About this time last year my Dad gave me vintage Delta lathe, that I have figured out to be the Delta Double Duty 955. It came with a lot of worn out turning tool, all of which were too small to be practical. I still have them, but they do not get used much. So that I could start the process of learning how to turn, and learning how to sharpen turning tools properly, I went against my rule of not buying cheap tools and bought a very cheap set from Harbor Freight. I still take much flak for this today. 🙂 The sad thing is, they work better than even I thought they would, and I am still using them today!
After turning several pieces of wood into saw dust, I decided I would try something small, but potentially practical. I had just completed the purchase of my chisels and decided I could use a good chisel/carving mallet. I wasn’t really ready yet to try spinning a big piece of wood, so I made a small one. A very small one. 🙂 So in reality it is too small to be practical, but someday I may have a use for it. It was turned from a 1.5″ x 1.5″ x 12″ piece of maple turning stock. It was my first attempt at finishing on the lathe, and I had not yet found the joy of using boiled linseed oil with shellac. I ended up staining and putting a poly finish on it. The finish ended up burning on the piece. If any thing, it made a neat effect. 🙂