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woodezine - Volume
III - Issue III - March 2005
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Turner of the Month
Sponsored by The World's Best Saw Blades
Darrell Feltmate
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Darrell Feltmate is a part-time woodturner who hopes to give back to the woodturning community "some of what I have learned and am learning." And that is precisely why we chose Darrell as our Turner of the Month. In addition to being a talented and accomplished craftsman, he goes out of his way to encourage and help his peers. At left, Darrell stands in front of his Record bowl lathe (three speeds, no variable speed), with a maple burl mounted and a piece of spalted birch in his hand. |
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Darrell's Web site is essentially an online tutorial, with lessons on every aspect of turning. He covers sharpening, sanding, making tools, gluing up blocks, roughing a bowl, finishing a bowl, preparing green wood, turning crotch wood, turning a hollow form and more. The vase at right was turned from a piece of spalted birch that was "left behind when the power company was cutting a right of way at my parent's cottage. While birch tends to be very white wood, the color and spalting in this piece is a result of fungal growth in the wood, and it gives the piece character that can not be duplicated. The vase is about 6" high and 3-1/2" wide. |
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| This square bowl (above) was turned in pin cherry and is 8.5" diagonally by 5-1/2" wide and 2" high. It was turned in Nova Scotia, Canada, where Darrell lives and pastors a small Baptist church. Several of his congregation work in the lumber or logging industry, and they've been known to provide him with burls and other wood. Darrell is a juried member of the New Brunswick Crafts Council and a member of the Nova Woodturners Guild, the Canadian Association of Woodturners, and the American Association of Woodturners. |
| This is a hollow form in yellow birch (above). "The difference between a vase and a hollow form to a woodturner," he says, "is somewhat nebulous. In general, a hollow form is turned with the orientation of a bowl but hollowed through a small opening, while vases are usually oriented with the grain running the same way the tree grew, and they have a larger opening. Like most things in woodturning, it is open to opinion and argument." He turned several of these pieces ranging around 4" in diameter and 3" high, although each has become distinctly oval during the drying process. |
| As he was cleaning the shop one day, he found a half log of ash and turned it with a natural edge (above). Some people call these "banana bowls", because of their distinctive shape. This one is about 9" long by 5" wide and 3" high. |
| "One of my peculiarities," Darrell says, "is the enjoyment I get from making many of my own tools." He hopes this may be helpful to some beginning turners. For example, he wanted a set of Cole Jaws for reverse turning bowl bottoms, but couldn't justify the price. So, he made a set of bottoming jaws (above), with which he is very pleased. For details and an illustrated step-by-step account of the process, visit his Web site. |
| One of the difficulties he has run into with more complicated hollow forms is the ability to reach deeply into certain areas, especially around the rim. After concluding that he needed an adjustable or articulated hollowing tool, he designed and built the version shown above. "Although it is subject to a bit of tweaking," he says, "it seems to be working well." Again, you can visit him online for a how-to tutorial in making this and several other tools. |
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