Honest Abe Didnt Cut Down This Cherry Tree

This project started when I was gathering hickory about a month ago at a relatives house.  While pillaging the fallen trees on his property that had fallen victim to heavy rain, he mentioned a cherry tree that had also fallen about two months prior.  My knees went weak. I started to drool a little at the thought of a cherry tree that was ripe for the taking.

Once I located the tree, my knees lost that weak feeling and the lust for a truck load of cherry vanished like a clay pigeon getting shot from station 8.  The tree was severely rotted and under heavy insect attack.  I was able to pull a few usable pieces from the tree.  The following details the rough turning of a cherry bowl.

It will never cease to amaze me what can be created from a rough and seemingly lifeless piece of wood.  Im glad I took lots of progress pictures of this piece so that you can see the amazing transformation from nearly scrap to a beautiful piece of art.

My spur drive hasnt arrived yet, so Im still stuck to using the worm screw in the scroll chuck to start off this piece.  I used two tools for this piece.  The main tool used is my 5/8 bowl gouge by P&N, I also used my hollowing tool for the inside of the piece.

I had initially thought to make a lid and base for this turning.  After getting the piece round and seeing the grain structure, it "told" me "no lid" in a faint voice.



I honed in the shape by bringing in the opening size until I was happy with the bark contrast on the rim at the top. Generally, when a piece has the bark on it, the rough surface of the bark is left.  This is called a natural edge turning.  I tried something unconventional and shaped the bark layer.  As you can see, this gives an interesting contrast to the rim of the bowl.



With the outside shape finalized, I moved on to hollowing out the inside.  I used the scorpion hollowing tool made by Don Pencil.  This is a great tool for hollowing open forms and closed forms alike.



Here are a slew of photos of the piece fresh off the lathe.  I used a new-to-me method to dry the bowl.  I soaked it in a bath of Denatured Alcohol for two days, after which I wrapped the outside in heavy paper.  

Maybe this will be the first piece for sale...That is if my wife doesnt hide it from me when its finished.

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First Cut With the Tannewitz FDS

It didnt actually take me until now to use the saw, just until now to post this video.  Ive had lots of friends and family want to see the beast in action, so here it is.  

The little piece that kicks back on the second pass was like a missile! Thank goodness it wasnt anything big!  Ive cut lots of wood on this saw and she doesnt slow down for anything.  A 5hp motor and 16" blade doesnt stop to ask questions!  

If you missed the first post about this saw, you can find it here!

Check out the restoration process photos here!

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My New Home

Im now at www.woodshopmike.com!  Come on over and check out my new corner of the web!  

I hope you like the new site & Id love to hear your opinions!

BTW, if youre interested in guest posting let me know!

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Tannewitz Table Saw Restoration

Here can be found a table saw that will make grown men wary and and lesser men water their legs.  Below is the tale of acquisition and restoration of a 1920s Tannewitz model F table saw.

Here she is all finished up.  Watch your fingers!

I found this saw on Craigslist and traded a Mark V ShopSmith for it.  I think I got the better end of the deal...  Like most multi tools, the ShopSmith does a little bit of everything just good enough to make you wish you had dedicated tools.  

As you can see from the listing photos, it was in pretty bad shape.  There was a lot of work to be done before I would be happy with it.

First Impressions:

The Bad...  

• The dust chute was broken into three pieces.  
• The height adjust handle was broken into five pieces!  Ahhh!!! 
• Ummm, did you see the paint?  Wow that is horrible. 
• I dont think this saw table was ever waxed in its life.  The amount of surface rust couldnt even be passed off as a "nice patina surface."  Nope, thats just rust.

The Good!

• Built in 1920s, which means no plastic!
• 5hp motor.  Holy mess!  Were they aiming to slaughter the trees?
• 18" blade, sounds awesome!  As an asside, an 18" blade is scary as heck the first time you use it.
• Sliding table!  This is great for putting fixtures on the sliding section and making uber accurate cuts.
• Two original dovetailed miter gauges!  These things are crazy big and can be pinned to the table surface or accurate angle setting.
• Upon first inspection, the motor is in good shape!  The bearings have no detectable play and the arbor shaft runs true!

Check out the restoration process photos here!

If youre itching to see the saw in action, heres a quick video!

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Tannewitz Restoration Underway

You know what they say...  Its gonna get worse before it gets better.  Lord, did it ever!

As much as I love old machinery, I started to have my doubts and wonder if I would have been better off with some modern equipment.  Since it took right at a year to resurrect this beast, I had lots of time to think "Is this really worth it?"

The appeal to this saw had two main facets, passing along the Shop Smith and upgrading to the tree slayer for free!  

With the FREE aspect in mind, I did want to complete this project as affordably as possible.  I used an angle grinder with a wire wheel to strip this entire saw.  Id like to pause here to reflect on all the hours I spent doing this.  Also, this makes a HUGE mess, so do it outside or in your friends garage.  Ive still not finished cleaning up. 

Now I need to go apologize to my wife again for making such a mess and tell her how great she is for letting me defile our garage like that.  OK, Im back.

I used Rust-Oleum primer and paint for this project and am happy with the way it turned out.  I sprayed the paint instead of brushing.  I used a harbor freight hvlp gun with good results.  Im not saying Id use it to shoot lacquer on nice furniture, but it was certainly good enough for painting the saw.  

Ive used lots of paste wax to protect the table surface from moisture.  You could also use car wax, which I may do in the future.  

The bearings in the motor are not sealed so they have to be continually checked.  I know I dont want a bearing going out on this thing while its running!  There are two oil cups at each end of the motor.  The bearing actually sits in an oil bath and picks up oil as the motor runs.

Bellow are photos of the progression.  I hope you like it!  

If you are restoring an old piece of equipment Id love to hear about it!  Also, feel free ask questions, if I can help I will.

If you missed the first post about this saw, you can find it here!

If youre itching to see the saw in action, heres a quick video!

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Turning a Platter

I cut some hickory from the crotch of a tree about 3 weeks prior to rough turning it.  I knew I’d get around to turning it relatively soon, so I just put it in a plastic bag instead of messing with painting or waxing the blank.  This blank was very shamefully cut, so it was terribly out of balance while I was roughing the piece in.  This platter is destined to live above our china cabinet in the dining room.  I promised my wife the first piece off the lathe would be hers.

She lucked up and is getting the first two pieces!  I wanted to do a smaller turning to begin with.  I figure just in case something goes wrong  a 5 pound piece of wood flying through the shop is less dangerous than a 30 pound piece.   The first two platters are both from the same section of hickory.  
My wife has affectionately named them lil’ hick and big hick.

I was concerned about finishing the platter without having the worm screw hole from the screw chuck going through it.  On a side note I finally found a spur drive from axminster for the #3 morse taper my headstock has.  Hopefully I won’t be making anymore platters with holes in the center. 

Having not worked with hickory before, I had my concerns that it would be too hard and wear my tools quickly.  I’m happy to report that first, this wood is beautiful, and that secondly, my tools have adequately withstood the abuse this piece has offered.  For roughing both of the platters, I’ve used my 5/8” P&N bowl gouge almost exclusively. 

Step by Step:

Cut it up!

Chainsaws have a vendetta against whatever gets in their way.  Be careful and don’t cut your leg off while cutting your blanks!  Be sure to wear adequate PPE and use common sense.  

Heres a tip, don’t cut your logs through the end grain.  That will take forever and be tiring.  Instead, lay the log on its side and cut along the grain or length of the log.  This will make long streaming shavings which can later be used for mulch!  How’s that for being green?

On the Lathe:

Using a worm screw in my scroll chuck is my only option for mounting to the lathe at this point.  So I drill an appropriately sized hole (not too deep) to accept the worm screw.  Now this is where a variable speed lathe comes in real handy.  I turn on the lathe and slow it way down.  Line up the drilled hole in the blank with the slowly spinning worm screw and let the machine do the work.  Don’t forget to let go once it gets tight.  I like to then put my lathe in back gear and snug the piece on a bit more.  If your lathe doesnt have back gearing, then hold the hand wheel on the outboard side.  

A Bumpy Ride:

Now start roughing in your blank.  I do this by turning my lathe as fast as it will go without excessive vibration.  This is a judgment call, but the long and short of this theory is that the faster the blank is spinning, the less time your tool isn’t in contact with the wood.  This in turn gives a smoother, more uniform cut.

Once I’ve found an appropriate speed, I begin at the tailstock end of the blank and take short cuts, working my way towards the headstock.  Using a side grind bowl gouge, I hold the tool horizontally with the flutes facing the work at 45°.  I work on short sections at a time until that portion is round.  Repeat this procedure until the blank is round. 

To check roundness of your blank without constantly turning off the lathe, gently rest the back edge of your gouge on the top of the piece.  If your gouge bounces like a baby in a Johnny Jump Up, you still have work to do.

Check out the teardrop!

Initial Shaping:

Let me first state that since the wood is green (wet) it will move and warp as it dries.  There are many approaches to turning green wood, this is just one of them.  This first session of turning is not intended to be your final shape; one should “rough turn,” let the piece dry, and then do finish turning. 

At this point, I turn the tool rest to be perpendicular with the ways.  I will now shape the bottom of my piece.  Once I get done with any roughing of this face, I turn a tennon to grab with the scroll chuck and flip the piece around to clean up what will be the front of the platter.  Normally I would go ahead and shape the back, but the other side of this blank was so out of balance that I could not run the lathe very fast.  I repeat my process and make a recess that the tennon is formed inside of. 

Flattening the Face

Future Mulch

Tennon Formed

Now I flip the piece again and shape the back.  I use a shaping cut with my bowl gouge for this process.  This requires the handle of the gouge to be dropped 20°-30° and the flutes to the rolled about 45° in the direction of cut.

Tennon on Back

I proceed to flip my piece once more to grab the tennon on the back of the platter.  Now that I’ve created a meaningful shape on the outside of my blank, I am careful to center the piece in the chuck as I evenly press the piece against the jaws.  This is required so that your platter will run true as you shape the inside.  I turn on the lathe just to verify that my piece is running true.  If not, I go back and adjust.

I begin roughing out material until the tailstock gets in the way.  Leaving support from the tailstock as long as possible just keeps the piece pushed into the chuck a bit more securely.  Once this becomes an impediment, I take the tailstock off the lathe.  Umph, that thing is heavy.  Now I have complete access to the platter.  I am still using the roughing cut.  This piece is rather shallow, but the habit to form is to use a roughing cut while working the inside of a bowl or platter.  The reasoning is that if you have your gouge elevated on a concave surface, the wings of the gouge will eventually dig in and catch on the piece.  This can be frightfully spectacular and ruin your turning or pants.

Heres "lil hick" rough turned and ready to dry.

Drying:

Now comes the fun part.  Wait for your piece to stop loosing moisture.  Once this happens you can finish turn your work.  There are many methods to drying green turnings.  I currently use a paper bag with a handful of shavings against the bottom of the bowl.  Having the shaving on the bottom instead of the inside allows the inside to dry slightly faster than the outside of the piece.  Big deal right?  It actually is.  This makes any cracks that may form be from compression instead of expansion.  A compression crack on the inside of a piece will be self-closing, where an expansion crack on the outside will continue to widen as the piece dries.

Heres "big hick" off the lathe.

That’s all for now.  I’ll have to make a special work holding chuck for these platters while they are drying.  Check back soon for my post on making a Longworth Chuck!

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