A Turning Project
Among the many masterpieces that I’ve seen online, my all-time favorite is a segmented bowl because I thought that the one that I saw was really beautiful and functional as well. One day soon, using my woodturning tools and my wood lathe, I plan on making one for my own home. I’ll put it right next to that sailboat model that’s among my many future projects.
OK, back to this project. You can start by deciding on the general shape and size of your final piece and cutting each wood species into slices based on those dimensions. Next is the process of sanding each of the sides with rough-grade sandpaper so that they can be glued flat.
Then, move on with your project by stacking those sanded pieces and then gluing them together. One little trick I learned is that wetting all of those pieces before gluing will help with spreading the glue over the entire surface. In addition, it will open up all those little grain pores, resulting in a much stronger and tighter joint.
Just put each piece for a second or two under the faucet. This will also remove any remaining dust particles, making for a glue binding that is both clean and well-bonded.
Now, you have a rough block for sculpting into your chosen form. This is an excellent project where you can even use up all of those offcuts that you have lying around from previous projects. And, the best part is that they don’t all have to be the same size or the same color.
The final two steps are turning your piece using your wood lathe and other woodworking tools and sanding. Once you have your desired shape, and then give it a good sanding using a combination of your sander and some hand sanding.
Chances are that your project will require plenty of hand sanding, so don’t take any shortcuts because proper sanding of the finished craft is depending on your diligence in getting that perfect finish. You don’t want to cut any corners from start to finish on this wood project since your love of wood is after all supposed to be an enjoyable hobby, not work to be rushed through.
Remember, your love of all things wood got you into this particular craft, so show your projects some love by using the right wood-turning tools and plenty of patience.
