Making a wooden bowl without a lathe - Woodcarving

 

Tools and materials:

Carving tools set

Carving mallet

Cabinet Scraper set

Cordless chainsaw

Skil electric planer

Spoke shave

Flat rasp

Flat file

Random orbit sander

Mineral oil

In this video I make a wooden bowl out of a piece of pine I had in the shop. Despite the fact that it was pine, it was pretty hard to carve. 

First of all I used a compass to establish the main diameter of my bowl. Then I drilled my depth hole in the centre. 

Using a big gouge I started hollowing the bowl. Once in a while I added lines to carve the bowl in segments. This way I had a little better control over the shape I was going for. 

I used a round scraper to clean the tool marks although later on I decided to add more character in the interior with a gouge. 

I used my chain saw to remove as much material as I could from the exterior of the bowl. 

Next I used an electric planer to shape the exterior as much as possible. 

To clean the lip of the bowl I used a spoke shave. 

I finished shaping with a rasp, a file and my random orbit sander. 

I decided to add some character in the interior by leaving the gouge marks.

Finally I finished the bowl with mineral oil. 

My bowl came out really unique. But that was it, see you soon with a new project video. 

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, that at no cost to you, I get a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.

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Grafting Techniques: What You Need To Know.

 THE GOOD EARTH

Grafting Techniques part 1 & 2

If you’ve ever grown a tree from it’s seed, such as an orange lemon or avocado, you probably were disappointed by the result. 

I daresay, that firstly, it took a long time for it to fruit, and when it did, it was nothing like the fruit that the seed came from. 

After all apart from the novelty factor of  being able to grow a tree from a tiny seed, the time involved isn't really worth the effort. So what to do instead?

Lemon tree

• Switch to grafting methods.

Grafting is a method that would vastly improve the result all round but the word itself sounds terrifying if not complicated! 

There is after all the possibility that you'll end up slicing of the tip of your finger with the super sharp budding knife, or at the very least drawn blood from the deep wound that resulted from a slip of the wrist. 

I confess to having done that.

Practice makes perfect and I would recommend wearing gloves before attempting to do any type of grafting.

So What is Grafting?

Grafting is a swag of techniques that involves having a root stock that is happily growing in the ground or in a pot, whose upper part you will cut off completely.

Next, you attach a scion, a piece of plant whose features you really like, such as fruit size and flavour.

• The scion has to be a particular size and be related botanically speaking to the rootstock. That means you can't graft an apple onto citrus rootstock, because apples are in the family 'rosaceae' and citrus are in the plant family 'rutaceae.'

There are of course plenty of other reasons why you want to try your hand at grafting.

Some of these are to improve disease resistance such as for roses or fruit trees or dwarfing.

Dwarf  trees are the result of grafting a scion from a tree of full size fruit onto dwarfing root stock.

• Margaret describes cleft grafting where the scion's base is cut as a 'V' and inserted into the same length slit into the rootstock. The cambium (green wood) of each must be aligned.
  

TIP:If you’ve never tried grafting, make sure you get the right tools before you start.

You’ll also need the correct root stock.

Let’s find out more by listening to the podcast. I'm talking with Margaret Mossakowska of www.mosshouse.com.au

GRAFTING TECHNIQUES Part 2

Approach grafting is an alternative method for citrus.

In part 1 of grafting techniques Margaret Mossakowska and I talked about how growing from a tree such as an orange or lemon from seed isn’t all that successful unless you graft it onto hardy rootstock.

In this segment, we refresh some of those points and take you onto more grafting techniques.

There are many types of grafting that are available to be used, some more complex or more exacting than others.

My Take On Grafting

Cleft grafting I find is quite straight forward and easy to get right. 

I've tried grafting Camellia reticulata scions onto Camellia sasanqua rootstock with a 100% success rate.  Camellia reticulata has huge flowers, a feature I wanted growing in my garden.

Camellia 'Red Crystal' is a cross between C. reticulata ‘Crimson Robe’ and C. japonica ‘Wildfire,’ however, both are slow growing. and don't grow so fast in temperate Sydney.

I find this is a faster alternative, plus Camellia sasanquas are very hardy and less prone to root rot.

Camellia 'Red Crystal'

• Grafting citrus is essential in Australia because the table citrus that we love to eat are not native to Australia, and so are prone to many diseases.  

The grafted union in most cases needs to be above the ground. There is one exception and that is with lilacs(Syringia vulgaris.). Lilacs tend to sucker if grown on their own rootstock so they are grafted onto privet rootstocks.

Things to Watch Out For.

Once you've successfully grafted your desired planted, whether it's a citrus or camellia or some other favourite, there's still room for failure.

• At first the graft union may seem all fine and dandy, but  if you see shoots from below the graft union, you may have a problem Houston.
• Shoots from below the graft union could signal failure of the graft and the rootstock is trying to take over.
• Keep on rubbing off these shoots and hopefully it's only a minor abberration.
• If this persists, you may find the top part or scion is slowly dying, so time to start all over.

Let’s find out more by listening to the podcast. I'm talking with Margaret Mossakowska of www.mosshouse.com.au

NB:If you’ve never tried grafting, make sure you get the right tools before you start.
You’ll also need the correct root stock.

If you have any feedback email realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675

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How to make a simple DIY table out of old wooden floor boards

 

Tools and materials:

Jointer planer

Circular saw

Circular saw guide rail

Speed square

Miter box

Hand saw

Belt sander

Countersink bits

Chisel set

Bandsaw

Table saw

Block plane

Cordless Impact Driver

Cordless drill

Random orbit sander

Air compressor, nail and staple gun kit

In this video I make a table out of a piece of an old wooden floor. The floor was made out of pine. I also used some spruce to make the legs. 

This was actually a piece of floor that was removed so we could install an interior ladder.

I begun by taking the pieces apart using a leaver. I then had to glue a few pieces which I broke during the process.

Next I planned and cleaned the back cleats. 

I re-glued the rabbeted pieces in sections. The last section was longer than any clamp I had so I glued some wooden blocks to clamp the pieces together. 

Next I cut the table top to it’s final size with my circular saw and a guide rail. 

I then glued and nailed two new cleats in place. 

I added trim to hide the end grain. I glued and nailed it in place and then I used a block plane to make it flush. 

Next I sanded the table top. I also rounded the edges with a block plane. 

Next I made the legs and the horizontal cleat. 

I then sanded everything and my table was ready. 

I am really happy with the result. I hope the grain will do well enough with expansion and contraction. But that was it. See you soon with a new project video.

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, that at no cost to you, I get a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.

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Woodturning a long shoe horn

 

Tools and materials I propose:

Lathe

Buffing kit

Wood turning tools set

Chuck kit

Tormek T8 Sharpening System

Tormek Woodturner’s Kit

Wire Burning Kit

Block plane

Spoon carving knives

Centre drill countersink bit

In this video I make really long shoe horn out of basswood. 

The inspiration for this project came from Mr Ernie Conover's video on turning long spindles with mortise & tenon joints: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqTcYmoLtag

I begun by cutting my stock to square pieces on the table saw. 

I then started truing the pieces with a skew chisel. 

Obviously you can’t glue end grain and my lathe is too small to turn such a long piece. So I had to join the pieces with mortise and tenon joints. 

To make the mortises I attached the drill bit on the main spindle of the lathe. I used the tailstock to push the piece against the drill. This way I can achieve centred holes on both ends of the piece. 

To make the tenons I roughly turned them close to size and then I used sand paper to remove the rest of the material. This way I  achieved a pretty snug fit. 

I added beads on the places where two pieces join. This way I can hide the joint. 

Once I turned all the pieces, I glued them together. 

To make the horn I first turned the piece on the lathe. Then I removed most of the material on the bandsaw and used a spoon carving knife to finish the job. 

Once I glued everything together I buffed the piece on a buffing mop.

It came out really nice and works really well. But that was it. See you soon with a new project video. 

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, that at no cost to you, I get a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.

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