Running Dog Woodworking

Teardrop Pepper Mills

These are my Teardrop Pepper Mills.  They are turned on three axis.  The front of the blank is sawn off, turned, and then glued back onto the rest of the blank to produce the curve at the front of the mill.  The two long sides are turned using a therming process.

Lately I have been spending a lot of time trying to work the wrinkles out of the therming process.  This process involves mounting several workpieces on a plate or drum mounted on a lathe.  You can then make a multi-sided object by turning one side at a time and then flipping the workpieces.  Ok, that explanation is pretty hard to figure out, so one of these days I’m going to write an article explaining it.   This isn’t a new method.  I learned it from Art Liestman, and I think it has been around for a long time.

Welcome to my blog.  I don’t know how often I’m going to be able to post to this thing, but I have great ambitions, so we’ll see how it goes.

I am a full time production woodturner, who occasionally delves into the artsy, but mostly makes utilitarian things for the kitchen.  I have been at this full time for over a year, and for several years before that part time, but I still consider myself a relative newcomer to the field.  With this blog I intend to post notes on my methods, as well as pictures of new work as I do it.  Most of my methods will be old hat to experienced woodturners, but I have developed a few wrinkles which I think work well, so hopefully there will be something here even for old hands.  I worked as a mechanical and process engineer for 20 years before quitting to do this full time, so I am always analyzing my methods and trying to find better ways of doing things.  I am hoping to learn something from this blog as well, so please do comment if you think there is a better way than mine.

Thanks for your attention.