How to make a DIY jump rope - woodturner's maintenance

Tools and materials I propose:

Lathe

Wood turning tools set

Sanding adapter

Chuck kit

Table saw

Bandsaw

Caliper set

Rotary tool

The most precious tool you got, is your body and mind. So let's make a jump rope to keep ourselves fit. I made mine out of mulberry wood. 

First of all I made a rough template out of plywood. I then shaped the template on the bandsaw. I cleaned the saw marks with my rotary tool and a drum sanding bit.

I cut my wood into blanks on my table saw. For the cross cuts I used my cross cut sled. 

I then marked the centres of my blanks. I tilted the blade of my table saw at 45 degrees. I then removed the corners of my blanks on the saw. This saved me some time on the table saw. 

I then mounted the blank between centres on the lathe and used a roughing gouge to turn it true. With my skew chisel I created a dovetailed tenon to fit my chuck jaws. 

Next I stated taking measurements from my template using a pair of callipers. I used a flat chisel, a skew and a spindle gouge to shape my handle. 

At this point I decided to put the template aside and just go for a shape that felt nice in the palm of my hand. 

I sanded the handle with 100, 220 and 320 grit sandpaper. 

Then I used a skew chisel to create some grooves. These grooves helped my wire burning tool to stay in position. I then burned those marks with the wire. Besides being decorative these grooves give the sweat from your hands a way out. 

Finally I decreased the speed of my lathe and added a drill bit on my tailstock. I then drilled the rope hole. 

I finished the piece with some polishing paste. This polished the piece and also gave it a natural finish by poping the grain patterns of the wood out. 

I parted the handle of the lathe using a knife parting too. I then Used a sanding adapter on my lathe to sand the bottom of the handle. 

I used some nylon rope for my jump rope. You can experiment with different lengths of the rope and see what suits you best.

But anyway I hope you liked this one because that was it. See you soon with a new project video. 

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, that at no cost to you, I get a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Wood and transparent epoxy resin, spinning top

Tools and materials I propose:

Lathe

Wood turning tools set

Vacuum chamber kit

Sanding adapter

Micro mesh sanding pads

Buffing kit

Chuck kit

Resin

Resin colors

Forstner bit set

Round headed nails

In this video I make a unique top out of resin and a piece of spruce.

A long time ago I found a spruce door casing in the garbage. 

I turned a piece true on the lathe using my roughing gouge. With a straight chisel I created a dovetailed tenon on one end so I could mount the blank on my chuck. 

I then set my lathe at low speed and begun hollowing the blank. I begun with a drill and moved on to forstner bits. I finished hollowing the end grain with my hook tool. 

I wanted the wood itself to act as a mold for the resin. 

I mixed my resin and de gassed it in my vacuum chamber. I coloured parts of my resin with blue and green dyes. I then used a bamboo kebab stick to try and add some texture in my resin. 

Once the resin was fully cured I begun turning the blank on the lathe.

As I was turning I discovered a huge gap in my resin. Probably caused by trapped air. It was impossible to save it, so I cut the resin off. I then I reversed the resin. I flattened both the wood and the resin and glued them together with 5 minute epoxy. 

I then used my round scraper and a spindle gouge to shape my top. 

I also carefully marked the diameter of the nail’s head. 

On the drill press I drilled the hole for the nail which I add in the bottoms of all my tops. 

I then sanded the top with 100, 220 and 320 grit sand paper. I begun wet sanding with soap water at 400. I moved on to 600, 800 and 1000 grit. Then I moved on to my micro mesh pads.

At this point I parted the top off the lathe and sanded the handle.

Then I buffed it with my buffing wheel system.

Finally I glued the nail in the bottom of my top with 5 minute epoxy!

Although the texture I wanted to achieve didn’t really came out as I wanted, I think my top is really nice and beautiful.

But anyway, that was it! See you soon with a new project video!

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, that at no cost to you, I get a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.

How to make a wooden toy car - Woodturning

Tools and materials I propose:

Lathe

Wood turning tools set

Sanding adapter

Chuck kit

Sandpaper cleaner

Speed square

Table saw

Bandsaw

Drill press

Forstner bit set

Jointer planer

Caliper set

In this video I make a minimalistic toy car, out of iroko and basswood.  This is a cool example of using the woodworking lathe to make toys. 

I begun with a square piece of iroko wood, on which I marked a few guide lines. I then moved on to the drill press and drilled the holes for the wheels. I used a forstner bit to create the seat for the driver. It was much easier to make the holes on square stock. After turning it would have beed much more difficult. 

I then roughed turned the stock with a roughing gouge. I created a dovetailed tenon with a skew chisel to fit my chuck. I then finished shaping the piece with the skew. I sanded the piece and finished it with polishing paste. I cleaned the back using a sanding adapter on the lathe. 

I then cut a piece of basswood to create the driver. I used the skew to shape him. Basswood and iroko create a nice contrast with each other. I then glued the driver in place.

To make the wheels I used my callipers to make my marks, so I can make them all the same. I used the skew and sand paper to shape them. I then I added a drill chuck on my tailstock and drilled the holes. I used the knife parting tool to cut them off and then sanded them. 

But I had a problem. The wheels were to small and the belly of the car touched the ground. I decided to make the back wheels a bit larger to solve the problem. But I did not have so thick material. So I turned the back wheels side grain. This created a bit of visual difference between the front and back wheels, but I was ok with that.  

The axles of my car are just 10mm dowels. The holes on the body of the car are 12mm. I glued the axles in place, trimmed them with a saw and sanded them flush.

I finished the car with mineral oil. 

My little car came out awesome. I hope you liked this one, because that was it, see you soon with a new project video!

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, that at no cost to you, I get a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Making a cone out of apricot wood and resin - woodturning

Tools and materials I propose:

Lathe

Wood turning tools set

Vacuum chamber kit

Sanding adapter

Micro mesh sanding pads

Buffing kit

Axe

Chuck kit

Resin

Resin colors

Sandpaper cleaner

In this video a make this decorative basic form out of epoxy resin and  apricot wood. 

As a mold for my casting I used a plastic biscuit box. 

I used my axe to split and shape a piece of apricot wood. 

Then I secured the wood into the mold, so it could not float in resin.

I then mixed my resin. I also coloured my resin with a tiny bit of red and green resin dye. It was still transparent but with a kind of pinkish colour. 

I then degassed the rein in the vacuum chamber. I poured the resin into the mold, and then I degassed it again. 

When the resin was fully cured, I cleared one edge of the blank on the table saw and mounted it on the lathe with a screw chuck. Before that I drilled a pilot hole on my drill press.

I turned the piece true with a scraper and then used a flat chisel to create a tenon for my chuck. I then mounted the cone on the chuck and finished shaping with a round scraper and a flat chisel. I then used the knife tool to establish the bottom of my cone. 

I sanded the cone with 100, 220 and 320 grit. At 400 grit I started wet sanding until 1000 grit. I then used my micro mesh sanding pads. Finally I used my buffing wheels to polish the cone. 

I then cut the piece off the chuck. Using a sanding adapter I sanded the bottom. I used a sandpaper cleaner to keep my sandpaper dust free. Then I polished the bottom as well.

My cone came out great and I was really happy with the colour I got in the end.

Anyway, I hope you liked this project because that was it. See you soon with a new project video.

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, that at no cost to you, I get a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.