
but I'm just not set up for it right now

Darrell Feltmate wrote:

William
Someone is likely to flame me for this, but....
go ahead and turn the vase from green wood. If the grain is along the
length
of the vase it will dry with some warping, but not too much. I tend to
like
the effect anyway. Make sure you have wood well away from the pith. Turn,
sand and finish. Then let it rest for a week and see if it is going to
crack. Experience says it will crack by then if it is going to crack
at all.
One caveat, this only works if the walls are thin, well under a quarter
inch, and uniform in thickness.

"Leo Van Der Loo" wrote in message
.. .
If I was in your place I would go with Darrell's suggestion, and yes
boiling the wood is a good idea after you have have turned the vase, the
only thing that I might change is the choice of wood if any, (I don't know
the wishes of your client of course) but some woods like Elm or even
Willow are less likely to split or crack, and you could dye the color to
your/his liking.

Aspen or cottonwood, more common willow cousins, would be good candidates.
Bulletproof in drying, and able to take up the color of any dye you use.
Elm would be prettier unstained.

If you go with one of these interlocked types of wood, you can be less fussy
about the pith, perhaps even using it centered up. Failure rate is real low
in my experience, but keep the thing elevated into open air as it dries, so
the bottom outside dries at the rate of the bottom inside, to keep from
cracking.

He has specified that he wanted a darker wood. I have tons of aspen
that is stone dry and he does not want the wood stained or dyed. I'd
use something else like willow if it was available but nothing large
enough is available locally.

I checked around locally and Rockler's has one piece of poplar and
Woodcraft has some blackwood but I've seen it and it has lots of cracks
and checks.

Anything mail ordered that size would cost $100 easily no matter what
kind of wood it is. I tried to propose more exotic stuff but he does
not want to pay for it. I was looking at an ebony log for example but
that would be $300 just for the wood.

My wife and I have been trying to figure the price for the finished vase
12x6 made to the drawing and dimensions he provided. The walnut cost me
less than $50 so we are toying with $100-$150 price range.

I'm going to look for turkey cookers on sale after Thanks Giving and
maybe get one as a way to boil wood in the future.

George wrote:
"Leo Van Der Loo" wrote in message
.. .

If I was in your place I would go with Darrell's suggestion, and yes
boiling the wood is a good idea after you have have turned the vase, the
only thing that I might change is the choice of wood if any, (I don't know
the wishes of your client of course) but some woods like Elm or even
Willow are less likely to split or crack, and you could dye the color to
your/his liking.


Aspen or cottonwood, more common willow cousins, would be good candidates.
Bulletproof in drying, and able to take up the color of any dye you use.
Elm would be prettier unstained.

If you go with one of these interlocked types of wood, you can be less fussy
about the pith, perhaps even using it centered up. Failure rate is real low
in my experience, but keep the thing elevated into open air as it dries, so
the bottom outside dries at the rate of the bottom inside, to keep from
cracking.

but I sent a check along with the renewal form!

Greg G. wrote:
said:


So the questions is.....

Robert


I believe he wants the Cabal's magical panacea for turning, drying,
and presenting a piece in less than 30 days. Sorry, William, your
membership shows to be expired... g


Greg G.

William, If you want to do this for your own pleasure and information,
these suggestions are all helpful. If you are doing this to please your
wife or to satisfy a customer's preconceived notions, forget it. Refer
him to Walmart. He can argue with them and everybody will be happier.

If you do follow this project through, please post the consequences. I
hope I'm wrong and I'll gladly admit it. Good luck.


Turn to Safety, Arch
Fortiter



http://community.webtv.net/almcc/MacsMusings

Yes lots of suggestions. A few local club members use boiling. I'm
going to watch for a turkey cooker on sale and try it. LDD is
interesting but storing a 5 gallon bucket in a garage that gets well
below freezing in the winter would probably not work. Alcohol is
interesting as a second choice but storing it also has its own problems.

My view is that I'm going to try turning it keeping it thin and letting
it warp as it may. I've had enough people suggest that I just turning
it thin and uniform would work that I'm going to give it a try. The
piece of walnut I'm going to use is quarter sawn from a large log well
away from the pith.

After sanding I'm going to apply tong oil and then see what happens. If
it cracks badly I'll not be out much. If it cracks then I'll have to
see what happens.

I have lots of different inlace material I can use. I did a large elm
vase during the summer and it cracked at a knot. I filled it with Tin
to give it some contrast and my wife placed the vase out of reach in a
locked display cabinet.

If he does not like it then someone else may. I have someone showing up
Sunday to buy some Christmas presents including the large Aspen vase
that my wife was showing when the custom vase came up.

Arch wrote:
William, If you want to do this for your own pleasure and information,
these suggestions are all helpful. If you are doing this to please your
wife or to satisfy a customer's preconceived notions, forget it. Refer
him to Walmart. He can argue with them and everybody will be happier.

If you do follow this project through, please post the consequences. I
hope I'm wrong and I'll gladly admit it. Good luck.


Turn to Safety, Arch
Fortiter



http://community.webtv.net/almcc/MacsMusings

I second what you are saying. I will post some pics @ ABPW of a vase I just
turned from Baltic birch plywood. It is too light for his project but stain
might cure it. You glue it up.....wait 24 hours and have at it.
Lyndell

"tdup2" wrote in message
...
Why not buy a 1x8 9' sanded on both sides and glue a block together??? He
is willing to pay isn't he?

"william kossack" wrote in message
...
My wife took a bunch of my turnings to a craft show at her work to sell.
We did fairly good considering the company is small but the day after a
sales manager where my wife works came to her wanting to know if I could
turn a custom vase as a christmas present for his wife.

They have a vase in their bedroom but it is ceramic and a light color. I
have tons of aspen unfortunately but I recently got some black walnut.
However, the black walnut is very wet and only recently cut.

I've searched for other turning chunks but they are also either wet or
too expensive.

I'm debating on how to turn a 12 inch tall vase and keep it from cracking
as it dries. I don't think a little warp will matter and there is just
not the time to rough out the vase and dry it normally. I've thought of
boiling, soaking in LDD, and even using alcohol but all of these take
some time to dry after the treatment. I'm not also not set up for any of
these approaches because I normally rough out and slowly air dry pieces.

I even thought of microwaving but 12 inch length and 7 inch width plus a
tenon probably will not fit in our microwave. I've even thought of
putting it in the oven on low for a day but the problem is that I do
turning outside and in Denver this time of year I can't count on having
too many outdoor turning days before Christmas.

william kossack wrote:
He has specified that he wanted a darker wood. I have tons of aspen
that is stone dry and he does not want the wood stained or dyed. I'd
use something else like willow if it was available but nothing large
enough is available locally.

I checked around locally and Rockler's has one piece of poplar and
Woodcraft has some blackwood but I've seen it and it has lots of cracks
and checks.

Anything mail ordered that size would cost $100 easily no matter what
kind of wood it is. I tried to propose more exotic stuff but he does
not want to pay for it. I was looking at an ebony log for example but
that would be $300 just for the wood.

My wife and I have been trying to figure the price for the finished vase
12x6 made to the drawing and dimensions he provided. The walnut cost me
less than $50 so we are toying with $100-$150 price range.

I'm going to look for turkey cookers on sale after Thanks Giving and
maybe get one as a way to boil wood in the future.

What about a segmented piece? You could get some nice kiln dried walnut
lumber, and build the piece up. In my experience walnut develops a nice
chatoyance (sp?) when segmented and you would waste very little wood,
no cracking from drying, etc.

HTH...

....Kevin
--
Kevin Miller
http://www.alaska.net/~atftb
Juneau, Alaska
Registered Linux User No: 307357

I work outside on the shady side of my house in Denver Colorado.

Today the temperature got close to 50. Even with a coat etc your hands
get chilled and today it was windy. I managed to spend a little time
working on completing some joinery boxes to hold some of my turnings but
after a couple hours I had to go indoors.

Tomorrow it is supposed to be warmer by maybe 5 degrees so I hope to get
the vase turned and the first coat of tong oil applied. I can apply
further coats of tong oil inside and have the oil cure inside. If I'm
lucky I might get another turning day before Christmas but I don't want
to count on it.

Kevin Miller wrote:
william kossack wrote:

He has specified that he wanted a darker wood. I have tons of aspen
that is stone dry and he does not want the wood stained or dyed. I'd
use something else like willow if it was available but nothing large
enough is available locally.

I checked around locally and Rockler's has one piece of poplar and
Woodcraft has some blackwood but I've seen it and it has lots of
cracks and checks.

Anything mail ordered that size would cost $100 easily no matter what
kind of wood it is. I tried to propose more exotic stuff but he does
not want to pay for it. I was looking at an ebony log for example but
that would be $300 just for the wood.

My wife and I have been trying to figure the price for the finished
vase 12x6 made to the drawing and dimensions he provided. The walnut
cost me less than $50 so we are toying with $100-$150 price range.

I'm going to look for turkey cookers on sale after Thanks Giving and
maybe get one as a way to boil wood in the future.


What about a segmented piece? You could get some nice kiln dried walnut
lumber, and build the piece up. In my experience walnut develops a nice
chatoyance (sp?) when segmented and you would waste very little wood,
no cracking from drying, etc.

HTH...

...Kevin

I completed the vase over the weekend. It turned out well and I applied
the second coat of tong oil the other night. So far so good.

william kossack wrote:
My wife took a bunch of my turnings to a craft show at her work to sell.
We did fairly good considering the company is small but the day after a
sales manager where my wife works came to her wanting to know if I could
turn a custom vase as a christmas present for his wife.

They have a vase in their bedroom but it is ceramic and a light color. I
have tons of aspen unfortunately but I recently got some black walnut.
However, the black walnut is very wet and only recently cut.

I've searched for other turning chunks but they are also either wet or
too expensive.

I'm debating on how to turn a 12 inch tall vase and keep it from
cracking as it dries. I don't think a little warp will matter and there
is just not the time to rough out the vase and dry it normally. I've
thought of boiling, soaking in LDD, and even using alcohol but all of
these take some time to dry after the treatment. I'm not also not set
up for any of these approaches because I normally rough out and slowly
air dry pieces.

I even thought of microwaving but 12 inch length and 7 inch width plus a
tenon probably will not fit in our microwave. I've even thought of
putting it in the oven on low for a day but the problem is that I do
turning outside and in Denver this time of year I can't count on having
too many outdoor turning days before Christmas.

Hi William

Good going

How thin/thick did it/you turn it to.

Maybe a picture at ABPW ??
Love seeing peoples work.

Have fun and take care
Leo Van Der Loo

william kossack wrote:
I completed the vase over the weekend. It turned out well and I applied
the second coat of tong oil the other night. So far so good.

I did not get the bottom as thin as I wanted. Initially I tried to
drill the center out but I could not find my forsner bit extension.
When I tried to use a flat drill bit it started to bind in the wet wood.
The depth of the vase and the size of opening left me only my kelton
hollowers for removing material from the bottom. I removed as much
material as I could but had to leave about an inch and a half in the
bottom because it got dark and cold. I decided to finish the vase and I
sanded to 800 and I've put two coats of tong oil. The sides are maybe
1/4 of an inch thick from top to bottom.

It has been 3 days and I just measured just less than a 1/10th of an
inch of difference in diameter in the mouth max to min dimension. I'm
going to wait a couple weeks before I brag by posting pics

Leo Van Der Loo wrote:
Hi William

Good going

How thin/thick did it/you turn it to.

Maybe a picture at ABPW ??
Love seeing peoples work.

Have fun and take care
Leo Van Der Loo

william kossack wrote:

I completed the vase over the weekend. It turned out well and I
applied the second coat of tong oil the other night. So far so good.

Hi William

William you're probably lucky that you didn't find the forstner bit
extension, good chance that the bid would have seized up in the wet
wood, and no way to get it back out after that !!!

Some more wood in the bottom will help it from tipping over, however it
might be prudent to seal the bottom end grain so as to slow down the end
grain drying faster than the rest of the wood and splitting, I probably
would use thin CA glue, it seals and strengthens the wood.

Have fun and take care
Leo Van Der Loo

william kossack wrote:
I did not get the bottom as thin as I wanted. Initially I tried to
drill the center out but I could not find my forsner bit extension. When
I tried to use a flat drill bit it started to bind in the wet wood. The
depth of the vase and the size of opening left me only my kelton
hollowers for removing material from the bottom. I removed as much
material as I could but had to leave about an inch and a half in the
bottom because it got dark and cold. I decided to finish the vase and I
sanded to 800 and I've put two coats of tong oil. The sides are maybe
1/4 of an inch thick from top to bottom.

It has been 3 days and I just measured just less than a 1/10th of an
inch of difference in diameter in the mouth max to min dimension. I'm
going to wait a couple weeks before I brag by posting pics

I coated the bottom with tong oil and poured some inside on the bottom
of the vase also. I'm not sure why but a couple people recommeded
keeping the vase upside down for now

Leo Van Der Loo wrote:
Hi William

William you're probably lucky that you didn't find the forstner bit
extension, good chance that the bid would have seized up in the wet
wood, and no way to get it back out after that !!!

Some more wood in the bottom will help it from tipping over, however it
might be prudent to seal the bottom end grain so as to slow down the end
grain drying faster than the rest of the wood and splitting, I probably
would use thin CA glue, it seals and strengthens the wood.

Have fun and take care
Leo Van Der Loo

william kossack wrote:

I did not get the bottom as thin as I wanted. Initially I tried to
drill the center out but I could not find my forsner bit extension.
When I tried to use a flat drill bit it started to bind in the wet
wood. The depth of the vase and the size of opening left me only my
kelton hollowers for removing material from the bottom. I removed as
much material as I could but had to leave about an inch and a half in
the bottom because it got dark and cold. I decided to finish the vase
and I sanded to 800 and I've put two coats of tong oil. The sides are
maybe 1/4 of an inch thick from top to bottom.

It has been 3 days and I just measured just less than a 1/10th of an
inch of difference in diameter in the mouth max to min dimension. I'm
going to wait a couple weeks before I brag by posting pics

I finally got a chance to shoot a pic of the vase

http://home.comcast.net/~wskossack/b...ackwalnut.html

william kossack wrote:
My wife took a bunch of my turnings to a craft show at her work to sell.
We did fairly good considering the company is small but the day after a
sales manager where my wife works came to her wanting to know if I could
turn a custom vase as a christmas present for his wife.

They have a vase in their bedroom but it is ceramic and a light color. I
have tons of aspen unfortunately but I recently got some black walnut.
However, the black walnut is very wet and only recently cut.

I've searched for other turning chunks but they are also either wet or
too expensive.

I'm debating on how to turn a 12 inch tall vase and keep it from
cracking as it dries. I don't think a little warp will matter and there
is just not the time to rough out the vase and dry it normally. I've
thought of boiling, soaking in LDD, and even using alcohol but all of
these take some time to dry after the treatment. I'm not also not set
up for any of these approaches because I normally rough out and slowly
air dry pieces.

I even thought of microwaving but 12 inch length and 7 inch width plus a
tenon probably will not fit in our microwave. I've even thought of
putting it in the oven on low for a day but the problem is that I do
turning outside and in Denver this time of year I can't count on having
too many outdoor turning days before Christmas.

Hi William

Very nice walnut vase William, the customer should be very pleased with
the finish and look of that vase, 12" tall that's a long way in there
when hollowing, you can be proud of that work, thanks for sharing.

Have fun and take care
Leo Van Der Loo

william kossack wrote:

I finally got a chance to shoot a pic of the vase

http://home.comcast.net/~wskossack/b...ackwalnut.html

william kossack wrote:

My wife took a bunch of my turnings to a craft show at her work to
sell. We did fairly good considering the company is small but the day
after a sales manager where my wife works came to her wanting to know
if I could turn a custom vase as a christmas present for his wife.

They have a vase in their bedroom but it is ceramic and a light color.
I have tons of aspen unfortunately but I recently got some black
walnut. However, the black walnut is very wet and only recently cut.

I've searched for other turning chunks but they are also either wet or
too expensive.

I'm debating on how to turn a 12 inch tall vase and keep it from
cracking as it dries. I don't think a little warp will matter and
there is just not the time to rough out the vase and dry it normally.
I've thought of boiling, soaking in LDD, and even using alcohol but
all of these take some time to dry after the treatment. I'm not also
not set up for any of these approaches because I normally rough out
and slowly air dry pieces.

I even thought of microwaving but 12 inch length and 7 inch width plus
a tenon probably will not fit in our microwave. I've even thought of
putting it in the oven on low for a day but the problem is that I do
turning outside and in Denver this time of year I can't count on
having too many outdoor turning days before Christmas.

There is maybe an inch and a half of wood in the bottom that I could not
get out because it got dark on me. A couple days ago I sealed the
bottom and inside bottom with CA glue because a few cracks started
forming. I hope that stopped the cracks. However, the bottom has
warped enough that I'm going to have to try and true it up with my belt
sander

Leo Van Der Loo wrote:
Hi William

Very nice walnut vase William, the customer should be very pleased with
the finish and look of that vase, 12" tall that's a long way in there
when hollowing, you can be proud of that work, thanks for sharing.

Have fun and take care
Leo Van Der Loo

william kossack wrote:

I finally got a chance to shoot a pic of the vase

http://home.comcast.net/~wskossack/b...ackwalnut.html

william kossack wrote:

My wife took a bunch of my turnings to a craft show at her work to
sell. We did fairly good considering the company is small but the
day after a sales manager where my wife works came to her wanting to
know if I could turn a custom vase as a christmas present for his wife.

They have a vase in their bedroom but it is ceramic and a light
color. I have tons of aspen unfortunately but I recently got some
black walnut. However, the black walnut is very wet and only
recently cut.

I've searched for other turning chunks but they are also either wet
or too expensive.

I'm debating on how to turn a 12 inch tall vase and keep it from
cracking as it dries. I don't think a little warp will matter and
there is just not the time to rough out the vase and dry it
normally. I've thought of boiling, soaking in LDD, and even using
alcohol but all of these take some time to dry after the treatment.
I'm not also not set up for any of these approaches because I
normally rough out and slowly air dry pieces.

I even thought of microwaving but 12 inch length and 7 inch width
plus a tenon probably will not fit in our microwave. I've even
thought of putting it in the oven on low for a day but the problem is
that I do turning outside and in Denver this time of year I can't
count on having too many outdoor turning days before Christmas.

"william kossack" wrote in message
. ..
There is maybe an inch and a half of wood in the bottom that I could not
get out because it got dark on me. A couple days ago I sealed the bottom
and inside bottom with CA glue because a few cracks started forming. I
hope that stopped the cracks. However, the bottom has warped enough that
I'm going to have to try and true it up with my belt sander

Hope you're careful on that. I always undercut the base, so only the
outside edge contacts the surface. Makes it easier on the warp-and-go
pieces to both dry evenly and level a wobbler with a pass from a plane iron
if it will span, or by dragging over a piece of PSA paper on a piece of MDF
table. Belt sanders have a way of indelicately grabbing and throwing.

If that belt is part of a belt/disk combo, you might put your vase in a wide
V block and use your miter gage to move the whole gingerly toward the center
of the disk. Less likely to run over the edge that way.

It would be best if you had a friction chuck to stuff it on, and a good live
center centered at the bottom. That way you could cut or scrape gently as
it rotated.

The vase was picked up yesterday.

The guy that asked for it like the result and paid the $200 I asked.

I figure I had $50 in the wood and maybe 10 hours in the making (5 hours
at the lathe and another 5 finishing and sanding.