Issue 622

What Are You Building?

These troubling times have had their share of downers, but there are some positives too. I have been seeing a lot of images of projects that you folks are building as you practice social distancing (and maybe keep yourselves out of your spouse’s hair!). We’ve been handed some lemons lately, but the lemonade we make from them can still taste pretty darn good.

With that in mind, here is my challenge: send us some pictures of what you are building with a paragraph or so explaining your inspiration. We will share them in the next Weekly. We’re also planning to select from among the coolest projects and publish them in the upcoming August issue of Woodworker’s Journal magazine, which we’re beginning to work on right now.

The Woodworker’s Journal crew will show you what we are up to as well during these quarantined days. It will be fun, and we can get inspired from each other’s efforts. Here’s an incentive: If more than 25 Weekly readers share their projects, we will pick one name from that group and give that person a $100 Rockler gift card.

Are you ready for your 15 minutes of fame?

Rob Johnstone, Woodworker’s Journal

What Size Lathe Should You Buy?

What is the best lathe for your workshop? Choosing the best lathe depends on what types of woodturning projects you like to make. If you only turn pens, then a mini lathe is the perfect choice. But if you want to turn large bowls, then you’ll need a full-size lathe. Ernie Conover shows you the basic features and benefits of mini lathes, midi lathes and full-size lathes.

Turning Acrylic Blanks with Negative Rake Carbide Turning Tools

Interest in turning plastic and resin-based materials has exploded in the past several years, but the hard and brittle nature of these turning blanks makes them more challenging to turn than many wood species. Turning tools with negative rake cutters make it easier to turn these hard materials. The term “negative rake” refers to the shape of the cutting angle of the carbide. Basically, the cutting tool slopes away from the cutting edge, which means safer, smoother and more continuous cuts in those very hard materials. Easy Wood Tools Negative Rake Replacement Cutters use that technology to make shaping man-made materials like resins and acrylics, but also very hard woods.

From Our Sponsor

Take a spin through our skill builder video and see how many parts of a lathe you recognize, and how many new ones you can learn! You’ll TURN yourself into a lathe guru in no time!

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