Screwin around on the lathe

[Gary Young]

Interesting - Thanks. I was just messing around, squaring up a blank, and I had my best luck with a parting tool, 90 degrees to normal use. I thought perhaps a minimal point of contact worked best. I'm just a beginner with plastic, so any suggestions are welcome. I wish I had a small metal lathe to try with it. The worst chatter seemed to come when I didn't have solid contact with the tool rest. Here is one I did with TGN plastic.

Cat amongst the pigeons time again.....!!

If you ever want to know the Simpson family 'tricks of the trade' for handle turning drop me a PM. Here to help you guys!!!

 

[spanx]

Could be the cocobolo was not dry when you turned it. I get my blanks from Rockler, and they are waxed to keep them from drying out - they are easier to turn when the wood is still wet - but, it will dry and shrink after you turn it. The plastic plug on the bottom of the knot will not allow the wood to shrink, hence the crack you got. I've heard you can quick dry wood in a micro wave - maybe that would be a good step to add. Personally, I've never had a problem with cracking, but maybe next time. Thanks for bringing this up.
PS - try tung oil on the oily hardwoods.

That sounds reasonable although Rockler said that it was kiln dried.Also on their website they say it is waterproof. B.S. When I found the cracks I decided I may as well get one more lather out of it before I unknoted it. The wood swelled enough that you could no longer feel the cracks even though they were still visible.

I got another done out of walnut. just waiting for the spar to set up. we'll see how well that holds up. i may just have to break down and get my hands dirty with some synthetics.

 

[spanx]

Some wood are more prone to cracking then others.
Snakewood and Black and White Ebony can be especially difficult in this regards.
I bought a large blank of Amboyna burl off e-bay, when I received it it was sealed with varnish.
When I cut the wood into smaller blanks I found that the wood was soaking wet.
I cut wood into small blank and weighed the wood and wrote the weight on the blank.
I kept the wood inside and weighed it until the weight had stabilized, about 6 weeks.

both these Coco handles are no less than 3 yrs old,zero cracks.
When you buy grade A exotic wood, the seller should know the water content (if a major dealer) easy to do, takes 30 secs.
I won't buy wood to turn unless it is 10% or less moisture content,on the other hand I have large resawn pces that are waxed and will take a couple yrs to dry.
Yes you can dry wood in your microwave,you can also have a major explosion that will break the glass door (been there done that)
Another way to remove moisture is to cut your wood into your handle blank size, soak the wood in denatured alcohol for 5 days and air dry for 30 days.
Tung oil is not a good finish on any wood IMO.

Thanks for the tips fellas, much appreciated.Hopefully I can remember them next time I get an exotic breed to use on the old SS.