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I'm in! Cool If this comes together it will be a really interesting day.

Do you mean the Quarry Oak? I was sort of following this route http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-croft_castle-ancient_trees-walk.pdf Thanks NellyBelly, I'll definitely check that out when I return.

-not sure about the croft oak, but did see the old oak pollards. The Sweet Chestnus are amazing. -no didn't see the fish pool valley, wasn't there long enough, next time.

I went to Croft Castle today, some stunning ancient giants, only wish I’d got there earlier in the day. Will definitely be going back, enjoy the pics, and if any one else has some to add please do.

Hey Ben, I guess you could call that a 'cup chuck' -just a deep jam chuck to give the mill body more support for boring out the ends. Although TBH it was a waste of time, a lot of farting about to get the diameters correct, with the mkII pepper mill I didn't bother, just held the body in the 3J chuck in the normal way. Actually on the 1st effort I spent a good 3 hrs, 2nd one only took 3/4 hr, I had pre-drilled the through centre bores of both on a friends lathe, as my Wadkin (between centres lathe) doesn't have a chuck... Fantastic clock BTW, never seen that design before. Good stuff Stevie-b, great finishes. Thanks for sharing.

toss up between these two for me. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCNvZqpa-7Q]White Wine In The Sun by Tim Minchin - YouTube[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDX04uo5Lvk]Walking around in women?s underwear - YouTube[/ame]

Hey Ben how's that HF coming? -thought I'd show a pepper mill, well 2 pepper mills, 1st one was a fail, that I'd made yesterday and tonight. Made from apple, about 14" tall. 1st 4 pics are of mkI - deep jam chuck and simple steady rest, between centres, finished and the fail - eccentric capstan. Last pic of mkII, shame the wood is not as interesting as mkI, but will still make an ok xmas present I think.

I don't know, but give it a go, or give some to some one else to have a go, then let us know. :-) I turned some Laurel and was pleasantly surprised - very dense, green yellow coloured, had the feel of some sort of tropical wood.

Hey Ben, nice pieces, nice photos! I like the composition. Any luck on the work front?

Hi offgridchris, interesting to hear that you and other people have this problem too. I don't have this problem with milling sawdust as I tend to mill on site/at timber yards where the site bonfire/chip pile takes care of it. But at home I produce a lot of wood turning chips that I mostly get rid of in the 'garden waste' bin and also my wood burner, neither of which are great solutions. I can’t believe that there isn’t a small scale/domestic solution to this problem as a lot of home wood workers, particularly turners, have problems getting rib of their waste. I've come to the conclusion that to make use of the waste chips/sawdust (for warmth anyway) it must be dry (~15%) to burn well or briquette etc. See this link... Double-drum Sawdust Stove I'm considering building something like this, but making it a 'twin tub' (is this what you where thinking) while one firebox is burning then the other is drying, when the lit firebox burns out you recharge it with wet chips and light the other firebox. This way it only requires loading with chips/sawdust. Anyone seen something like this? I know this is done in commercial mills.

hi, mostly I agree with all the above, but horse chestnut can, if treated correctly, produce some stunning results... with the use of some dye wash, normally blue, and a high gloss lacquer, will look amazing, particularly if the timber is a bit gnarly, -bland looking timber is transformed!

Some good suggestions on gloss finish, I'll try some out, maybe on the below... (##ray## I used Halfords acrylic gloss lacquer, from a can though) This is a Maple hollow form, amazing timber, with quilting, burr and a little spalting. It currently has no finish applied, just sanded very fine (down to 4000 grit). I'm thinking of applying a blue/grey dye wash then a gloss finish. What do you guys think, to dye or not to dye?

Thanks for the +ve comments! I've not used Bee's & libernon wax, but I have used WW22 & Carnauba wax a bit. I've had mixed results, but found that they don't keep a good shine after a bit of handling. + I think these fall into the pain in... category? I probably just need more practice with them. Deer man, Duracote and Cerakote - this looks interesting, not heard of these before, where do you get it from?

Cheers Ray, nice hook tools. I'd like to have a go with that type of tool some time. Glossy spray finishes - turned this over the weekend, really nice piece of spalted Hornbeam, thought it would be a good idea to give it a glossy finish... 4 evenings later, I think I should have stayed with the sanding sealer and Danish oil combo. The pics don't show it so well, but it is very shiny, although there are a few patches that haven’t covered well including the rim around the small opening. Has any one found a good recipe for a good gloss finish, I've yet to find one that's not a real pain and slow.

I saw this a while back, impressive knife tool they use to core out the bowls, I'd like to make one similar, I can only core cones out at the moment. (know clue how to post vids) Ray, nice pole turned bowl, do you use those hook tools? If so how hard are they to use? Nice yew haul Pyro! Liking those shrooms, that branchy stem is going to make something really nice, look forward to that.

Cheers, 'flowing shape' is something I do try to obtain. I often wonder about the mathematics behind why some shapes/proportions 'look correct', I have never calculated any dimensions based on some formulae, I just adjust the shape until I think it looks right, subjective I know... but it would be interesting to know.

-some more from the beerkan mill. -been milling elm, I could not believe how hard this particular piece of timber was, I guess beacuse it has been sitting around for quite along time. Some fantastic grain, figure and some spalter too. Milled 4 slabs or so for turning, about 3" thick. I was having to touch up the chain after each cut, worth it though - rough turned some yesterday looking really good...

Endoscope - thought some of you might be interested in this, I bought this recently, I can't believe how useful it's been, used it a lot when fixing my car... here is the wood turning application for hollow forms, helps to see exactly what your cutter is doing. (It can take pics/video too, I've haven't down loaded the pics off it yet.) This is a piece of spalted beach. What do you think of the shape BTW?

Hi Valewoodturner, some good stuff you've been producing! I particularly like the Pestle & Mortar, the Elm is beautiful. -I made one for my GF's sister a while back, can't remember if I've posted pics before, I'll put some up if you're interested. Yeah I bet that was tough not being able practice you're hobby -I can't imagine not being able to get on in the shed... Cheers.

nice Ian, some really interesting bits of timber. -you selling many of these, I would think poeple would snap em up.

Thanks. yeah, that's the stuff, but I think it works best/looks nicer if you thin it down quite a lot, then apply coats progressively to build the colour up. Also some woods work better than others- horse chestnut, maple and sycamore are good. Let us know how you get on. BTW, anyone going to the ARB show in Cirencester, I'll be there on the Saturday?

Hello peeps, it's been a while. Some nice stuff posted recently! I like that Yew box Pyro, and that Zebrano dish Bob very nice. Pyro what's the finial on the box made from, is it dark yew or something else? -so I finally finished that big Yew natural edge bowl (that can be found earlier in this thread), still might tweak the finish, but I think it looks OK now, hopefully it won't darken. Also I had chance on the bank holiday to make this 'Blue box' - what do you think? I might take some pics in natural light as it will show the figure better...

I suggest a lacquer, cellulose or acrylic, I think you need to stop the air oxidising the wood, otherwise as you say the white sapwood will yellow, and the orange heart wood will darken.

Those shells are great! I like you have a LH & RH twist version. -also nice that you showed the material, making of and finished product, Thanks for sharing.

-na, would've take too long in auto crap, I use solidworks. Nothting wrong with a bit of ms paint. If you get a new spindle made up, have you thought about modifying the design a bit, i.e. put RH threads on both ends, that way your chucking will work inboard and out... all induction motors single or 3 phase will work in either direction... a really good up great upgrade is speed control- that will also give FWD & REV... check out drives direct Sorry for the choppy reaply in a rush