Guest Demonstrator February 2005:
Warren Carpenter
Overview:
 Warren Carpenter has been a homebuilder since the mid 1970's. In his spare time he has built furniture and sculptured wood. Since 1999 his passion has been woodturning. Warren always searches for the natural beauty of a piece of wood and enjoys experimenting with new shapes and forms. Primarily turning large to medium bowls (both regular and irregular shapes), he has developed a technique of inserting walnut shell sections into bowl edge imperfections. His work is in numerous galleries and he has participated in many shows. Warren is currently the president of CMW for the 2nd consecutive year, a member of AAW, Blue Ridge Arts Council (Board 2004-2005), Downtown Seneca Merchants Association (President 2004-2005) and the Southern Highlands Craft Guild. His formal training has been at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts under Christian Burchard, Michael Lee and David Ellsworth.
Morning Session:
Warren's demonstration began with a discussion of the importance of maintaining safety in all aspects of turning. Then he discussed a typical tree section and how to orient your turning in "the tree." You have two options - a flat or normal edge bowl or a natural edge bowl. The log is halved with a chain saw and each half rounded on the band saw. Warren used a series of pre-cut discs of various diameters to aid in forming a rounded shape to each half log -- the first in preparation for a regular bowl and the second for a natural edge bowl.
The first rounded half, which was cherry, was then placed between centers. The dead center was driven into the flat surface and the piece placed in the headstock. The tailstock was then brought up. (Warren primarily uses the Ellsworth grind on his bowl gouges.) For safety precautions, a slow lathe speed was used initially. Turning began by employing a comfortable stance, a light hold on the tool and a gradual approach to the wood. The tailstock end of the piece was shaped. Locking the headstock, rocking the piece, then tightening the tailstock, decreased slippage. This drives the prongs further into the piece. When quickly rounding Warren does not ride the bevel. He does keep the gouge firmly on the tool rest. By not riding the bevel he eliminates the bouncing of the tool due to the air spaces. Once rounded, the outside shape is determined. This shape should be a pleasing, gentle curve that does not simply drop to the surface the piece is resting on. (Usually a "can" shape should be voided.) A shape like this also makes the turning of the interior easier. A tenon and shoulder was then formed on the piece. Warren undercut the tenon to aid in the drying process. (Warren uses the knockout bar to remove the drive center with the piece still attached to protect his hand.) The piece was then reversed and placed in the chuck which was tightened using both holes - possibly several times each. The interior was shaped using the Ellsworth grind gouge and riding the bevel. A uniform wall thickness is desired and the thickness depends on the wood species (i.e. pecan - thick, maple - thinner). A caliper was used to determine wall thickness. At this point the piece was entered into the drying process. CA glue was applied to any checks in the piece. The glue was allowed to run down into the checks. Accelerator was then applied. Warren then sprayed concentrated lemon juice on the piece to prevent mold and mildew. The piece can then be placed in some type of bag to slow the drying or the end grain can be brushed with a sealer. Another method is "group drying" where the bowls are stacked together to dry after the lemon juice has been applied. There are other drying processes that can be used depending on the wood and the location of the drying area. Occasionally Warren turns off a small amount of wood from both the inside and outside of the piece during the drying process. This seems to cut down on subsequent mold and mildew formation – probably because the moisture content has been decreased. Microwaving the wood was briefly discussed but Warren does not routinely use this method.
Warren then showed several pieces that were turned many months ago and how much they had moved during the drying process. Next discussed was the remounting of the dry pieces using the jam chuck. The interior of the bowl was placed against the jam chuck and the tailstock was brought up to the center of the bowl bottom. The tenon was then re-shaped with the one-quarter inch spindle gouge. This prepared the piece for further turning.
Next, a natural edge bowl was formed using the other half of the previously cut tree cross section. Warren turned and Joe Ruminski did the commentary. This showed the turning in real time. The piece was placed between centers - the bark to the headstock end. The tailstock end was rounded to form the exterior of the bowl. The tool rest was kept as close to the piece as possible. The bark edge was cut toward the bottom of the bowl in order to keep the bark on the rim. The tenon and shoulder were then formed - the piece reversed and placed in the chuck. The interior of the bowl was then turned. (As much "meat" as possible is left in the bottom of the bowl when turning the rim areas. This prevents flexing of the walls as they become thinner.) The piece was then reversed on a jam chuck and the bottom refined. This completed a very detailed, educational and interesting morning session (It took 8 1/2 minutes for Warren to turn the natural edge - he said it should take him 5 1/2 minutes.) Add "humorous" to the session description!
Afternoon Session:
Warren opened the afternoon session with a discussion of sharpening, i.e.: the Wolverine System vs. the David Ellsworth jig. The important thing needed with either is consistency so that the same grind (angle) is gotten each time. A guide can be made so that you can switch from grinder to grinder and still get the same grind.
 A previously turned holly bowl that had dried was put in the jam chuck. The tenon was re-cut and the piece placed in the chuck. The outside was trued using light cuts. The outline was defined so that it curved into the base to produce a pleasing shape. The outer surface was shear cut. The inside was then turned and refined. The edge of the piece was not refined at this time because Warren will place a walnut section as a decorative and cosmetic touch in a small defect in the rim. The interior was not refined to the bottom until the upper portion was thinned in order to prevent chattering or movement of the walls when turning. Warren then sanded the inside beginning with 80 grit. Lathe speed was turned quite slow as was the sander speed. (This prevents both destroying the Velcro on the sander and producing damaging heat effects to the wood surface.) Warren started sanding from the middle outward. He sometimes stopped the lathe to sand specific areas. He suggested not sanding the bowl bottom or center for prolonged periods because it could distort the interior surface. Warren then started sanding the outside with 120 grit because that surface had been turned quite smooth. 120 and 180 grit was then used on the inside followed by 220 grit. The piece was removed from the chuck. There was a small defect in the rim. This area, both inside and outside, was sprayed with lacquer to prevent the subsequent use of CA glue and accelerant from staining the wood. A native walnut was then sectioned on the band saw - slightly off the center of the nut. The sectioned nut was laid on the bowl's interior and the outline drawn around it. The nut section was about one-third above the rim and two-thirds below the rim. The rim of the bowl was shaped with the bandsaw and the area to receive the walnut insert removed with the bandsaw. The edge of the insert area was cut with a jagged edge to better blend in with the walnut section when placed in the insert area. The walnut section was then taped in place with clear packing tape. The tape was placed on the interior surface of the bowl. Walnut dust (from sanding walnut bark) was poured into the small spaces between the nut section and the insert edge. CA glue was applied to the dust - accelerator was used after the aforementioned spaces had been filled. The tape was removed from the interior of the bowl. CA glue was applied to the corresponding areas on the outside of the piece and, again, accelerator used. The edge of the bowl was sanded on a sanding belt to smooth off the bandsaw cut. Warren strives for a graceful curve approaching the walnut insert. The walnut piece was then sanded flat so it blended into the outer surface of the bowl - this also was done on the belt sander. The piece was placed back on the chuck and the inner surface of the walnut sanded with 80 grit to blend with the inner surface of the bowl. 120 grit was used both inside and out. The rotary sander was then cushioned with another foam pad and 220 and 400 grit used inside and out and along the edge. The meat from the walnut was then picked out with a dental tool. The piece was reversed and jam-chucked between centers. Prior to chucking, the bottom thickness was measured. The foot was refined and the shoulder blended into the side of the bowl. It was sanded with the lathe in reverse using the various grits up to 400. The piece was removed from the chuck and the nubbin removed from the bottom of the foot. The foot was branded (website listed at end of article), labeled and dated (Micron pen used).
Finishing was then discussed. (Warren used a series of bowls at various stages of the process for the demonstration.) He rubbed the bowl with Liberon 4-0 steel wool then poured some Liberon finishing oil on a folded up piece of the steel wool and rubbed the oil into the bowl surface. Immediately after the oil was applied Warren waxed the bowl with Renaissance wax (different wax can be used) to seal in the oil. The next day the wax will be rubbed off with the Liberon steel wool and more oil applied with steel wool but the piece is not waxed again. The following day the bowl will be lightly steel wooled then buffed to the final finish with a Beall buffer (for the demonstration a Beall buffer was put in the headstock) with White Diamond compound. This completed the holly walnut insert bowl.
Next, Warren demonstrated his rolling pin using maple and cherry. Two pieces were glued together with CA glue to keep them together while cutting with the bandsaw. The piece was cut and the two halves separated. The piece was then put together with veneer between them and re-glued. Plugs would then be made with veneer surrounding them to further decorate the rolling pin. Warren said that he would return for another demo in about 16 years to demonstrate the plug insertion - We all sure hope so! For more details of the rolling pins refer to the tape that will be available in the club library.
Warren then demonstrated the turning of an end-grain multiple-crotch cherry piece with remnants of limbs protruding on three sides. A Forstner bit was used to cut the center out to accept the drive center. The piece was then placed between centers. A laser pointer was used to determine where cuts would or could be made. The outer surface of the piece was then shaped. The tail center was then changed to adjust the shape of the piece to make it more pleasing. Once the outside shape was finalized a tenon was shaped and the piece placed in the chuck. The outside was further finished with a light cut. The interior of the piece was then turned. Due to a catch the piece exited the lathe. The tenon was made deeper and the piece remounted. The interior was further defined. This completed a very detailed, interesting, educational, entertaining and easily understandable demonstration. Details will be available on VHS in the club library in April 2005.
Sources:
--Bob Gunther
More about Warren
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