Pen Blank Drilling Jig Basic Homemade

Here is a basic homemade pen blank drilling jig I made. Its not fancy but it gets the job done.

I took two pieces of 1 1/2" X 1 1/2" wood 8" long. I joined them using a 1"X 1" hinge. To form a vise. I then marked two sets of vee notches in the wood. Using my bandsaw I cut out the notches.

The 1st vee notch is slightly smaller than 5/8" and the 2nd is slightly smaller than 3/4". These are the normal size for pen blanks. Using the notched to center and the vise like hinge to hold, I can drill a pen blank in no time at all and it will be straight and square. You can buy pen blanks and pen kits at woodcraft by clicking on the link to the right.

Please visit my web site for more information and tips on pen making, bowl turning and woodworking in general. http://nokeswoodworks.com

Bowl Turning , Turning a green Pecan wood bowl

BOWL TURNING BASICS

This morning I rough turned a bowl from a green pecan bowl blank. This is how I turn a bowl blank. This blank is made of Pecan, it is green and waxed sealed. I mount the bowl using 1" screws.

This bowl blank is 8"X 3"

The bowl blank is then mounted to the lathe. I used a 3/8" bowl gouge to turn the bowl to a true round.

Once the bowl is round, I then square up the face. I have more pictures on my web site that also shows how I hold a bowl gouge.

Once everything is square. I use my Teknatool dovetail scraper to cut a dovetail recess in the bottom of the blank. This will be used to hold the blank using my Nova dovetail chuck. The recess is cut to about 2 1/2" circle. At this point I switch and mount my bowl on the Nova expanding dovetail chuck.

This picture show how I have used my bowl gouge to cut away the inside of the bowl. The lathe speed I used during this entire process was 684 RPM's. Now that the bowl has been roughed out to about a 3/4-1" thickness, I will date it and write pecan on the bottom. The bowl will be set aside for 4-6 months or until dry. Once it is dry, I will finish turn the bowl.

You can find more pictures and more information on my web site.

http://nokeswoodworks.com/

Garden, flower, vegetable and plant seeds

Its the time of year when I start to think about plants seeds to get plants ready for my garden. As I was searching for see catalogs, I decided to assemble a web page to list all of the sites I found in one place. I added this to my website and you can get there by clicking here.

http://nokeswoodworks.com/Gardenstore.html

If you are just looking for catalogs or looking for seeds, plants, bulbs, trees or just information, these are great places to start. This year I'm doing blueberries and heirloom tomatoes.

Wood Turning Tool Dovetail Chisel

The Teknatool Dovetail Chisel

The dovetail chisel is a special tool for wood turning. I use it in conjunction with my Nova G3 chuck. The dovetail chisel that I use is a Teknatool chisel and was purchased at Woodcraft.

I use this chisel on the bottom of bowls to make a cut which will fit my Nova chuck jaws. See pictures for the type of cut I make in the bowl bottom and the jaws on my chuck. This chisel is made of HSS, which will stay sharp longer. Although this is a special chisel and not one I would pick as a beginning tool, a beginner could make good use of this tool. The tool cuts cleanly and fast making it easy to mount my bowl to the chuck securely. I don't worry about the bowl flying off the chuck.

Please visit my web site which I have updated to include a garden and seed store. http://nokeswoodworks.com/

Basic Wood Turning Tools for Spindles and Bowls

I have been asked a couple of times what tools should I buy. The answer depends on what you want to turn. I have put together a list for bowls, spindle turning, pens turns and a couple of extras.

The picture to the right are my basic tools for bowl turning.
I use a 3/8" Deep fluted bowl gouge, a 3/4" Bowl scraper and a 1/16" parting tool. These are the basic tools I use to turn bowls.
Some people use a 1/2 bowl gouge but I find the a 3/8" gouge is easier to control and works better in tight places.

Spindle turning and pen turning almost the same. I use spindle gouges in the 1/4" and 3/8" size.

These are the main tools used in spindle turning, also in pen turning. Spindle gouges can be used on the outside of bowls but not on the inside. I also have a 3/4" roughing gouge use to rough pieces to the round. Another good tool to have is the skew chisel , I use a 1/2" chisel the most but also have a 1"chisel I have the oval design, I get better control with it. Last but not least is the 1/8" diamond parting tool. I use the 1/4" gouge and the skew for pen making and sometimes I need the parting tool.

I also have two other tools I want to mention. One is the spindlemaster, it is a cross between a skew and a spindle gouge. I love this tool and use it alot. The other tool is a dovetail tool used to make the recess in the bottom of bowls, so they can be held in the chuck properly.

One last note on tools, Make sure you buy tools that are made of HSS high speed steel or better. Anything less will not hold an edge. In wood turning you will need sharp tools and tools which hold there edge longer wont have to be sharpened as much.

Please visit my web site for more information on turning and woodworking.
http://nokeswoodworks.com

Nova 1624 Lathe from Woodcraft

I got a new Nova 1624 Lathe from Woodcraft about a month ago. I have nothing but good things to say about this lathe. The 1 1/2 hp motor has more than enough power for this weekend woodworker. It came with steel legs which I am currently using. They seem to keep the lathe very stable. The motor is smooth and powerful. Belt changing is easy, which is a plus. I have already turned several projects on the lathe. I will be sharing some of these projects, here on my blog as well as my web site. The woodcraft people were very helpful went I went to the store to pick it up. I also have the Nova G3 chuck, which I used on my Jet mini lathe. I may want to pick up a bigger chuck in the future but for right now, this chuck has worked well.
This lathe is great for wooden bowls, Pens, spindles, small table parts and anything you can turn in the 16" round by 24" inches in length. You can see a picture to the right, click on the picture for more infromation.
Please visit my website http://nokeswoodworks.com

Fine Woodworking , Best chisels on the market

The October 2008 issue of Fine Woodworking has and article on the Best chisels on the Market. The article in on Bench chisels and does a test on the most popular chisels on the Market.
They test 23 brands and picked the Lie Nielsen at the best overall western style chisel on the market.
The runner up is the Pfeil Swiss Made brand. I have a set of the Swiss Made chisels. I not only have the bench chisels but also have the carvings chisels as well. I think these are the best chisels out there, but have never tried a Lie Nielsen chisel. I do have other Lie Nielsen products like planes and saws and do fine them to be exceptional good.
In the test of 6 categories the Lie Nielsen chisels got 2 excellent, 3 very goods and 1 good. The Swiss made got 2 excellent and 4 very goods. The price of the Lie Nielsen is $50 and the Swiss made is $31.
So for my money the Swiss made is a better chisel. If I some day have a chance to try the Lie Nielsen , I might change my mind but for the time being,I will continue to use the Swiss made. I like the way they feel in my hand, they stay sharp. They do not take much work to keep them sharp and they cut true. I use the bench chisels for cutting dovetails, mortises and for general trimming work.
Please visit my web site at http://nokeswoodworks.com