The Woodturning Forum - Woodturner's Resource

Jennifer Hasan Active Member Offline WR Rocks! Posts: 232 Beacon, ny New York USA	Other turning materials Mar 29^th, 2015 at 9:10pm Just wondering what other natural materials, aside from wood, are good to turn. I know of alabaster, banksia pods, tagua nuts, antlers, alternative ivory and buffalo horn from searching on woodturning sites. Anything else that might be intersting to turn? Thanks, Jenn
Back to top	IP Logged

Register To Remove Ads

Austin McClune WR Noob Offline WR Rocks! Posts: 6	Re: Other turning materials Reply #1 - Mar 29^th, 2015 at 10:21pm I've seen someone turn a pumpkin for Halloween.
Back to top	IP Logged

Guy Bratt WR Addict Offline WR Rocks! Posts: 940 Richmond Michigan USA Gender: Robust American Beauty Rikon 70-100	Re: Other turning materials Reply #2 - Mar 29^th, 2015 at 10:51pm I've turned paralam beam sections. They make a neat thatched roof for small bird houses. It's tough on tool edges. i turned a bowl from it but I wasn't to satisfied with that result.
Back to top	Old, Fat,n Ugly...I shed 100 pounds this year. Still old. Still ugly. But what can you do at this age? You know? If you knew me you'd see my avatar and I really look a lot alike. IP Logged

Louie Powell

WR Addict

Offline

Posts: 955

Saratoga Springs
New York
USA
Gender: male

PSI 12" Turncrafter Commander

Re: Other turning materials
Reply #3 - Mar 30^th, 2015 at 6:47am

I once turned a garden dibble from Trex decking - the artificial material made from sawdust and recycled milk bottles.

And I have several tools and fittings in the shop that I turned from HDPE.

And if you are interested, Robbie the Woodturner (in Ireland) posted a YouTube on Christmas day in which he celebrated the holiday by turning a bowl from a turnip.

Back to top

Louie

IP Logged

Larry Matchett WR Addict Offline Be One with your Tool! Posts: 1,588 Gulf Coast, Mississippi Mississippi USA Gender:	Re: Other turning materials Reply #4 - Mar 30^th, 2015 at 7:42am Aluminum turns well as well as many composite materials such as Corian and Quartz. You can turn anything that is softer then the tool.
Back to top	IP Logged

Robert Grady

Full Member

Offline

WR Rocks!

Posts: 82

Union
South Carolina
USA
Gender: male

Re: Other turning materials
Reply #5 - Mar 30^th, 2015 at 8:12am

I can remember years ago using a hole saw to drill holes in Plexiglas scraps. The doughnuts that were produced were stacked onto a threaded rod with a nut and washer on each end to tighten them together. Chuck it up and turn it round. Buff it to the desired level of transparency. Makes a beautiful handle for things. To alter the appearance, we would sometimes drill doughnuts from thin plastic like bleach jugs, liquid laundry soap, etc. to add a little color to the sections. We used to call that recycling, now I think it's called repurposing. Mostly it's just using what you have on hand.

Back to top

IP Logged

Al Wasser WR Addict Offline WR Rocks! Posts: 626 Pueblo West, CO Colorado USA Gender: Robust American Beauty	Re: Other turning materials Reply #6 - Mar 30^th, 2015 at 10:02am Corian turns well
Back to top	IP Logged

Tim Hyatt

WR Addict

Offline

WR Rocks!

Posts: 624

Charleston WV
West Virginia
USA
Gender: male

Re: Other turning materials
Reply #7 - Mar 30^th, 2015 at 12:41pm

Pakka wood comes in a wide variety of colors and combinations, and is completely impregnated with resins so it's pretty consistent throughout. Little difficult find in larger pieces though, most often you see it as knife handle scales, though i've seen some as pen blanks on a few supply sites....

Would love to find some large enough to make bowls or boxes with....

Soapstone and catlinite (aka pipestone) would probably turn well, though any stone, regardless of how soft, is going to be pretty hard on tools and edges. Also, the dust from stone is going to be as much, if not more dangerous than wood dust. (Silicosis is a nasty thing to deal with..)

Back to top

IP Logged

Register To Remove Ads

Richard Pyle

Active Member

Offline

Carpe Lignum

Posts: 154

Oklahoma City
Oklahoma
USA
Gender: male

Re: Other turning materials
Reply #8 - Mar 30^th, 2015 at 1:49pm

I'm working on a technique to use recycled HDPE (milk jugs and other containers). You can mix in diff colors or do solid colors. Turns very easily & you can reuse the shavings. I have had some problems with it snapping off where two diff pieces meet if they don't get melted together. Now I'm trying to grind it up first before melting.

Back to top

IP Logged

Don Bunce Senior Member Offline WR Rocks! Posts: 256 Valparaiso Indiana USA	Re: Other turning materials Reply #9 - Mar 30^th, 2015 at 2:42pm Making curly fries on the lathe is fun. Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!! You need to or Cindy Drozda has turned cauliflower. Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!! You need to or
Back to top	« Last Edit: Mar 30^th, 2015 at 2:45pm by Don Bunce » IP Logged

Buck Nemitt WR Addict Offline Lovin It Posts: 657 Toronto,Ohio Ohio USA Gender:	Re: Other turning materials Reply #10 - Mar 30^th, 2015 at 6:02pm The original post mentioning Alabaster caught my attention. I was amazed once at the work Northern Italians do with Alaster which involved turning. Saw it once on a documentary about Italy and I was truly impressed for sure.
Back to top	What the heck,Give it a try--- IP Logged

JimQuarles WR Addict WR Patron Offline WR Rocks, BIG Time! Posts: 13,194 Glendale, AZ Arizona USA Gender:	Re: Other turning materials Reply #11 - Mar 30^th, 2015 at 11:57pm If you look at Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!! You need to or work in our Gallery, you will see several fine alabaster and calcite pieces. He was turning them using worn out Easy Wood carbide inserts for the rough work.
Back to top	Mentor Basics, Pens, small stuff, Acrylics, EasyRougher. Just Turnin' Around! Glendale, AZ "Right now I'm having amnesia and deja vu at the same time. I think I've forgotten this before." - Steven Wright IP Logged

robo_hippy

WR Addict

Offline

Posts: 3,638

Eugene, OR
USA

Re: Other turning materials
Reply #12 - Mar 31^st, 2015 at 12:46am

There are a number of different 'paper' particle board type products out there, and they come in a rainbow of colors. Mostly glue/binder which can dull tools. It does glue and cut nicely. I had some which was similar to MDF, with the top 1/16 inch very dense, and the center more open. I think it has been improved. I have some 'Dakota Burl' which is another particle board material made from the husks of sun flower seeds. Interesting. Very open grained. A friend makes bottle stoppers from it. Bamboo laminates are available too. You can get solid vertical grain which would glue together nicely for spindle and/or hollow forms, but it is on the expensive side. I am thinking that the synthetic marble that was put around my bath tub could be turned. It is colored powder in a polymer base. I also saw some small pieces from an auto painting place of the build up in the paint booth. Lots of rainbow colors. I am sure there are more...

robo hippy

Back to top

IP Logged

Gene Luby Full Member Offline I love YaBB 1G - SP1! Posts: 85 Tuckerton,NJ New Jersey USA Gender:	Re: Other turning materials Reply #13 - Mar 31^st, 2015 at 6:15am Dried automotive paint ( Fordite) looks interesting, a few videos on you tube, and can buy on Ebay, not cheap
Back to top	« Last Edit: Mar 31^st, 2015 at 10:15am by Gene Luby » IP Logged

Rob Grindler Senior Member Offline Posts: 302 kelowna British Columbia Canada Gender:	Re: Other turning materials Reply #14 - Mar 31^st, 2015 at 11:28am I have turned many pieces from OSB board. Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!! You need to or
Back to top	IP Logged