Woodworking

[Jason Williams]

I've started taking a serious interest in woodworking again after 30+yrs and recently bought all the basic hand tools to get me started and to help with general DIY around the house.

 

Is there anyone else interested in or has experience working with wood?

[Qapla]

I am a woodturner. I have also built some cabinets and, at one point, earned my living doing some carpenter work.

 

Here are a few of my bowls:

Edited January 7, 2025 by Qapla

[Qapla]

Some of my latest efforts:

 

 

[Tortuga]

I recently used an old piece of oak baseboard to make a few ties. Just for fun...

[Qapla]

Very nice, Richard!

[Jason Williams]

Rcihard, I so hope that you turned up to the meeting with that tie on! 🙃😆

[Tortuga]

Several months ago I helped with the bathroom partitions on a KH remodel. The partitions are made of HDPE, a hard, thick, heavy plastic. I took some scraps home so I could practice removing scratches from it. I decided to carve a small piece that I had leftover.

[Doug]

 

Meet you at the beach!

[Qapla]

I got another chance to get into the shop and found a nice surprise ...

 

Inside if this cracked chunk of wood

 

 

I found this:

 

[tekmantwo]

What a nice surprise!

 

I remember when we were kids that we had some wood bowls roughly that size....

[Tortuga]

John, I have a lathe but I haven't used it in years. Now I'm interested in making a bowl to see if I can do it.

[Qapla]

There is just something about taking steel to spinning wood and creating something from a blank that is soothing and fun ...

 

Edited 18 hours ago by Qapla

[Tortuga]

Do you have any suggestions for my first project? I have a lathe and tools. Where do you get your wood?

[Qapla]

If you have a Woodcraft Store or Rockler, they both stock wood for turning. They even have square and round blanks and a decent variety of hardwoods.

 

Some of my wood I found on Facebook Marketplace. I also have access to some downed trees and wood dries fairly quickly in Florida. We have a place locally that sells donated stuff. Some if it is reasonably priced and I have picked up a couple of tables and wood shelving/countertop slabs for a good price.

 

It is possible to get Red Oak and Poplar from Lowes and Home Depot, but it is a bit pricey and not thick pieces, though thinner ones can be glued into a blank.

 

My real find is I have access to a nice stock of Mopani/Mopane Wood. Mopani wood is native to Southern Africa. It is a dense, durable hardwood widely used for aquarium scaping, high-end woodworking, and musical instruments. Known for its reddish-brown to brown color and high density, it is highly prized for being termite-resistant and sinking immediately in water.

 

If you only want to make a few things, I would try Woodcraft or Rockler. If you want any amount of wood, checking Facebook Marketplace and checking to see if there are any woodturning groups in your area.

 

BTW - it is possible to turn softer woods like Pine and Fir so you can try a 4X4 from Lowes or HD.