Mimosa wood goblets

[TellicoTurning]

A friend gave me the trimmings from his Mimosa tree when he cut it away from his cistern... some of the trunks were as much as 6 inches at the base... most were much smaller... I used some of the mid sized trunks to turn a couple of wood goblets that I showed on my website and subsequently sold at one of the Farmer's Market shows I did in downtown Knoxville.

Long story shortened... I had an email from a lady who wanted to know if I could make more... I looked and had more good wood and said I could try to duplicate the ones shown sold on my website...(duplication isn't my strong suit)... she wants 10 of the goblets...

Here is the first... turned, sanded through 400 grit and waiting for finish... only 9 more to go....

 

[paps]

Excellent turns and some very interesting wood. First one reminds me of mesquite...well sort of.

 

[holmqer]

Nice looking so far, but like you say duplication is the trick. That first one always looks just like itself!

 

[TellicoTurning]

Excellent turns and some very interesting wood. First one reminds me of mesquite...well sort of.

These are two sides of the same goblet... the wood is much lighter weight than mesquite and fairly pourous... I've had this a year or two, so it's pretty dry... I had it in my wood pile and just covered with a tarp... I think it will all turn out fine, just have to be able to duplicate the turnings...

 

[michael j flett]

i am trying to turn some goblets but having trouble with the inside, severe vibration and seems to take forever, any tips welcome

 

[bitshird]

Chuck the Goblet looks great, but if I'm not mistaken Mimosa has a toxin in it, I may be full of something but seems I read that it does, check the lists and see.

 

[TellicoTurning]

Ken,
Thanks for the concern... as best I could find on the interweb... the bark of the mimosa was used by the south american indians as a medicinal plant... one of the toxin links did mention it as a dust irritant ... I had no problems with it, but I also wore a mask when I sanded.

 

[TellicoTurning]

i am trying to turn some goblets but having trouble with the inside, severe vibration and seems to take forever, any tips welcome

Michael,
I kinda cheat a little on the insides... I bore them with a Forstner to near the final depth, then take a termite ring tool and clean them out to final thickness... leave your stems until after you've hollowed the inside, then I stuff it with paper towels and put the tail stock back up tight until I finish the stem and base.... I part it nearly all the way through before I remove the tailstock... then the last little nub I cut with a very thin home made parting tool.

 

[nava1uni]

Now that you have one done why not make a template/story board out of thick cardboard and use it to make your other goblets. It will give you much better accuracy then eyeballing it. I make story boards out of 1/8 ply if it is something I might want to make a lot of or repeat at some other time. This helps me a lot.

 

[TellicoTurning]

Now that you have one done why not make a template/story board out of thick cardboard and use it to make your other goblets. It will give you much better accuracy then eyeballing it. I make story boards out of 1/8 ply if it is something I might want to make a lot of or repeat at some other time. This helps me a lot.

Actually I have all 10 of them done... I didn't use the story board, but probably should have... they're all pretty close in shape and thickness... not exact, but close. Just waiting now for the buyer to get back to me with payment.