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.
