{"id":2709,"date":"2019-11-08T19:40:09","date_gmt":"2019-11-09T00:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/?p=2709"},"modified":"2019-11-08T20:46:40","modified_gmt":"2019-11-09T01:46:40","slug":"large-claro-walnut-platter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/large-claro-walnut-platter\/","title":{"rendered":"Large Claro Walnut Platter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Over the summer of 2019 my Dad gave me a large 13″ x 2″ round blank of Claro Walnut.  I was intimidated about working with it as it would be the largest blank I had ever taken on.  But finally, in early November 2019 I dove in to the challenge and had really nice results.<\/p>\n

Claro Walnut<\/a> and Black Walnut<\/a> are two of my favorite woods to work with.  They cut cleanly and finish easily making them ideal for use on the lathe.  Although this blank was bigger than any I had tried before, the basics were the same and in the end the only thing that I really noticed to be different was the number of times I had to move my tool rest about to be sure that I was in close contact with the wood.  My Robust American Beauty lathe<\/a> can turn objects up to 24″ in diameter, so while this was the largest blank I had worked with it was not quite close to being the biggest that I would work with.<\/p>\n

\"\"

American Beauty Lathe<\/p><\/div>\n

The blank did has a large check running completely across it although, thankfully, it was not a full thickness check.  I was still a bit concerned about the stability of the side of the blank with the check but in the end it held up fine.  I realize that many wood turners won’t turn blanks with checks but I think that these checks add character to a finished piece and a bit of a challenge to the turner as well not avoid catches that would tear the entire piece apart.<\/p>\n

In addition to the check, I found some nice figure in the wood as well.  There is a small are that seems to bloom out from the main figure in the base of the platter, forming a narrow channel and then enlarging out again as if it were a lake or wetland.  And there was a strip of sapwood that remained and which adds color interest due to the contrast between the much darker heartwood and the lighter sapwood.<\/p>\n

While it took a bit longer to cut and shape than a smaller blank would have the process was essentially identical.  I cut the piece to round which reduced the diameter to about 12.75″.  I cleaned up the back which took a good deal more effort than I expected as the piece had not been planed flat such that about half of what would be the back was higher than the other half.  Flattening this out took off about another 1\/4″ of so from the finished piece.  Finally, I cut the divot for mounting the blank on to the 100mm Nova Chuck<\/a> for cutting out the interior of the platter.  The interior cut surprisingly fast considering the size of the piece.  The cutting and finishing process were the same for interior and exterior.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Claro Walnut Platter<\/p><\/div>\n

All cuts were made using Easy Wood Tools<\/a> cutters along with a Robert Sorby shew chisel<\/a> to the set the interior bevel for the divot.  The last step was to sand the back and sides to the final finish of 800 grit using Gold and Green Wave sanding discs from Packard Woodworks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Usually when working with walnut, either Black or Claro, I use a natural tone Watco Danish Oil<\/a>.  In this case my can of natural Watco had been exposed to air and had hardened into a lump, so I decided to try the Medium Walnut tone which I expected would be behave similarly with walnut wood as the cherry tone Watco does with cherry wood, i.e. enhancing the natural color without being too darkening.  I tested the finish on some other as yet unworked pieces of walnut and the color change didn’t seem too dramatic or dark, so I went ahead and applied it to the entire piece.  I think in the end that it darkened a bit more than I expected, especially on the sapwood section but I still think the overall effect is pleasing.<\/p>\n

The final step in the process was to reverse the turning to remove the divot.  However, this particular piece was so large that my regular Nova Cole Jaws couldn’t handle the job so I would have turned to my Longworth jaws<\/a> had I not had such terrible experiences with trying to get those to work.<\/p>\n

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Longworth Chuck<\/p><\/div>\n

The last attempt to use the Longworth had frustrated me so badly that I finally went ahead and ordered the Easy Wood Tools Easy chuck with the Easy Jaws attachment and extension.  This new tool worked perfectly.  It was as easy to use as the Nova Cole Jaws<\/a> but much larger in diameter than anything offered by Nova.  This new tool held the platter firmly and I was easily able to remove the divot from the piece without any of the frustration of use and lack of hold associated with the Longworth jaws.  While I do find the pricing on the Easy Chuck to be steep when compared with a Nova chuck I don’t know of any other tool that would so easily allow for making the final reverse cuts, sanding and finishing.<\/p>\n

This was an exciting piece because it is the biggest I have made thus far and because I was able to test a brand new tool in the form of the Easy Chuck and Jaws.  I am very pleased overall with the entire experience although I am not 100% sure that I like the darkness of the final finish that I chose.  I encourage anyone who turns wood to consider trying walnut as I think it is easily one of the most lathe-friendly woods out there.  And by all means if you are turning and reversing large items up to 20″ diameter at least investigate the use of the Easy Chuck and Jaws.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the summer of 2019 my Dad gave me a large 13″ x 2″ round blank of Claro Walnut.  I was intimidated about working with it as it would be the largest blank I had ever taken on.  But finally, in early November 2019 I dove in to the challenge and had really nice results. Claro Walnut and Black Walnut are two of my favorite woods to work with.  They cut cleanly and finish easily making them ideal for use on the lathe.  Although this blank was bigger than any I had tried before, the basics were the same and <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":175,"featured_media":2710,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[135,128,136,137,129,138,139,130],"tags":[154,168,171,176,181,200,210,230,239,240,241,244],"yoast_head":"\nLarge Claro Walnut Platter - Wood Turning Pens ..<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dad gave me a large, 13" x 2" round Claro Walnut blank earlier in the year. 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