After reading about using a skew chisel to turn beads and having a semi-new JET VS midi lathe,trying the skew chisel seemed like a good idea. Turning some more magic wands for kids in the neighborhood would be perfect practice. Finally I could turn the handle and the wand at the same time. Some douglas fir from a 2x4 stud, some redwood, a little maple and a piece of walnut and it was go time.
It's amazing how time really does fly when you're having fun. The seven turned wands below represent two elapsed days of turning - and finishing. It's the waiting for things to dry that eats up time. But I got to try Maloofs oil and wax finish, garnet and blonde shellac and a yellow wax of "orange oil and carnuba" that has the consistency of thick vaseline. Also tried a little charring - propane torch , then wire brushing and finally burnishing with an agate burnishing tool left over from my days making jewelry.
Here's the charred, wire brushed and burnished wand - in redwood. Redwood has both fairly hard and very soft grain, the latter charring quick and deep. Next time I'm going to skip applying the oil and wax finish before charring. Made the wire brushing messy and ground soot into the soft grain - which I wanted lighter than the hard grain.
