Topic for 6/30 "Goblets"

2 Long-Stem Natural edge goblets

Brad Vietje

>These are 2 long stem goblets I did last summer, in Pecan (left) and Red Oak (right). They were turned green to completion. I usually use CA to help keep the bark on, and apply it to inside and out when the rim is down to about 1/8" or 3/16", then carefully turn down to roughly half that. The step-by-step process for making these is in Michael O'Donnell's fine book, Turning Green Wood.

These are turned from full diameter upright branches with the pith about 1/4" to 3/8" off center (that is, the branch leaned a bit, but was not horizontal). You don't want the pith to cross the thin stem, so make sure it is off center in the same direction at each end. If you use horizontal branches, there's more reaction wood, and they distort more.

Sometimes I don't finish these, sometimes I spray them with satin polyurethane, but usually I use Urethane Oil -- once when still wet, and another application after they are dry. The last few I made were finished with nothing more than CA, because I wanted to match the darkening that I got when I glued the bark.

Good woods: Ash, Cherry, Apple, Pecan, Red Oak, Pin Oak, Sugar Maple, Red Maple, and Quaking Aspen (very translucent).

Poor woods: Black locust saplings (couldn't get the bark to stay on, and got stabbed by more than one thorn !), any branch that is "too wet" (cut in spring with very wet, slippery cambium & inner bark). These spring cuttings do seem to work once they have been dried a while.

These are easier than they look.

Safe Spinning,

Brad Vietje

Thetford, VT

Re: Topic for 6/30 "Goblets"

Russ Fairfield

>These Birch goblets are 9" and 10" tall.

Re: Topic for 6/30 "Goblets"

Brad Vietje

>Russ,

I like these forms -- do you use a hook tool or Termite to hollow way down inside ?

Safe Spinning,

Brad Vietje

Thetford, VT

Re: Topic for 6/30 "Goblets"

Bill Grumbine, Kutztown PA

>I am unable to participate in chats, but I can contribute a few goblet pictures. Feel free to critique them to your heart's content everyone. They are both out the door.

This is my most recent goblet, turned as a wedding present for SWMBO's boss just a couple of months ago. I think the stem is just a bit on the fat side. The wood is soft, and I was in a huge hurry to get it done, and there was only one piece. How's that for an apologetic? ;-) SWMBO disagreed with me, but she is a very gentle critic.

This is the first one I ever did. I made it a few years ago for Dale Sherman and his wife Stephanie on the occasion of their wedding. This one is curly maple. The rings are a bit on the flat side, but this was before I bought my cheater tool to make the rings faster and easier.

Dimensions on both are around 6" high or so, and about 2" - 2 1/4" in diameter. I cannot recall offhand. Both are finished with Bartley's Gel Varnish, a wiping polyurethane that does very well on a piece like this.

Bill

Turning the base

John Crissman

>It has always been a concern of mine about turning the underside of the base. Here is how I do mine:

Keep the tenon long and, when finished with everything else, turn the underside of the base with a sweeping cut. I then sand down by hand if need be. I have taken a cheap skew and ground it make a right side scraper with a long curve and a very sharp point. It gets in nicely and is good for couple detail rings.

So, how does everyone else do it?

Thanks,

John

nice Bill!

TDaniel

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