22-03-2011, 06:33 PM
Thanks for the very kind comments folks - much appreciated!
I don't make anything to sell, but sometimes give them as gifts. They seem to be appreciated, but one never quite knows if the recipients are just being kind, so as to not risk hurting my feelings. I hope not! :-)
The square edge bowls are a bit tricky to turn as its so easy to chip off the corners with the bowl gouge as the wood rotates in the lathe. Furthermore, the square becomes almost invisible at speed and all that you see is a 'ghost' of it, so you have to be exceedingly careful with your fingers. You can't leave your little finger sticking out as you might do when taking tea with the vicar! As to the laburnum vase, some timbers such as laburnum and yew, have very distinct contrasting heartwood and sapwood, so if turned on the end grain (a length of 'branchwood' mounted between centres), you see the contrast in the grain.
I'm conscious that this is primarily a vintage radio forum, so I'll try to steer this post in that direction, by explaining that this last year or so, I've tended to house my little homebrew test-gear projects in oak boxes that I make from scrap offcuts of flooring fished out of skips. I think it makes them look a bit 'retro' and evocative of the comb-jointed boxes of yesteryear that crystal sets and so forth were housed in. I use a router in a home-made comb-joint jig made from scrap offcuts. I've attached a few pics to give an idea what they look like. First, a test piece to ensure that the jig worked, secondly a 'test gear trio' consisting of a zener diode tester, a wobbulator, and an ESR meter for testing electrolytic caps. I've got some pics of the inside of the instruments if anyone is curious about that! The boxes are time consuming, and sometimes take longer to make than their contents, but then I don't do this for a living - it's just a hobby, and I like to try to combine both electronics and woodworking when I can.
I hope the pics are of interest.
David
I don't make anything to sell, but sometimes give them as gifts. They seem to be appreciated, but one never quite knows if the recipients are just being kind, so as to not risk hurting my feelings. I hope not! :-)
The square edge bowls are a bit tricky to turn as its so easy to chip off the corners with the bowl gouge as the wood rotates in the lathe. Furthermore, the square becomes almost invisible at speed and all that you see is a 'ghost' of it, so you have to be exceedingly careful with your fingers. You can't leave your little finger sticking out as you might do when taking tea with the vicar! As to the laburnum vase, some timbers such as laburnum and yew, have very distinct contrasting heartwood and sapwood, so if turned on the end grain (a length of 'branchwood' mounted between centres), you see the contrast in the grain.
I'm conscious that this is primarily a vintage radio forum, so I'll try to steer this post in that direction, by explaining that this last year or so, I've tended to house my little homebrew test-gear projects in oak boxes that I make from scrap offcuts of flooring fished out of skips. I think it makes them look a bit 'retro' and evocative of the comb-jointed boxes of yesteryear that crystal sets and so forth were housed in. I use a router in a home-made comb-joint jig made from scrap offcuts. I've attached a few pics to give an idea what they look like. First, a test piece to ensure that the jig worked, secondly a 'test gear trio' consisting of a zener diode tester, a wobbulator, and an ESR meter for testing electrolytic caps. I've got some pics of the inside of the instruments if anyone is curious about that! The boxes are time consuming, and sometimes take longer to make than their contents, but then I don't do this for a living - it's just a hobby, and I like to try to combine both electronics and woodworking when I can.
I hope the pics are of interest.
David
