Turning Some More Glue-Ups

I decided it was either time to either throw away part of my growing pile of scrap wood or make something with it. Since I have a hard time parting with toothpicks, my only option was to make something.

I’ve had good luck contrasting purple heartwood with maple, so laminating a turning blank with those woods was a no brainer. This time I thought I’d try a vertical pattern, somewhat like SpectraPly, but I felt the results were less than spectacular. Quarter inch plies just weren’t thin enough to give the effect I was looking for. I did have a more spectacular success matching cherry with padauk. While the egg isn’t very useful, it shows off the contrast between the two woods, especially having turned it at an angle.

Mounting the blank in the lathe and getting it centered was challenging.

To safely trim the small and awkwardly shaped blank I attached it to the miter gauge with carpet tape.