Woodturning Materials
So, what can you use as a wood turning material? The better question is, what CAN’T you use! The wood lathe can certainly be used to create objects from most any wood you can imagine, and probably a fair amount of woods you have never heard of much less imagined. But the possibilities don’t stop there. I also use acrylic plastics, deer antler, water buffalo horn, off-cuts from Corian counter tops, corncobs (no, really, I swear), wood composites, and even custom made pens with items encased in special polymers that allow you to do decoupage-like items. One can even rescue the shavings from today’s bowls to make tomorrow’s pens through a process named by its creator, Phoenix Pens. Really, the only limitation is your imagination.
I turned two more Sycamore bowls today, both 9" in diameter but one only 2" deep with the other being 3" deep. I've worked a fair bit with Sycamore …
Today's bowls are a study in contrasts. Mulberry is quite hard and it cuts very clean so little sanding effort is required. Mulberry also has a distinctive yellow-green color …
Both of today's bowls were Maple, about which I have written in the past, and both were soft species. I don't know which soft species the quilted bowl belongs …
I've turned Red Oak before and I didn't care for it then as a turning wood and I don't care for it now. Oak is so porous that it …
Hickory is a challenge as it is very hard and tends to be splintery. With the grain you couldn't ask for a smoother cut but across the grain the …
Today's bowls both feature figured wood: flame figure in Birch and quilting figure in Maple. Both are fairly small at 5.5" x 2" but both pack a good …
Eastern Red Cedar turns quite well and, of course, it is also super fragrant which helps to make it a fun wood with which to work. It sands …