Making "Dreamery"

[Mark J]

Time for an update.  Update:  this project is taking way more time than I imagined and the journal is running way longer than I thought it would.  But for what it's worth I am more than halfway done.  Anyway this is the story and I’m sticking with it.  One problem I'm having in the presentation is that it's dang hard to see what I'm doing so it's doubly hard to show you in pictures. The other problem I’m having is that given the back strain, I’m not keen to put too many hours into this in a given day.

I did buy a bar stool to improve my positioning.

And the height works out right. Here’s my view.

Unfortunately, once I’m seated I’m too far away to comfortably reach the tool and don’t have good control. Furthermore, wh\ith the head stock  I rotate the head stock the control panel also gets rotated. Unless I use the emergency stop, turning the machine off requires getting off the stool and walking around the machine.

So these issues kind of defeated my purpose. But, I decided to hang on to the stool anyway.

Back on my feet, and back to removing waste from the top half of the basin cavity. These calipers are able to measure the wall thickness along the sides and along top surface.

I’ve got the top wall down to about ¼”, which is the target thickness, but the side wall is closer to ½”.  At this point I made a decision to change the design a little. I realized that when it came time to sand the inside of the basin I would need to reach the inner side wall with my finger tips, and this was already a difficult stretch. Realizing that the problem might get (wait for it) out of hand if I made the side walls thinner, I’ve elected to leave them at ½”.

Once the walls were thin enough I used an inspection mirror to check that the surfaces were smooth enough to proceed to sanding later.

At this point I decided to set a spell on my new stool and have me a think about the next step, removing waste from the bottom half of the basin. And as I sat there, my mind wandered to the outrigger attachment and I began to wonder, “why is that bottom piece so poorly machined?” “It’s not that important, but they just could’ve done better with that.”

Then I realized it. When I put the outrigger together 3 or 4 years ago, I put the bottom arm on upside down!  
Fixed it. 

Now I mention this because not only has this project vindicated my purchase of the outrigger all those years ago, but this episode vindicates my purchase of the stool, too! Indeed my whole philosophy of buying tools of uncertain utility is vindicated. After all if you own a tool long enough, someone will eventually do something with it!  

Taking material off the bottom of the basin has a couple of challenges. First, is how thick to go. My original intent was to be at ¼”, but given the thicker side walls I think it’s prudent to keep the bottom wall thicker as well.

That said measuring wall thickness is the next challenge. No calipers exist that will work in that setting. But I can use the overhead laser again. You may remember that this gizmo can drop a laser dot any distance from the tool tip. When the tool is cutting the wood inside a hollow form the dot is then projected onto the outside of the hollow form. If your dot is ½” from the cutting surface of the tool, then when the laser beam is tangent to the outer surface your wall thickness is ½”. Here I am earlier, using the laser to gauge the top wall and I’m just fat of a ¼”.

It can also be used to measure the actual thickness. Here I’ve repositioned the laser to be tangent to the outer surface of the back wall while holding the tool against the inner surface. Then remove the tool to see how far away the beam lands.

A bit tedious, but it works and it helps in defining the inner contour. The inner contour is easier to feel than see, which makes defining this curve a challenge, too. Eventually I have the material removed. I had previously left some excess material on the rim just in case it got knocked about a bit while hollowing. My plan was to remove this and leave a squared off rim, but I decided that a rounded contour would look better.

Now I’ve got a lot of sanding to do, and a lot of it is awkward to reach. I won’t beguile you with that, but there is more to come as I still have to figure out how to reverse mount the basin and form the pointy bit. And hopefully I will soon also have to figure out how to hold these two pieces while simultaneously applying finish.

[wtnhighlander]

Outstanding documentary, Mark!

I must take exception to the comment about finding a use for any tool if it is kept long enough. Or perhaps a corallory to that proposition. In my experience, the PERFECT use for any such tool is only discovered during the first 72 hours after said tool is no longer in my posession.

[Mark J]

I just took a spin through the photos of my previous posts and I’m a little embarrassed at how long this journal has gone on and for that matter how long the project has taken; it’s one bowl after all. But we are nearing the end, so kudos to you if you’ve had the perseverance to read this far.

Sanding, particularly to hyper fine grits, is tedious and time consuming, but the realization that I could wrap the sandpaper around a clump of yarn (actually a tassel) was a big help. It really facilitated access to the under rim section of the inner basin. But it turned out to be useful on other curved sections, as well.

 

And with the inside of the basin smoothed to p1200, my next task is to reverse the mounting of the basin so that I can turn off the tenon and do the final shaping to create the pointy bit.

Even with as much advance planning as I do, sometimes you just can’t plan the bridge until you see the actual river. In this case I don’t have the final mounting worked out, but I have some ideas.

My “A plan” is to use the Longworth chuck in expansion to secure the basin’s rim then add the doughnut attachment. Combined with the doughnut I think the expanded Longworth would be very secure. I brought all of the bumpers to the center of the Longworth and promptly discovered that the rim opening was too small for the Longworth to fit.

“Plan B”, use the Longworth, but in compression mode. But, the bumpers aren’t close to tall enough“Plan C”, then, just go with the doughnut alone. Well, the big ring is too big to secure the basin.

And the next smaller ring is too small; there won’t be enough room to work. And anyway neither would provide sufficient lateral support.

“Plan D”, the vacuum chuck. This would work. It fits and since it “attaches” to the bottom of the basin the mechanics would be favorable. But if the piece shifts after the tenon’s center point is turned away there will be no hope of re-aligning the basin on the vacuum chuck.

“Plan E”, use Cole jaws in expansion mode. Keeping the tailstock engaged as long as practical this will be a strong mount. And if the piece shifts the chuck is nominally self centering so there is a better chance of getting the basin re-centered, than with the suck chuck. I could be wrong about that. I am going to try hard not to find out.

To protect the basin I cut out a circle of craft foam. And fortunately with the bumpers centralized the basin fits.

Expand the jaws enough for firm grip, but don’t burst the basin. To test the hold I back off the tailstock and live center while leaving the heavy chuck in place. Looks good.

But if I put some lateral stress on the chuck the basin wiggles a bit more than I’d like.

This is probably because the craft foam has some give, so I transfer the piece back onto the tailstock and replaced the foam with a paper ring.

Now the basin is more secure.

Remove the chuck from the tenon.

Notice that the live center indentations in the wood from the original mounting between centers. If I’ve maintained the alignment throughout all the above steps then the live center will fit right back in. And the answer is…

Oooh, Yah gotta like that.

With the tailstock in place, I re-install the hollowing rig on the standoff arm. I decided to use the carbide negative rake scraper tool. It works slower than the single bevel carbide, but it’s less aggressive and leaves a smoother surface. I also have a couple of HSS negative rake scrapers which I may use to get an even smoother surface at the end.

Since this journal is supposed to be somewhat educational I’d like to point out that while a lot of the pieces I have previously posted couldn’t have been done with traditional gouges, much of this project could have been turned with these tools. I think the base for example as well as the outside of the basin could have been formed with gouges. I choose to use carbide scrapers because I am comfortable with them and I know how to use them to get the job done. My skills with using traditional tools are nothing to write home (or a journal) about and using them would have added more uncertainty to the project. I was on a learning curve with HSS, then the pandemic brought that to a halt. Hopefully this will be the year that “classes” resume for me.

I printed and hung a picture of just the basin to serve as a guide. Then taking a gentle approach (notice the smallish shavings) I begin to form a cone from the tenon.

Then work the cone into a “volcano”, while simultaneously fairing the foot of the volcano into the previously completed bottom surface and trying not to go farther into the finished bottom than necessary. Notice the guide holes still visible.

At this point the tailstock is in the way. The tailstock contributes significantly to the hold of the Cole jaws, so pulling the tailstock back is a moment of truth. Continue gingerly shaping the pointy bit, don’t want a catch here. Est Voila.

The newly turned section of the bottom needs to be sanded smooth and blended into the existing surface that is already at p1200 grit. To do this I start with p120 sanding only just up to the demarcation line. Then take the sandpaper just over the line, by say 1 cm, moving the transition line just a little more peripheral. I repeat this process with each successive grit working the center and point, then the transition moving it a little further. It is very important that by the time I am using p800 the transition line has not reached all the way to the outer edge of the basin or I will have difficulty with the final p1200 sanding.

Some coarser grits

p600, p800 and p1200

Mineral spirits wash

Final steps are applying a finish. My plan is to use Osmo Polyx Oil (satin), but I have to work out how I’m going to hold the pieces for finishing. The base may be the easier of the two to hold, but I’m considering using the vacuum chuck to hold the basin. This needs some thinking.

I have also been mulling on a name for this piece for a while, and I think I have something I like, so don’t be surprised if the title of this thread gets changed.

[wtnhighlander]

Excellent job, excellent journal!

As you described the difficult of getting a firm grip from inside the basin rim without splitting it apart, I wondered if a wide rubber band stretched around the chuck jaws would have provided some extra grip while cushioning at the same time. Beware, I know absolutely nothing about turning.

[Gary Beasley]

Excellent work and very good coverage of the work.

[Mark J]

You guys are speed readers; I just added that long post.  

@wtnhighlander, I'm not sure sure exactly what you mean about putting a rubber band around the Cole Jaws' buttons?  The buttons are already made of rubber.  Also know that the buttons are narrower at the bottom than the top so they tend to pull the piece down against the jaws.  They are capable of applying significant force, the problem here is that the basin can only take so much spreading force without breaking.  

That said I have used a rubber band wrapped around the outside of the steel jaws of a regular chuck, then used that in expansion on a finished rim.  Works well, if the rim is small enough to fit on the chuck.

[pkinneb]

Awesome piece Mark!! You had me for a minute I thought you had blown through the point only to realize it was a guide hole

BTW I agree with the others great journal! 

[Gary Beasley]

I have made an alternate set of bumpers out of crutch tips on mine when I wanted bigger grips. The longer bolts need were easy to find. Worked pretty good.

[Mark J]

10 minutes ago, Gary Beasley said:

I have made an alternate set of bumpers out of crutch tips on mine when I wanted bigger grips. The longer bolts need were easy to find. Worked pretty good.

Since crutch tips are hollow, did you need to do anything to keep them from collapsing when you tightened the bolt?

[Chet]

I have really been enjoying your work and the journal.  But think of how much faster you would get done if you weren't taking all of these great picture to share. 

[Mark J]

The picture taking delay is a thing.  But I'll confess a secret, I try to take some photos as I go along, regardless.  I find that months later I don't remember how I did a thing.

[Gary Beasley]

2 hours ago, Mark J said:

Since crutch tips are hollow, did you need to do anything to keep them from collapsing when you tightened the bolt?

Yes, I turned some wooden pegs, more like thread spools without the lips. My pen mandrel made short work of it.

[Chestnut]

This is a great journal and I don't think it's too long or shows too much detail. As this isn't a turning forum it's awesome being able to see lathe work in this detail.

[JohnG]

As much as the planning and process boggles my mind, I absolutely love these journals! 

[h3nry]

As someone relatively new to turning ... I love all the detail you've been showing. And the result is looking pretty stunning too.

[Mark J]

It’s done, so this should be the last “making” post. I have changed the title, to reflect the name I’ve chosen for this piece.

Applying the finish took several days to allow for drying time between coats, and after applying the finish I wanted to allow several more days for a harder cure before setting the piece on my (surprisingly expensive to replace) photo backdrop. Then picture taking was spread over several days, but still I’m surprised how many days have slid by since the last post.

I had to do a little thinking to come up with a plan to hold the components while applying the finish and also how to let those surfaces dry. For holding the basin I used the vacuum chuck with a low vacuum. The bottom of the basin is fairly thick, but I did not want to suck finish into the wood.

I wear cotton gloves over the nitrile gloves and this buys me a little forgiveness when applying finishes, so I was able to just hand hold the base first applying the Polyx to the top of the inside, let that dry, then the bottom of the inside, let that dry, then the outside and dry. I used two coats of Osmo Polyx-Oil on both basin and base.

I found that a bit of PVC pipe I had on hand made a perfect stand for the basin, while the base could stand on its tips or toes on my non-stick pizza pan.

Well, after a long haul it’s done. I won’t say it’s perfect; it is after all made by man from pieces of trees. But I will say I’m happy with it. Thanks for following along on this adventure.

I’ve posted the reveal photos here: