Mike's demonstration began with a slide show of many of his pieces. They depicted such forms as waves (surfing is Mike's main activity other than woodturning), pods, lava formations, fossils, crabs and snails. Much of Mike's work entails more carving and texturing than actual turning. At present turning accounts for about fifty percent of his work but he hopes that in the future he will do mostly carving and texturing. The only real turning on many of his pieces is the turned hole in the center. He likes to work on smaller size pieces because he can hold them and feel the texture and form.

For carving Mike uses a Foredom tool (20,000 rpm) with many varied tips and burrs. He roughs his pieces using an Aluma-cut burr. He prefers carbide rather than high speed burrs because they remain sharp for much longer periods. Mike prefers using the exotic hardwoods because of their density and weight. This gives the piece some heft. He sketches his pieces free hand and does not use predetermined shapes.

Mike does initial shaping using an Aluma-cut burr and a Foredom Micro-motor tool (45,000 rpm). He does not use air tools because of the noise and the extreme high speed which burns the hardwoods. For detailed shaping he uses smaller carbide burrs at varying speeds depending on the wood type and the burr being used. He progresses to finer and finer burrs to bring the piece to the sanding stage. He forms his pieces so that they will rock on a flat surface. Sanding is performed using sand plates and rubber forms that sandpaper can be formed around. He uses 80 and 120 grit paper. Texturing is done with a small rounded carbide burr. A slower speed is used to prevent burning. Further texturing can be completed using various shaped burrs including those by Dremel. These, however, dull quickly and are considered disposable. Texturing shows up better on darker woods. Next Mike demonstrated the use of a triangular shaped carbide cutter to remove wood quickly and for roughing-out. He feels that carving and texturing require much patience and time and considerable thinking. This completed the morning session.

When asked what Mike would charge for a particular piece his reply was, "How much you got?"

The afternoon session began with a slide show and a discussion of sandblasting and views of Mike's works. He also showed pieces made by hand by Hawaiians some many years ago. They are called Calabash bowls. Hollowing was done by using axes and sanding by using rough rocks.

The session continued with a demonstration of Calabash bowl turning and patching. Mike began roughing the blank between centers. This permitted adjusting the piece to obtain maximum grain pattern and avoid defects. A maple blank was used. (Mike diamond hones his gouges and rarely grinds. He never locks his tailstock.) He initially cut with the gouge tip and not the edge. Speed was increased as the piece was trued-up. After truing-up the piece it was adjusted between centers to achieve better grain balance. A tenon was then formed on the foot with a smaller one-quarter inch gouge. The tenon was then parted the piece attached to a Oneway chuck. The largest possible chuck was used to avoid vibration. Mike then faced off the upper surface of the piece and shaped the bowl Calabash style (rounded shape). Finishing cuts were done with a Jerry Glaser side grind gouge with the handle held down against Mike's side. Mike dramatically produced a catch by raising the handle this woke everyone up! The chuck was then tightened up because of fiber compression and the mentioned "catch." The bowl was then hollowed out in stages or steps to avoid bouncing on the end grain. Finishing cuts were done with the one-quarter inch gouge.

Patching was then demonstrated. In the past it was used to repair cracks and defects in bowl sides and bottoms. Currently it is also used to enhance the design of a piece. A template was used to make the patch which was cut out using a small router. The template was glued over a piece of ebony using a glue gun. After cutting the patch the template was glued to the side of the bowl again using the glue gun, and bridges were placed to keep the template fixed in position. The receiving area in the bowl was then cut with the router and the edges trimmed with a small knife blade. Thick CA glue was used to fill the space and the inlay or patch put in place. A grinder was used to smooth up any raised patch areas and sanding followed. [Web Editor's Note: Here is a complete sequence of the patching process.]

The final phase of the demonstration consisted of the formation of a hollow form. A pre-turned blank was placed in the chuck. (Mike rough turns his hollow forms both inside and out and lets them dry for about six months.) Once dried the wax was turned off the outside (Mike does not wax the interior). Then the outer surface was refined both in shape and surface quality with shear scraping. Mike then refined the interior with the Stewart system. [It is important to keep the bend of the tool in front of the tool rest and not on it.] First the out-of-round was eliminated. Then the wall nearest the opening was refined so that most of the mass was in deeper areas of the vessel. Then deeper areas were thinned in step-wise fashion down to about three-sixteenths of an inch. Each time Mike finished one area a step was left to show when to start the next step. Each increment was about one inch. When Mike reached the bottom a straight tool was used in a plunging fashion to determine final depth. The curved tool was then used to blend the side into the bottom. Finishing cuts were then made to finalize the interior including the removal of the bottom nub. Mike then sanded the exterior with an electric sander with the lathe running at the same speed as when turning. Then hand sanding with the lathe on was completed. Mike used 120, 220, 320, 400 and 600 grit papers. He then used 4-0 steel wool to remove dust on the surface of the piece.

Mike did not complete the piece due to time restraints. He will finish the foot then use two coats of tung oil and buff the piece. This completed an extensive and informative demonstration. A tape will be available for review in August 2003.

--Bob Gunther

More about Mike Lee

More Demo Photos