My turning with Lyn’s ceramic insert

I have been turning olive wood recently- it’s got a lovely smell when turning and produces a beautiful grain result.

During a holiday in Helsinki we saw a local woodturning with a central insert and Lyn said to me why don’t you do that?

As Lyn is a potter she offered and made several porcelain discs and decorated them for me. Problem with ceramic is by the time you fire twice in the kiln at over 1000 degrees the disc tends to warp and slightly change shape.

The woodturning is straight forward but making a recess in the bottom of a bowl needs to ensure one leaves it fairly thick – First bowl was too thin – oops!  

The bread board / cheese board is 1” thick and 13.5” diameter and it’s the maximum diameter my lathe can take. Held on a friction pad to clean the base and create a recess holding with a decorative central feature.

The edge and face then turned to finish – finished to 600 grit and finish with tung oil ( food safe ) but olive oil or rapeseed oils would be fine I am told. Trouble is it looks to beautiful to cut onto!

The beehive image below is made using a screen print on a porcelain disc.

The items however below are popular in my family as it combines both myself and Lyn’s craft work.

Vish Kini