Tag: Woodturning Vase Blanks

Drying Long Round Spindle Turning Blanks for Woodturning

How to Dry A Long Round Spindle
Turning Blank for Woodturning

I have some ideas for long round turning blanks, spindle blanks that can apply to a variety of woodturning projects. I’m basically taking a straight branch about 3 to 4 inches wide and turning off the bark and some or all of the sap wood from the piece leaving me a round blank at about 3″ plus wide ….it could be 12″ long or 30+ inches long. I will also take bigger branches and end up with a long round turning blank that is at least 5 inches plus wide.

What Are Long Round
Spindle Blanks Used For?

I can use these blanks for:

tool handles
bats
billy clubs
fish bats
rolling pins
noodle cutters
spaghetti cutters
handles
vases
cups

You get the idea, a long round rod shaped piece of wood. I turn the blanks and dry them. I store the blanks and when I’m ready for a project I select the dried blank and turn the project. Cracking and checking can be a problem depending on the wood species.

Long round turning blank
Spindle type blank for turning fish bats

Most Long Round Blanks Crack

My problem has been most of the wood I have turned has been very wet. I tried turning and setting on a shelf only to have them crack, at least one good crack. That’s OK, I just fill with epoxy and coffee grounds or just epoxy and color after it has finished drying and re-turn the piece.

Examples of dried and cracked long round woodturing spindle blanks
Examples of dried and cracked long round woodturing spindle blanks

I’d rather not have to go through that process for each bat type blank know as a type of spindle blank. So the problem I have is how do I dry the piece and not have it crack. I realize each piece is normally a branch and has the pith through the middle so I need to do a slow, very slow dry. But I’ve even experienced the cracking in non-pith pieces.

Long round spindle blank turned into 2 vases
I turned 2 vases from one oak spindle blank

How To Build A Drying Cage

I had an idea on how to dry these long round woodturning blanks.

Why not just dry them in shavings and sawdust like woodturning bowl blanks? So I laid a few of the long round turning blanks on the floor in a pile of shavings. Left them there for a week, I kept tripping over them. They were in the way of my workspace but when I uncovered them they were without cracks!

The Horizontal Long Round
Blank Drying Cage

Since I didn’t have any paper bags big enough to hold the long round spindle turning blanks I thought I would have to build something to hold the blanks and shavings but would also let air flow through so the wood blanks would dry. I thought of taking a large piece of pvc pipe and drill a bunch of small holes and fill it with shavings but that would only hold one maybe two blanks and I’d have to drill a million or so holes ….not a good idea.

How to make a screened drying cage for long roughed spindle blanks
Drying cage for roughed in spindle blanks made with wire and plywood

The I thought, what if I took some wire window screen and built a long horizontal cage? Simple enough, wrap the screen around a circular piece on the bottom and one on the top with a hole in it. You can make it any size. Make smaller cages for small long single round spindle blanks, make bigger cages 12″ or 16″ wide or more for multiple long round blanks.

Staple the screen to the circular bottom piece and top piece. Add 2 long horizontal stretchers to attach the screen to and hold it up. Place your blanks in the cage and fill it with shavings and sawdust.  Place your vertical drying cage in an area to dry …..done deal!

It’s not rocket science 🙂 I built one with an 8″ diameter base. I wish I would have made it 12″ but I think I will make a handful of these drying cages because I’m sure this will work. I did a quick video in case my words aren’t making sense.

I loaded up 3 fairly large long round spindle blanks. First I weighed each blank. Then loaded into the cage and filled with shavings and sawdust. The heat is still on in the shop and I placed the cage as high as I could ……I will re-weigh the blanks after 2 or 3 weeks and see how it works.

Should have Sealed The Ends of The Woodturning Blanks

As I think about it now …..I should have sealed the ends of each blank with wax, paint or anchor seal. I can’t believe I spaced off and didn’t do that ….maybe I will dump the cage and seal the ends of each long round woodturning spindle blank ….they’ve only been in for a couple of days!

Drying Results

I will either edit this post, do another article and/or post in the Wood Turning Basics facebook group the results of my drying cage …stay tuned!

Turning a Vase From a Choke Cherry Crotch

I like turning vases …so I’m always looking for new techniques and methods for turning a vase.

In this video, you’ll find a cherry crotch piece being turning into a vase, the wood is kind of punky so he uses some CA and looks like he is also using some casting resin. He uses the resin to cast a foot and fill holes, cracks and some weak spots.

cherry vaseThis is probably old news for you experienced turners, however, if you are new or learning the tricks of the trade for woodturning watch what tools he uses, pay attention to the type of cut whether scraping or slicing. That’s what I’ve done since I started wood turning…..just watched and payed attention to what an experienced wood-turner did …..how he did it and just tried to duplicate their efforts.

I can tell his tools are nice and sharp……something you need to do!

He has some unique methods of forming a mould for developing a unique bottom to the vase.

He reverse chucks the piece several times. I mean, he turns the piece around on the lathe by forming a tenon on the bottom, then shapes it, then he forms a tenon on the top and further shapes the piece until he decides what he needs to do to stabilize the vase and then hollow.

Some of you might think this is too much work. That’s OK, some turners will spend a ton of time on making a piece they are working on turn into a master piece …..some turners will give up and move on to the next project ……there is no right or wrong, however, you can learn from this video different techniques you can apply to save a piece and turn it into a work of art!

I thought it was a good video, project finished nicely …..imperfect but that is the medium we deal with, so all wood is imperfect.

He was using Watco Lacquer finish and kept commenting on the Satin look when he expected high gloss. First I recommend Watco Butcher Block Finish for your bowls . I use this Watco lacquer finish all the time  its cheap and easy to use, pick it up on Amazon or I get it from Menards, there are 2 things you need to do when applying and finishing Watco Lacquer. Sand down to a very fine grit, minimum 1500, preferably wet sand it. Also, allow to dry at least 24 hours between coats ….I know that doesn’t work for those of you that are impatient. But, the finish is outstanding when you wait.

My favorite is Deft. I like all the Deft products ….especially the sanding sealer, if he used Deft sanding sealer he might have been able to eliminate the resin and acetone applications  but you can try Deft Spray or buy it by the quart, thin it a little with lacquer thinner and apply while spinning on the lathe ….it does the same thing, it will set the punky wood and allow you to further sand it or cut it with your scraper or gouge. This is the Deft Lacquer spray . And for the Deft Sanding sealer, you can apply 5 coats in 10 minutes if you wanted, if you dilute it a little with lacquer thinner it will soak into the wood and do the same as in the video, that is, soak into the wood ….stiffen it and allow you to sand and further shape with your tools. I remember using this stuff in high-school 50 years ago and when watching a Capn’ Eddie video I was reminded of Deft …..once you smell it you will never forget it 🙂

Finally, after the last coat let it set up ….again 24 hours and buff it out while on the lathe if you can, if not, use a buffer wheel or drill attachment. Be careful go buff lightly otherwise you will burn the finish, that is, you create enough heat to melt the lacquer and create streaks.

I’ve found out that finishing is somewhat of an “art” each lacquer manufacturer will give you different results and it takes time to experiment with finishes. I’m only just beginning when it comes to finishes and how to apply. Capn Eddie preaches on sanding, I hate sanding ….but he is so dead on, you need to progress from the heavy grit down to the smallest, the more effort you put into sanding the better you project will turn out.

In this project there was a combination of resins, epoxy, CA and lacquer. It was interesting to watch and I thought the project turned out beautiful ….he can still buff it out, if he is careful, and is looking for that high gloss finish.

I hope you check out this video on how to turn a Choke Cherry Vase https://youtu.be/Kfg4kkkebfY