[ Power saw whirring ] [ Mid-tempo music plays ] It's time for another episode of "The Woodsmith Shop."

On today's show, we're turning over the keys to the shop to woo turner Jimmy Clewes.

He's gonna show you the techniques and tools he uses for his signature platters and bowls.

It's time to start turning.

Announcer: Major funding for "The Woodsmith Shop" has been provided by... Old Masters -- offering wood stains and finishes for the woodworking enthusiast and professional.

And by... Kreg -- from the first cut to the final assembly, providing woodworkers with products that help to simplify woodworking challenges.

Kreg.

Additional funding provided by... Titebond Wood Glues -- the pro's advantage.

And by... ♪♪ ♪♪ And by... Inventables -- tools for designing and building your products.

Inventables.com.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Well, Jimmy, welcome to our shop.

Thank you very much, mate.

So I've had the pleasure of watching you turn a number of times, and it's always been a pleasure.

What are you gonna turn for us today?

Okay, today we're going to do a colored-rim platter.

Okay.

I've got a fabulous piece of maple here.

The grain is just unbelievable.

And that's exactly what we want to show off the process of what I'm going to do next.

Gotcha.

So what type of tools are you going to use as you turn this?

Well, actually, very few, actually.

We are going to use repeats of tools.

I've got two 1/2-inch bowl gouges, both sharpened up, so I can just flip from one to the other instead of having to break off and sharpen.

Two smaller bowl gouges, 3/8 bowl gouges.

One is for finishing cut and the other one is ground with a micro-bevel to do the undercoat on the rim.

Sure.

Standard parting tool.

We'll use that on the foot for the recess.

And then this tool here, little potting tool, again sharpened at an angle, which will actually cut the recess for us.

Oh, nice.

So that makes it easy to match up to the job.

Absolutely.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Awesome.

So I see you've already marked the center of your blank, and that's something I always struggle with when I'm trying to mount something is finding center.

So can you show us real quick how you find the center of a blank that's already cut round?

Again, dead simple, mate.

All you have to do is set your dividers to just less than the radius and you would strike four arcs -- one there, go opposite, one there.

Go to here, one there, and then one there.

And where the arcs cross -- Yeah, where the arcs cross, you can just draw from that corner to that corner and that will find the center for you.

Gotcha.

So that makes it pretty easy.

Absolutely.

So now, I think let's head over to the lathe, because I'm interested to see how you're going to hold this to start turning it.

Excellent.

Excellent.

Okay, mate, let's go.

So I see you already have a worm screw chucked in the chuck, so obviously that's how you're gonna hold it.

Absolutely.

So what do you need to do to get that ready?

Well, first of all, we need to drill the hole.

Okay.

Be vigilant that you don't get the wrong size drill and that the threads won't grip and they're too loose.

Okay, sure, and the depth also matters.

Absolutely.

Put a little bit of tape on there.

To be honest, what you really need to ensure, if we were to put the blank there, the drill has to be -- the hole has to be longer than the screw.

If it's shorter than the screw, it's going to bottom out and strip the threads.

So make sure you drill the right depth.

And when you are screwing it onto the piece, make sure it's tight up against the jaws, so there's no harm on it, no vibration.

Awesome.

You want to go ahead and get that mounted?

Absolutely.

So just drill the hole here.

That should be fine.

Now, what I'm going to do is there's a lot of screws sticking out there.

I don't need that much screws, so I'm going to put a spacer on.

The other advantage of that, it gives me a larger surface area for the blank to support itself, as well.

Sure.

So I'll put that on there.

We will screw this onto here.

Find the hole.

And that's going on nicely.

Try and hold the piece square so that it's not at an angle and it'll settle there nicely.

Perfect.

So just get that tight.

We can lock the spindle on this, so we can just get a little bit extra purchase, and as I say, it has to be tight up against those jaws.

That is starting to resist.

And you do that to avoid vibration, right?

Absolutely.

If there's a slight gap between the face of the jaws and the piece of wood, there could be a 30-second, you will hear and feel a vibration when you're making the cut.

Okay, perfect.

So now that that's mounted, what are the first couple of cuts you're going to make on here?

The first cut is I want to true it up.

So I'm going to do a push cut across there.

We're going to move the tool rest to the front.

I'm going to do a cut across here.

And then we're going to start and mock and form the recess.

Once we know where the recess is, we can then decide how much wood we've got left to put the shape in.

And we're going to put a nice ogee shape into this.

The ogee shape is a very aesthetically pleasing curve to look at, and it's a great curve to feel as well.

It's very ergonomic.

Awesome.

Alright.

Well, I'm going to step away, let you go ahead and get after it, and then we'll come back when we're looking at how to create that ogee curve.

Alright, mate.

Alright, perfect.

See you in a minute.

Jimmy: Okay, so we have the piece settled in the lathe.

The first thing I'm going to do, as I mentioned earlier, is I'm going to do a push cut.

Speed-wise, I'm going to turn it right down and take it up to the speed that I want.

I think that's much safer.

Rather than forget it's on 3,000 after you turned the pen.

Switch this on.

You'll know about it.

So turn that slow.

You can see the wood slightly out of round, unbalanced, we'll tool all that up.

So speed-wise, 400, 800.

A little bit of vibration there.

So I'm just going to turn that speed down to get rid of the vibration.

I would rather turn at a slower speed than a fast speed without the vibration.

So pick the cut up.

When I'm making that cut, I'm actually looking at the profile.

I can see exactly what I'm cutting when I'm cutting it.

Just make sure that's round.

Not quite.

I can feel a little flat on there.

One more cut.

Perfect.

That's nice and flat now.

We're going to move the tool rest round to here, and I'm going to do a draw cut to clean off the base where the foot, or the recess, is going to be the holding point, basically.

So, again, if you were to look, I'm just dropping the tool rest down.

When I put the tool on the tool rest, the tip wants to be right on the center line.

So that's perfect.

And maybe you'll get the speed a little faster now that it's balanced up.

Yes, absolutely.

1,200.

I've got that up to 1,600.

It's going to cut much more efficiently.

We'll just switch that off, and we'll be able to see what the grain is like.

Wow, look at that.

Unbelievably figured piece of wood.

This is going to work perfect for what I want to do.

So now we're going to measure for the recess, measure for the foot, and then, after I've done that, I'm going to show you how to cut the ogee shape into the back.

So I see now that you have this to where you could flip it around.

You could do, yes.

But because it's in this orientation, you might as well start on the outside, right?

Well, that would be the logical thing to do, because when you flip that around, you wouldn't have access to this side, so you're better off completely finishing this side and sand it and finish it, and then flip it.

Gotcha.

So how are you going to approach this ogee shape?

Okay, simple geometry.

I've got two reference lines here.

The first one is to show me where the blank is, where it's true.

We've got excess wood on this side.

This is a reference to where I want the ogee to go.

It will finish it at an 1/8, but I've got more wood than I need.

I divide this into thirds, so you got -- yeah, it'll be thirds.

But what we actually want is 2/3rds and 1/3rd.

I'm going to move the tool rest to here, parallel to those two points.

I'm going to turn a flat.

Then I'm going to put a curve into it from that point to that point.

Then I'm going to put the halfway line on and I'm going to blend that curve into that curve.

They will meet at the inflection point, and that will form a beautiful ogee.

Gotcha.

So that nice, smooth sine wave is -- Basically a sine wave.

That's exactly what it is.

It's basically a sine wave.

Awesome.

Then after you have that ogee done, are you going to -- You said you were gonna sand.

Absolutely.

Sand it, finish it, then the job's done.

You don't have to go back to it later.

It's all done, ready for us to turn it around, fond the rim, and do the coloring.

Perfect.

Love to see how you do this.

Excellent, mate.

See you in a minute.

That is some nice wood, huh?

Oh, man, unbelievably, absolutely unbelievable.

You'll probably see, as I'm putting this oil on, that the grain -- it's just popping that grain.

Yeah.

Absolutely stunning.

You can see the depth of the wood, the depth in it.

And when I've covered this completely, let's give it a nice light coat.

As I turn that, you can see the grain shimmer.

The word for that is [Speaks French] derived from two French words, le chat, which is cat, and les yeux, which are eyes.

so literally translated, that means cat's eyes.

Sure, 'cause it's shimmery.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

And that's absolutely stunning.

Stunning piece of wood.

And it just looks really deep, doesn't it?

That grain, it looks really deep.

So at this point, you're ready.

The back's finished.

That's it.

We've got the shape.

We've got the holding point.

We've got the ogee, nice ogee, 50/50, like a since wave, as you said earlier.

So now we're going to flip it over, holding the chalk in the recess.

Prepare the rim for coloring.

Okay, so you're gonna start with the rim.

What are you going to do to lay that out?

Mark at the rim.

I usually make the rim about a third of the radius, and that gives us a bit of wood so we can actually see the coloring rather than just a thin strip on the edge.

Sure.

You wouldn't see that grain and the effectiveness of the coloring.

So is it gonna be flat or you gonna put a curve in the rim or you gonna -- The rim will be curved.

Nobody wants to feel a flat.

I like a curve going into the piece.

Sure.

That does two things -- aesthetically, it draws you in, and ergonomically, it draws you in.

When you give it to somebody, watch their thumbs.

They'll go like this on the rim.

You give it to them -- "Oh, that's lovely."

Okay, perfect.

So I'll go and step away.

I want to see this.

Alright, mate.

Jimmy, that's a pretty smooth finish you have on that.

It has to be.

Not only does it have to be smooth, but it has to be flawless.

No scratches.

If there's any heavy scratches from the first abrasive, when you put the color on, it'll be drawn to those scratches and it'll stick out like a sore thumb.

So it's got to be flawless -- no tear-out, no scratches -- in order for those colors to work to the best of their ability.

Gotcha.

And I noticed you're power sanding.

Is that the way you prefer to sand most of your stuff?

I do actually.

Hand sanding, you have high points on your fingers, and they can follow the grain.

The beauty -- excuse me -- the beauty of a power sander is that that soft pad will give to the shape of the curve and sand it much more evenly than doing it with your fingers.

The piece is running, the drill is running, and it just sands faster for you as well.

Gotcha.

So what's your coloring process for this?

Do you use stains?

Do use an alcohol-based analine dye?

It's actually an alcohol-based analine dye.

Gotcha.

And the colors that I'm using, it's basically like watercoloring on a piece of wood.

Watercolor painting on a piece of wood.

So let's go and watch this process.

I think this'll be kind of cool because this isn't something we do all the time.

So what I'm going to do is put the darker color on first, which is the royal blue.

Okay.

Don't be shy with this.

Get it right into the grain.

So this is going to be a two-color process is what you're implying.

Absolutely.

So basically what I'm going to do is I'm going to put the dark blue on.

I'm then going to sand it back so that the lighter areas on this become more lighter.

And if I was just to explain, here, for example, that dark area, anywhere where it's dark, the grain is sticking up like that.

So it penetrates down.

Absolutely.

So when we sand that back, the lighter areas are more flat.

They'll show up.

And when we put the teal blue on, we'll get the combination of the two blues, which look really, really good.

Oh, cool.

So that's that layering watercolor type of finish you're talking about.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

And I see now why you finish the rim and leave that center in.

It's not only for stability, but it's also so you get a good clean line, because if you did finish the inside of the platter -- Or start turn it, yeah.

It'd be really hard to keep color out of it.

And to keep that line nice and shape.

Sure.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

So let me just pop that there.

All we have to do now is just give it a minute or two to dry.

I'm just going to switch it on.

It'll take two ticks to do this, and then I'm going to sand back -- I'm going to sand less there and more there because I want the colors to fade out from light to dark.

It gives you that bit more variation.

Now, in these colors, there is 5% shellac mixed in, which acts as a binder to the alcohol.

The color to the -- helps bind the color to the alcohol.

So when you're sanding, you may find that some of the shellac will come off onto the pad and clog it up, just work through it and you'll get to the surface without the shellac.

Everything will be good.

Gotcha.

So we're just going to sand this.

Just to stop that, you see the shellac on the surface.

I do.

That would, uh...

I can see it's starting to lighten up.

It's darker there, fading out in the middle, and getting lighter to the outside.

Sure.

That was a 240 grit.

It's going to sand quicker to get to where I want to be, but you have to finish with the fine grit, 400.

Okay.

What we don't want is to sand this and leave scratches in it so that it would show the pick-up on the next color.

So just take some of the dust away from this.

That's going to work really, really nice.

With those light areas lightening up, you're going to see the teal blue much better.

If you didn't sand it, the two blues would just mix together and you'd just end up with a different-colored blue.

Sure.

But you will get a little mixture here, won't you?

Oh, yeah.

They will.

The analine dyes are going to blend and bleed in slightly, and sometimes what I've done is sprayed it with alcohol to get them to blend in as well.

Alcohol dries off very quickly.

So you be extremely creative with this.

Oh, absolutely.

You can't really get this wrong.

It either looks good or it doesn't look good.

Wow.

That teal blue just makes a huge difference.

It does actually emphasize that the [speaks indistinctly] But that contrast between the two blues -- I'm putting another coat on, because I'll get it slightly deeper.

Sure.

And it really shows off the figure of the wood.

Oh, pops the grain.

Absolutely wonderful.

Absolutely wonderful.

Wow.

Yeah, that looks great.

Fabulous.

So basically what we're going to do now, just as a little design thing, there's nothing to tie those colors in.

I'm going to put the tool rest here.

I'm going to get a black marker.

I'm going to put a black line around this edge.

Because it's slightly curved, when we look at this surface, you will see the faintest of black lines, which is just going to frame the coloring, tie everything in, and then we're going to start to hollow it out, sand it, and finish it, and I'm going to lacquer it at the end.

I'm going to spray lacquer it at the very end, and you'll see those colors just pop.

Awesome.

Alright.

Cool.

Looking forward to it.

Alright, mate.

You know, Jimmy, that turned out really, really nice.

So after you colored the rim, then it's down to some pretty basic hollowing.

Yeah, yeah.

So what are your steps for hollowing on this platter?

Well, first of all, because I want a nice, clean line there, we discussed earlier that I didn't hollow it out, because if you hollow it out and you get color down this edge, it's really difficult to get out.

So what it is -- what I did was I went in with the parting tool to establish a nice, clean cut.

That gave us a real sharp edge where the coloring is as a contrast to the bare wood, and then used the 1/2-inch bowl gouge and just push cuts into the middle.

I did use the micro-bevel gouge to get me a little clean cut around there.

Sure.

Okay, and then finish it off with the 1/2-inch bowl gouge.

Sure.

And now, that's one thing I think a lot of people struggle with, is getting a good, even curve on the inside of a bowl or a platter like this.

You always end up with a flat or a hump or a little extra deep area on the bottom.

Is that all just muscle memory and practice?

It's practice at the end of the day.

It's how how you feed the tool in, and the tool is going to cut wherever you place it.

Wherever you point it, it's going to cut there.

So, like anything else, whether it's flat woodwork or any type of carpentry or any hand-and-eye coordinat-- fly fishing, anything like that, eventually you'll get better with the tools and those shapes and forms will become second nature.

Exactly.

And one thing I really like about your platter design is even though it's a beautiful shape and it looks extremely complex, it really breaks down to some simple steps.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

We used, what, three or four tools on this.

And as I said, duplicates anyway.

So, no, you don't need a lot of tools to do it.

Basic set of tools.

Well, not even the basic set of tools for this.

It's a fairly simple form.

And I'm sure the majority of the guys who watch the video will be able to reproduce that.

Exactly.

And if you would like a free step -by-step plans on turning one of Jimmy's platters, they're available on our website WoodsmithShop.com.

Well, Jimmy, it's been great having you here in the shop.

It's been a blast watching a master at work.

Oh, brilliant.

I had a blast.

So I think that a lot of guys are going to find this useful.

Lot of turners or aspiring turners will find it useful, and I hope they give it a try.

I'm sure -- they should do.

Hey, I've had a great time.

Thank you very much, indeed.

Absolutely.

One of the great things of having a lathe in your shop is that you can use it to add custom touches to your other furniture projects or make something start-to-finish right at the lathe.

On today's episode, Jimmy Clewes showed us a few tips and techniques to be able to improve your skills.

If you'd like to learn more about using your lathe and some ideas for some projects, you'll find some information at our website, WoodsmithShop.com.

There, you'll also find project plans, videos, tips, and more.

And then you can join us right back here for another episode of "The Woodsmith Shop."

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ If you'd like to get more video tips and techniques, sign up for the free weekly Woodsmith eTip.

Every week, you'll receive an e-mail with a video tip to get more out of your table saw, router table, and more.

Sign up at WoodsmithShop.com.

Everything in today's show comes from the newly expanded Woodsmith Guild Edition with shop projects, plans, tips, and techniques.

To get a free preview issue of the Woodsmith Guild Edition and a free Woodsmith book, go to WoodsmithShop.com.

In addition, past seasons of "The Woodsmith Shop" are available on DVD, or you can watch them online from your computer, tablet, or mobile device.

For more information, go to WoodsmithShop.com.

Announcer: Major funding for "The Woodsmith Shop" has been provided by... Old Masters -- offering wood stains and finishes for the woodworking enthusiast and professional.

And by... Kreg -- from the first cut to the final assembly, providing woodworkers with products that help to simplify woodworking challenges.

Kreg.

Additional funding provided by... Titebond Wood Glues -- the pro's advantage.

And by... ♪♪ ♪♪ And by... Inventables -- tools for designing and building your products.

Inventables.com.