This is a very thin Black Walnut platter that measures in at a decent size of 12.5″ x 2″. It was relatively easy to make but this is not Claro Walnut.
Walnut Platter Interior
The blank was originally 13″ wide but the distortions of drying robbed it of the missing 0.5″. Black Walnut is a good turning wood but it doesn’t compare to the closely related Claro Walnut. Black Walnut is more brittle and open grained and thus it doesn’t cut as smoothly as Claro Walnut. Also, Claro Walnut almost always has a fairly heavy figure that was absent from the Black Walnut.
I am glad I had the opportunity to work with this Black Walnut blank but if I am going to work with Walnut I would much rather work with the much rarer, and more expensive, Claro Walnut.
Walnut Platter Side View
All cuts were made using the Easy Wood Tool system on my Robust American Beauty lathe. Forward chucking was in a Nova Chuck, while reverse chucking was done using a Nova Chuck with Cole Jaws. Sanding was with Gold and Green Wave sanding discs from Packard Woodworks. Final finish is Natural Watco Danish Oil with a top coat of Staples Crystal Clear Paste Wax.
As always, I wish all my readers a great experience in whatever your wood working interests happen to be and to those who like working with lathes especially, do a good turn today!