Woodturned Basket
by Andrew Hilton
(Hi Jennifer!)
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Let's begin...
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This is a piece of Walnut about 3" diameter and 8" long. I won't use the full length but I like to have enough in case of ... ummm ... "design opportunity" striking. I have already rounded it and put a tenon on the end. |
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I flipped the blank end for end and put the tenon into the scroll chuck. I've also pulled up the tailstock for extra support. I like to do this as a matter of course for as long asI can just for safety even on small items such as this.. |
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I've formed a cone or what will look like the top of an egg shape on the right side. That will become the basket handles area. I've also made some parting cuts on the left side. These are to show where the bottom of the base will be. It helps me visualize it in the next steps... |
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I've formed a really rough base on the left side. This will be the bottom of the basket. I've also made a really shallow parting cut near the middle of the "egg". That rasied area will be the division between the basket "bowl" and the start of the handles. You can go ahead and round off that raised area a little to form a bead. Don't have to at this point but you can. |
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Pull the tailstock away and using whatever tool you want (I used the toe of a skew), put a little dimple in the end of the blank. This is to help center the drill bit next .... |
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Drill a depth hole with a drill bit. You don't have to
do this but I'm hoping Tom Crabb will read this at some point. I
teased him awhile back about if he could use a drill bit for this or
that. He wondered if I sold drill bits or something! haha
Anyway, I'm using just a hand drill but you can use a Jacobs' chuck in the tailstock if you wish. Drill it down near to what will be the inside bottom of the bowl portion. |
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Spilling its guts! Very small hole and a lot of fine shavings. Yes, this is hollowing and YES it's boring and time consuming. Start from the opening and work your way down the sides slowly. Just like with any hollow turning, you work the top to final thickness and work down from there. Don't go back to the top once you get past it. Yada yada yada.... |
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I'm using a modified scraper tip on an old
screwdriver. I certainly don't recommend using old screwdrivers,
files, etc. for most woodturning but for small things, they work fine most
of the time. I'm not hanging over the toolrest much at all so it's
safe.
Lots of digging out the shavings here. LOTS. Even on a small hollowing like this. |
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