Turn, Turn, Turn

When the cooler weather hits, I tend to lose all motivation. So when I had a free afternoon today, I had to bribe myself to get back into the shop.

I wanted to finish those three small rolling pins that I started a few weeks ago, but it was chilly in the shop. 

Coffee and sweets help.

Remember I had roughed these out, and coated them with polyurethane, so that the moisture wouldn't leave the wood too quickly. 

I put one back in the lathe, and turned the cylinder down to the right diameter;

 it's easy to check the size with my caliper. 

The end was just a simple curved dome. 

One of the best things about working on the lathe is that you can sand and finish the piece, all while it's still mounted in the lathe. 

Sanding makes a ton of dust, 

I put a piece of cardboard under the wood, so I wouldn't splatter oil all over the lathe. 

These rolling pins probably aren't going to be used - so I applied a coat of wax to each one, too. The heat that is generated while the piece is spinning melts the wax and makes the piece of wood feel amazing. 

All that is left is to deal with the ends - 

I like to make a thin score with a dovetail saw while the piece is spinning slowly in the lathe. I just want to get the cut started; I am careful to not go all the way through. 

With this end scored,

 the band saw finishes the removal of the scrap. Now some people would just slice the end off without scoring it, but I've never had good luck doing that. I like to rotate the piece while cutting it, to get a nice, clean slice. 

 Once the scrap ends are removed, 



I polished the rolling pin end with a pad sander, and then oiled it.  The grain was amazing. 

And here they are - three rolling pins, finished in about two hours. 

These might seem a little inefficient  - rolling pins that are only a foot long. But - it's more about remembering the tree that this wood came from. 

That mighty oak that was probably a few hundred years old; I love the idea that the tree will be remembered with these.