Overview:

Rex has supported CMW from the very beginning and has returned to present to us again. He was introduced to woodturning while at Brigham Young University under the tutelage of Dale Nish, who took woodturning from the industrial to the artistic stature that we enjoy today. Dale and his son started Craft Supplies USA, and Rex started with them cutting wood with a chain saw. He eventually was given the keys to the workshop with the best tools and wood at his disposal. Rex was also trained by some of the best woodturners around (Richard Raffan, Dale Nish, etc.). He has been the Marketing Manager for Craft Supplies USA for many years.

Rex taught industrial/wood shop at a local high school where he made a jig for making pens with a router so the students could make pens for their parents for the holidays. At his first craft show Rex brought and sold twenty-five (25) pens on the first day. As a result, he went home and turned another twenty (20) pens and sold them. He learned that he needed to develop other turned pieces that people would purchase. This is due to the fact that many people do not like bowls and/or they can only use so many salad bowls. The other part of doing craft shows is that you get plenty of practice making repetitive cuts which helps increase your proficiency. Rex has written a book and two (2) DVD’s with Kip Christensen. They are considered the leading experts on the production of pens.

Morning Session:

Rex started the day with a winged bowl made from Big Leaf Western Maple Burl or Turtleback as some call burls. He has created pieces that measured up to fifty-five (55”) inches in diameter. Rex emphasized the fact that with any irregular piece you must be aware and stay out of the rotation of the piece while the lathe is running. The burls are prepared by being cleaned with a pressure washer equipped with a rotary nozzle. The piece that Rex started working had a void that would have resulted in a hole in the bottom of the bowl. He used brass to fill the void, which he got from a key cutter. Rex keeps a magnet in the bottom of the container to hold any steel that may be in the filings from getting into the wood to be turned to prevent rusting. You can use pewter, copper, or any other ferrous type of metal that is soft. These types of metals cut and sand like wood and add interest and contrast to the finished piece. Once the metal is in the void, use thin CA glue, let it set for a short time, then add thick CA glue, spray with activator, and let fully set-up. To fill voids, first consider the depth. For a quarter inch or less, add the metal all at once. For any depth greater than the quarter inch, add a quarter inch at a time while adding thin CA between layers.

Since the piece has irregular edges, Rex utilized a compass to scratch arcs from four (4) opposing outside points which create a square in the center of the wood. Within this square the center can be easily determined. A disc can also be used to determine the center point. The mounting of the piece is on a screw chuck with large diameter jaws in the chuck to provide more support than the regular jaws. The hole does not have to be perfectly perpendicular to the surface of the piece because the wood will seat to the jaws. With the piece locked on the screw chuck, Rex brings the tail stock up for added safety during the rough process.

We have heard of the ABC concept of turning: A equals anchor the tool, B equals engage the bevel, and C equals bring the tool to a cutting position. Rex adds a D for consideration of the direction of the cut. Another consideration is: what is the right speed? The formula is Diameter (D) of the piece times the RPM should equal somewhere between 6000 to 9000 for safe operation (D x RPM = 6000-9000). This equation only applies to pieces that are not out of round, have voids, or other physical features that change the norm. If the piece deviates from the norm, lower the speed to compensate. Rex also discussed the position of the tool. He holds the handle down so his body and the tool absorbs the impact instead of having the tool closer to parallel to the bed where the wood and tool rest would take the impact. The latter could result in the tool catching and the piece coming off of the chuck.

Rex stopped periodically to check for voids, torn grain, and the shape. The basic shape for a platter should be an ogee. By taking an egg shape and standing it on the fat end, you can create shapes from a vessel down to a bowl. In addition, as he made each cut and approached the center, he would slow the tool down, since the closer you get to the center the slower it spins. Once the basic shape has been cut, Rex measures and transfers the jaw diameter to the bottom. Once scribed, he cuts a recess that the jaws will expand into when the piece is reversed. When he is doing demonstrations or with softer woods, the depth is cut to one quarter inch (1/4”), otherwise he cuts to an eighth inch (1/8”) depth for all other situations or woods. Whenever you are going to use the chuck to expand into the piece you must create a foot. The foot should equal the depth of the recess.

Once the foot is cut, Rex completes the recess with a shear scrape using his skew held on an angle. He then completes the curve, first cutting with a bowl gouge. For these finish cuts he slows down as he refines the curve. To find the outside edge he brings the bevel into contact with the piece away from the edge and then moves towards the edge. When the gouge stops hitting the piece, he changes the angle to a cutting angle and slowly moves into the piece. As Rex was doing his last few cuts, he asked the audience, “How many have made that one last cut?” As a result, he then destroyed the piece. To avoid this he says he has two last cuts, but he only makes one cut.” He found a bruised area that he coated with thin CA glue and then made his finish cut. He followed that up with his scraper that is shaped into a point and held it at an angle to shear scrape for a smoother finish. Rex provided a guideline for scraping: on softwoods there should be a burr on the scraper and on hardwoods no burr is needed to cut cleanly.

As Rex worked the piece it required the lathe to be turned on and off and each time the tool rest needed to be repositioned. Rex emphasized the importance of spinning the piece several times to ensure that nothing comes into contact with the piece. With the bottom completed to the point of sanding, Rex removed it and placed it to the side. He then took another piece that he had completed the sanding and finished the bottom, and placed it into the lathe. This allowed him to complete the demonstration of the hollowing process. Once the piece is reversed, the cuts start at the outer edge to attain the desired thickness. He stops the lathe often to verify the integrity of the irregular edges before proceeding. If he finds any suspect cracks he will add thin CA glue to stabilize the area.

At this point, Rex noticed that the gouge was not cutting cleanly and stopped to sharpen the tool. Prior to starting the sharpening process, he asked how many had hit the jig against the grinding wheel when the tool slipped off the stone. He warned that you should always keep the tool on the stone because striking the jig against the stone can cause it to fracture and shatter. He also recommended that if you use tools that have the shaft come out of the handle, you should always remove the handle prior to grinding. Rex said that as he gets deeper into the piece he would switch to a 5/8” bowl gouge for the added strength and stability. At the bowl’s top edge he shear scrapes instead of taking that one last cut. This not only leaves a good finish, but also provides an edge to start the gouge below the edge and reduces the chance of a catch. He finished the final passes with a scraper in a shear scrape angle pulling from bottom to top. If he kept the scraper flat it would catch and probably break the piece.

When sanding the wings, sanding is performed with the lathe off so that the edges are not feathered or tearing the sand paper apart, or worse. He uses a pad in a drill but moves the piece by hand as he works around the piece and through the various grits. The bowl portion is sanded as any other bowl would be power sanded. His finishing process is kept relatively simple by soaking the piece (literally) in a hardening oil (i.e. Watco, etc.). The soaking stage is normally done in a trash can filled with about five (5) gallons of the oil and the piece placed into it. If he cannot soak the piece by dipping, he will do six (6) coats in about a twenty (20) minute time period. He prefers hard oil finishes to soft oil (i.e. mineral oil) finishes for their durability. The final step is buffing the piece when it is dry.

Afternoon Session:

After the noon break, Rex completed four (4) projects for a busy afternoon. The projects included a peppermill, a pen, door stops, and a desk clock. Each of these projects is popular at craft fairs.

6” Peppermill:

For this project you first decide on the height of the peppermill. The only difference between the 6” all the way up to 24” is the shaft length. In fact, many woodturners will cut the shaft to the length they desire. Whatever length you choose, the blank should be one (1”) inch longer. Rough the blank into a cylinder using the roughing spindle gouge. Rex discussed the important difference between the roughing spindle gouge and a bowl gouge. The spindle gouge should never be used on a bowl because it is made from rolled steel that has a weak area at the base of the gouge curve before going into the handle, and it will break.

For the 6” peppermill the cylinder should be marked for a 2” cap with an added 1” for a spigot and parting the cap from the base, and 4” for the base. With highly figured wood the parting size and spigot can be reduced to maintain the grain pattern as close as possible. Cut tenons on the top of the cap and both ends of the base and part the cap and base apart. Starting with the base by inserting the top of the base into the chuck, and drill the 1-5/8” hole a one-half inch deep. Clean the bottom using a skew-point down in a shearing cut making the rim slightly concave so that it sits flat. Next drill the 1-1/16” hole all the way through the base. This can be done from both ends or if you have an extension from one end. Turn the base around and clean the top for a smooth finish with a slight concave cut. Remove the base and insert the cap. The base of the cap should be a shear cut and then a 1/4 ” hole is drilled all the way through. Cut the spigot to the 1/2” length with barely less than the 1-1/16” drilled shaft diameter for a snug fit into the top of the base. Don’t worry about it spinning freely at this point because it can be sanded after the peppermill is finished. Next connect the cap and base together to verify the overall length and grain match. If the length is too long, now is the time to correct by cutting the extra material off. Place a scrap piece of wood in the chuck and cut a drive tenon to fit the base’s 1-5/8” opening. Place the base and cap onto the drive tenon and bring the tail stock up to the cap with a cone center. The cone center will center the assembly on the drilled holes.

True the whole blank with a roughing spindle gouge before deciding on the design for your peppermill. Rex created a concave design with a forged spindle gouge, which has a flatter profile that allows for tighter coves than the rough spindle gouge can produce. Always cut down the slope into the valley, which produces a smoother cut. To hide the joint, Rex cut a V-groove on the seam and two others, one on either side, which he followed up by wire burning the grooves. Rex sanded the piece and reminded the audience that the first grit cuts and cleans while the remaining grits take out the scratches and smoothes to produce the finished surface. After the last grit is used with the lathe running, Rex shut the lathe and sanded with the grain using the final grit. He then followed the sanding with 0000 steel wool, with the lathe running and then with the grain with the lathe off. Rex applied the finish: Myland’s French polish with a small piece of Viva paper towel. Viva is softer and more cloth-like than any other paper towel. For the final step, Rex used Renaissance Wax, it has a micro crystalline base which helps dry the finish and dries harder than the Briwax.

Pen:

Rex discussed the various options that are capable with the slim-line kits. The kit Rex showed is called the KC Twist which has a longer lower barrel and no center ring. This kit creates a more pleasing appearance by moving the center line up. He discussed the various woods, plastics, and stabilized woods that can be used for pens. Stabilized wood is dried wood that is placed into a pressure chamber. The vacuum is drawn out of the chamber and the plastic polymers are drawn into the pores and voids. This process increases the hardness of the wood. Stabilization can be performed up to a point by the woodturner by using thin CA glue. Rex uses the Beall Collet Chuck with the mandrel shaft because it offers more stability than the standard mandrels. He uses CA glue for most woods, but for those woods that have a tendency to crack or for plastics, Rex uses polyurethane or epoxy. Also, for plastics he uses longer pieces, drills a little longer than the length of the tube but not all the way through, and trims the end without the hole off on the bandsaw to eliminate blow-out.

Once the tubes have been installed, Rex uses a barrel trimmer to square up the end and flush cut it. He does not recommend large roughing gouges because they are too aggressive. Rex works the ends first and works toward the center. The KC design, like other slimline pens, uses the three bushings. But in the case of the KC design, the two end bushings are for sizing of the tube/wood but the center bushing is only there as a spacer. The upper tube is left thicker than the top of the lower tube to create a contrast. To increase the contrast, Rex recommends mixing materials. Rex sands up to 600 grit with the lathe running, then stops and sands with the grain with the last grit, and then does both these steps with 0000 steel wool. French polish is rubbed in with the lathe stopped, then buffed with the lathe on, and followed with Renaissance Wax.

The pieces are assembled in the following order: pen tip into lower section, cap and clip in top of upper section, and finally the transmission. The distance that the transmission needs to be pressed in is the same for all kits that use cross pen refills. Rex makes and uses a V-block that measures 3-15/16” in length. Using this V-block speeds up the assembly process because you do not have to press, insert refill, check the point position, try again, and hope you don’t press it in too far.

Door Stops:

For this project Rex used 1 1/2” x 1 1/2” x 8” Stratabond and turned it between centers. Both ends will be turned with a sloping transition into knobs. The knobs can be the same or different since the piece will be bandsawed in half on a diagonal. Rex used a Spindlemaster, which is a combination of a spindle gouge and a skew but acts like a gouge. The goal is to get the cleanest cut you can because you cannot sand the transition slope without rounding the edges and the goal is to have crisp edges. A spindle turner is considered a good turner, if sanding begins at 180 grit or higher. To bandsaw the piece, measure ¼” down from the top of the square sections near the knobs from opposite ends and draw a line connecting those points. Bandsaw along that line creating the two (2) separate door stops. Sand all flat sides on a belt or disk sander and complete with finish.

Desk Clock:

Rex used 3”x 3” x 3” Ambrosia Maple for this project. He started by turning between centers and created a tenon on one end. When Rex turned on the lathe he forgot to check the speed. He related a story when Jimmy Clewes was teaching a class at Craft Supplies USA and he used the demonstrator’s lathe while they went for lunch. Jimmy was doing his winged bowl and turned the lathe on and it started bouncing around because Rex left the lathe set at the higher speed. A valuable lesson was learned from this experience.

He placed the piece into a chuck and made a center point. Using a Jacob’s chuck in the end stock, Rex drilled a 1-3/8” hole, about 3/8” to 5/8” deep for the clock. The clock sits in this with a friction gasket. The design depends on the wood and its features. For this piece Rex decided on an egg shape with the drilled end tapering down to the pointed end. He turned the clock end and sanded the piece. Rex created a drive center to fit the drilled hole and then reversed the piece to complete the smaller end by cutting, sanding, and applying finish. The last step was to determine the best sides to face up and sand a flat spot that will become the base.

It was a full day that not only showed many projects but as you have read there were many tips intermingled throughout the day. Rex showed how simple projects can increase each of our turning techniques by doing something over and over again. This ended a very interesting and fast paced day.

Rex also instructed ten (10) CMW members in creating a peppermill, KC Twist pen, and door stops on Friday.

From both the Friday class participants and the CMW members and guests in attendance on Saturday – Thanks Rex.

--by Anthony Napoli