Linden/Basswood

[HandyDan]

I had some time to play and decided to give turning mushrooms a shot. I have a Linden/Basswood tree out back that drops up to 3" diameter limbs at times. This year when cleaning up I decided to bring some in to give them a try on the lathe. Turns out they hold their bark like it was glued on. Found out turning a mushroom and grabbed the biggest limb and turned a wine glass. Tear out was a big problem with the Basswood but sharp tools proved to be the answer again.

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[Bushwhacker]

I had some time to play and decided to give turning mushrooms a shot. I have a Linden/Basswood tree out back that drops up to 3" diameter limbs at times. This year when cleaning up I decided to bring some in to give them a try on the lathe. Turns out they hold their bark like it was glued on. Found out turning a mushroom and grabbed the biggest limb and turned a wine glass. Tear out was a big problem with the Basswood but sharp tools proved to be the answer again.


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very nice job Dan.

Bushwhacker

[Stick486]

nice...
is the tilt an optical illusion or part of the plan???

[Cherryville Chuck]

Nice. Isn't basswood supposed to be a good carving wood too? I found that I can get a better edge on my lathe tools if I hold them up in front of my face and sharpen with a diamond hone, matching the angle on the bevel and using a back and forth motion with the hone. Using a hone takes off less metal too so the chisels will last longer. I use a well worn 600 grit hone.

[HandyDan]

nice...
is the tilt an optical illusion or part of the plan???

Any tilt would be poor picture taking. It may also be that the branches are more of an oval shape rather than perfectly round. I measured the wood diameter, omitting the bark, to find the center of the branch/log. I was aiming to keep all the bark around the rim and did accomplish that. I was happy.

[HandyDan]

Nice. Isn't basswood supposed to be a good carving wood too? I found that I can get a better edge on my lathe tools if I hold them up in front of my face and sharpen with a diamond hone, matching the angle on the bevel and using a back and forth motion with the hone. Using a hone takes off less metal too so the chisels will last longer. I use a well worn 600 grit hone.

I made a sharpening system out of an old belt sander years ago. I use a 120 grit ceramic belt on it and it does a good job of honing my edges. I build a pocket system so each tool has it's own holder and match the edge perfectly when I go to use it. I have a grinder and the Wolverine jig for other sharpening challenges too.

Just stick the tool in its designated tube and I'm good to go. The shaft out the back is all thread and had a lock nut that I turn when it looks like it needs it to make up the length ground off when sharpening which is very little owing to the accuracy of the set up.

Here are some pictures.

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[Cherryville Chuck]

I used to use a 180 grit soft bond white Norton wheel to sharpen mine. Notwithstanding the fact that I wouldn't get my grind as uniform freehanded as you do with that jig, the quality of the edge I get by honing with a 600 grit diamond hone (which may be technically finer from considerable wear) is far superior. I still go to the wheel once in a while if I need to reshape but in between it is strictly by hand now.