At Last Some New Material Sufficiently Seasoned

I have access to virtually unlimited material for turning and have been working harvesting a good supply. My only problem is that most of it is too green to turn without risking my finished pieces cracking and splitting (Which I found out the hard way).

After some waiting, I have a small amount of Birch and Maple pieces that are ready to work. The bud vase in the photo was turned today out of a chunk on Grey Birch. I have another blank ready to go but didn't have time to finish it.

There were other issues addressed today. My lathe needed to have to motor shroud re-attached and the tailstock locking bolt replaced. I picked up that hardware during the week and was able to put it all on today. Unfortunately, another small bolt fell out earlier and I have to find or replace it sometime soon. My lathe has been limping along for a couple years now. I'm hoping, with earnings from my turning, to upgrade to a professional quality machine before this one expires. The motor on this one has some issues and was never very powerful, to begin with.

Since my last post my youngest son and I have been harvesting Spruce poles from the back of our property to build first a scaffold to perform some necessary work on our camp as well as to add a small greenhouse where a lot of my future woodworking will be done. The current workspace is completely inadequate. The intention is to get all that work done before the summer is out.

Successful Experiment

I have been cutting and drying Spotted Alder in the hopes of being able to turn it on the lathe or do other work with it besides the basic hair sticks I've been making. Spotted Alder is considered by most to be junk. The only use I've seen locally is people burning it as emergency firewood. It isn't even very good at that. It burns plenty hot but is reduced to ashes in very short order. It also is reputed to soot up the chimney in a hurry.

So why do I want to turn the stuff on the lathe? Well in making hair sticks I've noticed that it takes a stain well and the colour can be pretty nice. I also have unlimited access to the stuff. It grows here faster than I can use it.

Today I got my chance. I had a good dry stick of it and if I made slimmer bud vases it was hefty enough for the job.  I turned the three little vases pictured above today. I think they turned out beautifully. We oiled them only. That is the natural colour. I am pleased with the results and will be making a lot more of them. I just have to wait for more of the wood I harvested to dry out.

Turning it was a challenge. It has a tendency to splinter and chip, even worse than Spruce. I had to keep a keen edge of the chisels and I had to make very delicate finishing cuts. Even with that, I had to do quite a bit of sanding to get a nice smooth finish. Sanding removed material faster than any other wood I've worked to date and I had to work carefully or I'd obliterate the details. No complaints though. This experiment was one hundred percent successful.

Getting Restarted

Working in my woodshop area this past winter was well nigh impossible. When it wasn't too cold or too dark, I had too many other things on my plate to deal with. Spring is bringing a change to all that.
It's warmer and the sun is not down yet when I get home from work. Now I have a little bit of time to devote to my woodworking.

I did purchase a few tools and accessories for the shop. Most notable is the self-centering chuck for my wood lathe. That has resulted in the picture above. I am looking to make small saleable items. They are for sale through the website here by sending me an email. Above are bud vases. The darker coloured ones are cherry and the light coloured ones are apple wood. I happened to have saved a small amount of those during the winter and they have seasoned enough to work with. I am looking for other useful items I can make and suggestions are welcome unless you're telling me to make pens. I know they are popular but every potential vendor in the area is already selling those for other craftsmen in the area. I don't really want to wedge myself into an already crowded market.

I have cleared a number of items off my to-do list and I am hoping to consistently start making posts here as well as create new content for the YouTube channel. Thanks to everyone for giving me a look.