Though I have only been at this craft for only a short couple years, I have spent
many hours studying, learning the tools, and a lot of in's and out's. I have
also spent a lot of my free time including evenings and weekends woodturning.
I am totally addicted to the craft!
Having automotive painting skills in my younger years has been a great help in the
sanding, sealing, and final finishes I use in my woodturnings today. I think the biggest
addiction for me is the fact that each piece is unique in shape, color, grain,
wood species, and there is no end to the combination types of embellishments and
finishes. It makes every piece a true one of a kind treasure.
When I put a log or blank on the lathe, it's like unwrapping a gift from
Mother Nature, as you never know what waits under that bark cover.
I started out by buying a cheap Harbor Freight lathe with the idea of making furniture legs for projects. A wildfire burnt most of the trees on our property so I had a ton of wood to work with. I never completed a single furniture piece as this spun into making other artistic pieces shown on this site instead.
I still use the old lathe and chuck to hold pieces I airbrush color dye, spray lacquer on along with other finished in the paint room.
The Jet Wood Lathe
Jet model EVS 16x42 2 hp 220 volt
I wasn’t to too excited to get the new Jet Lathe
assembled and running.
In addition to the purchase of the “Monster Hollowing System” that I use for small hollow forms, I also cut and welded up a “captive deep hollower” I enjoy using this on the larger and deeper hollowing of vases and forms.
I built a ballast box and filled it with bricks for the extra weight. This helps with those unbalanced logs and blanks.
I also built a small cabinet for extra storage for
tool rests, chucks, live centers, face plates, etc.
A steady rest is used here for the
hollowing of larger vessels and forms.