Newbie question about turning small items.
 

I want to make some wooden lids for ceramics pots. Tthey should be
somewhat "dome-shaped," have a fat lip, and 4 to 8 inches in diameter.
I have access to a lathe but have never turned wood before. Any
suggestions as to what type of wood might be best, or any other tips?

TIA
Marco

Yes, some tips:

You are getting the cart before the horse. I think that you need to
learn a little about turning -- it is not as easy as falling off a log
or many of us would have lost interest a long time ago.

You need to develop some basic skills before you start to think about a
project, I believe.

There is a major difference between the skill sets needed for 'flat'
woodworking and those needed for turning. I came from 'flat' and once I
started turning I discovered that I really needed to give up the flat
work in order to develop skills as a turner.

Please remember that being ham-handed with a tool which you don't know
how to control and a piece of wood going around quickly could result in
a fat lip on you rather than on your lid.

Bill

Marco Milazzo wrote:
I want to make some wooden lids for ceramics pots. Tthey should be
somewhat "dome-shaped," have a fat lip, and 4 to 8 inches in diameter.
I have access to a lathe but have never turned wood before. Any
suggestions as to what type of wood might be best, or any other tips?

TIA
Marco

"Marco Milazzo" skrev i melding
...
I want to make some wooden lids for ceramics pots. Tthey should be
somewhat "dome-shaped," have a fat lip, and 4 to 8 inches in diameter.
I have access to a lathe but have never turned wood before. Any
suggestions as to what type of wood might be best, or any other tips?


If you are after saving money, you are barking up the wrong tree.
Before you are able to do this job yourself, you will have spent
a lot of money. Large amounts if you get hooked on it.

Better find a woodturner in the neighborhood and pay him
what he wants for the job.

_Then_ you save money!

Bjarte

"Marco Milazzo" wrote in message
...
I want to make some wooden lids for ceramics pots. Tthey should be
somewhat "dome-shaped," have a fat lip, and 4 to 8 inches in diameter.
I have access to a lathe but have never turned wood before. Any
suggestions as to what type of wood might be best, or any other tips?

Assuming access to a lathe means access to someone who turns, your project
is not too complicated. Any wood is fine, of course, if there's no food
involved. If food is involved, stay with the bland stuff like beech, birch
or maple. Remember that a tight dry fit is a broken jar if the wood gets
wet.

I turn my lids on a chuck, mounting my basic circle on a 1" recess or
gripping a 1x1" future knob. I then turn either the outside, including my
knob and tenon, or inside to fit the screw-on lid reversing to finish.
faceplates would work, too. Talk to the owner of the lathe and a couple
other turners before you take the first shaving.

Hi Marco, I assume that you are a potter turning clay on a vertical
lathe (wheel).
You use your hands and various 'paddles' as tools to shape by forming as
well as adding or subtracting a plastic medium. We woodturners usually
shape a rapidly rotating solid medium with sharp metal tools and are
limited to removing some.

Obviously there are many differences and similarities in the two crafts,
but using both approaches in the making of a thrown/turned object might
help us get around the restrictions of either discipline and broaden the
horizons of each. We already use many crafts in turning and decorating
our wood. Sculpturing, carving, painting, machining; the list goes on as
turners begin to overcome the restrictive bias of purists and are
intergrated with their fellow craftsmen-artists.

Like your craft, turning wood is a deceptively simple endeavor. Easy to
get started, but once begun it takes over with an infinity of ways to go
and distances to travel. (and things to buy!) I hope that you will
continue to ask here, read and/or get some instruction and begin to turn
wood so you can marry the two crafts as you progress. Perhaps some here
would enjoy trying that marriage, pehaps not.

Welcome to woodturning and this ng. If you are interested, continue to
ask for woodturning advice while sharing your particular expertise.
Everyone here is both ignorant and expert. It just depends.... ;)


Turn to Safety, Arch
Fortiter



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