Some Christmas Items

[Ken Massingale]

A few of the pens/pencils and some small ring boxes from the Jet Mini.
Geeze, I have a lot to learn! I'm going to Woodcraft in Feb. for a turning class to get the basics, and hopefully unlearn the bad turning habits I've taught myself.

From the left, cobote, walnut, cherry with a walnut thing that was supposed to be a spiral.[:I]


These are from a wild cherry root ball .


Ambrosia Hackberry


Some ring boxes done with the Treen Mandrel, cobote.


Sorry about the image quality, gotta learn how to shoot small stuff.
Thanks for looking.
ken

[Whaler]

Ken

From the looks of those I think you taught yourself well.
Those spirals are tricky but most times you still come up with an unusual pen that probably couldn't be duplicated.
Great looking work.

[monte]

Beautiful work Ken!

[boblon]

Beautiful items Ken. I agree with Dick, looks like your doing good judging by your work. Is there something specific you want them to teach you?

BobL.

[Whit]

Great looking pens. I really like the boxes, with that grain.
Whit

[GeekMom]

The grain shows up really well in your boxes - nice finish. I like the subtle color in the ambrosia hackberry.

[Mort]

No bad habits evident in that work. All are lovely.

[mudder]

quote:Originally posted by Ken Massingale

... I'm going to Woodcraft in Feb. for a turning class to get the basics, and hopefully unlearn the bad turning habits I've taught myself.....

I went to a seminar last summer and the featured turners were Mike Mahoney (sp?) and Richard Raffan. During the seminar there was banter between the two masters and Mike commented on how Richard "improperly" uses the gouge in his hollowing technique. Raffan fired back with a line I will not forget. "There is no improper way to use a woodturning tool if it produces what you were looking for". I'm left handed and the guys in my club all cringe when I step up to the lathe. All of my tool handling looks "improper", but you have seen samples of my work. The way they turn will not necessarily be the way you turn. Try their techniques, but search for a better ones for you. Some guys in my club sharpen their tools in a way that makes me wonder how they even cut at all but you should see the cuts these guys make and how beautiful the work is when completed. I have recently learned that most folks start out spinning the wood much to fast. When I got the DVR and now can spin wood at whatever speed I want and know almost exactly what that speed is I found that out. Others will disagree with me, but this is what I have learned at this juncture of my turning journey.


Mudder