Latest experiment (In case anyone wondered what I was up to with the cardboard sphere):
All the slices of walnut and maple were cut on the glowforge (Big hat tip to @primal_healer for the recommendation of Slicer for Fusion 360)
Next time inlays??
Go big or go home?
(Frank Horworth, no laser…)
edit - laser would make the first one quite simple, I think?
I’m in awe!
looks great, though not sure i understand i totally get why a laser is needed if you have a lathe (other than just the fun of doing it of course)? does it save time over say having your wood slices start as squares?
Oh, wow. These are so lovely.
Do the sticks come out when the glue is dry? I have been wanting to learn to use the lathe in my makerspace, but didn’t get the chance before Covid.
Nice! I can see a full Bocce set in your future. 
I never tried to make a sphere with my lathe yet, but when I do, you can bet, now I’ll start with a laser cut “blank” Thanks.
Before I had a lathe I did make a couple of handles with Fusion360, Glowforge, and drill press combination.
duckpin bowling, anyone??
now you got me thinking about things i can do with my FIL and his lathe (if only he wasn’t a 7 hr drive away).
The laser slices save me a little bit of time and waste. It also makes alignment a lot easier for the next project which is inlay.
All the ones in the google photo album started off as squares. Not having to go through the Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk process of shaping down a square is a victory in my book.
The pie slices are pretty easy on a drop saw, but it can be unnerving to work on a big machine with tiny pieces. Also tedious as heck.
Cool shavings though…
That is amazingly cool.
Ooooo, neat! You have some cool tools.
Carefully done, the small bits could fit like a puzzle in the large ones, or even make it a box that would open 
That is beautiful. I know I would enjoy handling this, a work of art that demands to be touched.
They really do. Spheres like this always feel like something that should be wielded by wizards. There’s just something about them that says “pick me up.”
starting with circles would cut turning time by a huge amount. not to mention less rotating just makes it safer.
if you are in the Dunedin Florida area my Dad teaches turning classes.
Ok, what is the deal? I have had a large wood lathe for years (bequeathed by my grandfather) and I have not yet learned how to use it. I am off of work this week and next for quarantine purposes and have spent way more time than normal on YouTube, which has done nothing but feed me a steady supply of woodturning videos. Now I am getting lathe reminders from this forum too.
I get the hint. I guess I will be getting the lathe out and trying to figure out how to use it before I go back to work.
Dumb question, not knowing a thing about lathes, do you program it somehow to get the exact shape you want or do you have to eyeball it and hope for the best?
It’s very much an eyeball thing. There are jigs that help, but it’s not programable (Though I believe there are some lathes that are)
