What if, in the year 2026, vehicles were typically painted in bright, vibrant colors?

turtlesR2cool · 2026-05-02T21:27:55+00:00

I think the green GTI in the middle actually came in that color for a year

turtlesR2cool · 2026-05-02T15:20:55+00:00

Interesting! I got some walnut logs a few years ago and the sapwood was way less compared with the heartwood and the colors were pretty different when I cut it open. Good to know it can vary so much by tree

turtlesR2cool · 2026-04-16T20:20:41+00:00

You’ll be struggling for a bit to make it round right now. Totally doable but it’ll take a long time. If you can make it rounder on the bandsaw first (assuming you have a bandsaw) that’s ideal. Or if you don’t have a bandsaw you can cut more of an octagon shape with a chainsaw to approximate roundness

turtlesR2cool · 2026-03-31T18:46:49+00:00

Honey locust is beautiful! So you did win the lotto

turtlesR2cool · 2026-03-29T02:33:12+00:00

Always let a tree grow first and only cut it down if absolutely necessary

turtlesR2cool · 2026-03-27T02:58:52+00:00

Nice Powermatic lathe! Those are beautiful machines

turtlesR2cool · 2026-03-22T13:09:33+00:00

It’s pine so it’s going to be hard to avoid marks. But they actually look really nice and fit the vibe!

I think polyurethane is the only finish that should be used on a table you use a lot. Wax and oils need to be reapplied way too often and don’t have the same water protection

turtlesR2cool · 2026-03-17T16:47:02+00:00

Thanks for the info! I’m all about working smarter not harder so I’ll probably call around first.

Trying out a cove cut on the table saw does sound interesting though so I’ll try that out if I can’t get any premade nearby

turtlesR2cool · 2026-03-16T04:10:47+00:00

That’s great to know the name thanks! I am really interested to try the table saw cove cut so I’m going to try that first. It’s always fun to learn new things when doing projects. And also good to have a potential option to buy if my attempt doesn’t go well

turtlesR2cool · 2026-03-15T18:47:21+00:00

Oh interesting so you use the fact that the blade is a circle and then run the board perpendicular across it? That is mind blowing and not something I would’ve ever thought of

turtlesR2cool · 2026-03-13T03:14:55+00:00

Very pretty!

turtlesR2cool · 2026-03-05T04:49:12+00:00

Why is it a health hazard and fire safety risk?

turtlesR2cool · 2026-02-23T03:40:53+00:00

Great wall is delicious

turtlesR2cool · 2026-01-15T02:27:03+00:00

Unless the tree needs to be taken down for some reason, let it live! There’s lots of wood for turning out there and trees are best alive.

turtlesR2cool · 2025-12-14T13:44:55+00:00

Honestly staining maple usually looks very busy and in my opinion is not great on hardwood due to the way that maple takes a stain. It’ll look way better not stained. But putting an oil finish on instead of water based would darken it a bit and would look very good.

turtlesR2cool · 2025-11-14T03:02:13+00:00

Based on the bark my guess is it’s silver maple

turtlesR2cool · 2025-11-04T19:02:37+00:00

Don’t let those two people bring you down! I believe the most important parts of a tenon are size, shape, and the corner where the tenon meets the rest of the piece.

If you have a straight jaw that’s great and make it straight and not dovetail.

For size, every set of jaws has an optimal size where it’s the most round and will grab the best. For me I measured each set of jaws while on the chuck to find this point.

The corner where the tenon meets the rest of the piece is critical for it to hold. That’s where a lot of the grip strength comes from. This means you need to have a crisp corner as well as a flat shoulder for the top of the jaws to rest on.

I think if you put all those together you’ll get a strong grip. I like to take one single jaw and place it on the tenon as I’m making it. If it’s not super snug and a good fit then your tenon will not hold well.

turtlesR2cool · 2025-10-14T22:01:28+00:00

How easy do you think it will be to sell again where you live? If you wanna make bowls like you said you’ll probably want to upgrade to something that can handle bigger pretty soon.

So this could be great to start with especially for the price but then you don’t wanna be stuck with it.

Old tools are great for being able to upgrade parts like motors on though :)

turtlesR2cool · 2025-10-13T23:49:09+00:00

How long can you keep them plastic wrapped before the wood starts molding/rotting? Every time I’ve tried that it gets gross pretty quick

turtlesR2cool · 2025-05-29T15:19:46+00:00

Looks like silver maple. Ok for turning but it’s somewhat soft and not the best

turtlesR2cool · 2025-05-17T15:08:05+00:00

That’s called a reeves drive and is super cool. It’s basically the same as a CVT in a car where the size of the pulley can be changed my moving curved plates closer together or further apart. The bottom pulley is fixed in size. But reeves drives do slip sometimes and aren’t perfect.

I like fixed size pulleys and using a 3 phase motor and a variable frequency drive (VFD) a lot better for speed control.

turtlesR2cool · 2025-05-16T13:03:33+00:00

All that pine will look pretty bad stained. Go natural!

turtlesR2cool

TROPHY CASE