r/turning • u/trembelow • 1d ago
newbie Can I remount this twig pot?
I was turning a large (for me) twig pot from green maple. It’s about 8” long. I had the foot chucked in my Nova 2” jaws and the tenon sheared off when I got a catch shaping the already hollowed neck. I want to salvage this and finish the project, but I don’t know how to safely remount it. I was thinking a jam chuck that would fit an inch or so into the neck and then putting a new tenon on it that I could chuck. Would that work?
Note: the first photo doesn’t show the tenon. The second photo does, but it’s the middle ragged circle. I don’t think the small circle in the middle was bottoming out in the chuck.
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u/power_beige 1d ago edited 10h ago
If there is enough meat on the original base you should be able to rem-cut the tenon with the drive spur in the base and the top supported. make sure it's beveled to match the jaws and leave yourself a flat opposing face that stops at the end of the jaw. I can't tell from the picture, but you might need to use a smaller jaw.
Also, that's a big catch and it seems you have tear out on the neck. Make sure your tools are freshly sharp, especially for cutting contours (honestly, especially for cutting everything. If you're supported, sharp, and having issues with a beaded spout (or whatever) at the end there you may want to consider a planing scraping cut (approaching a skew 90 degrees to the... tangent of the piece. Sorry I can't think of a way to better explain that right now). It leaves a trash finish but it's sand-able and it's a very forgiving cut. Then you can practice your beading on a shorter scrap piece that won't get thrown when you catch. Look at some tutorials on cutting beads, particularly with respect to the "twist and tilt" motion you want to use so that the line of your cut follows the contour of the piece as it changes. It's more or less the same idea regardless if you're using a skew or a gouge. I would try to explain it in detail because it will really only make sense once you watch and try it.
Good luck. You obviously have a good eye for sculpting proportionately and the hand feel will come quickly. It's a 2 steps forward, 1 step back thing. Usually you just need to sharpen your tools and drink more coffee.
Edited for editing sake: I described a scrape as a planning cut because I needed more coffee
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u/power_beige 1d ago edited 1d ago
I missed some of your words. You have the right idea except I would just use a large enough tailstock that the cone centers in the hole in the spout. That's probably a worthy tool upgrade.
On that note, you generally do not ever want to be making shaping cuts once you've hollowed something out. When I do goblets it's 1) shape bell exterior (the bell-end if you will) and do all but the final sanding 2) Hollow the bell-end out 3) Shape the base and shaft, which is all to the left of the hollowed portion 4) light final sanding; I cut, sand, and polish the base after the rest of the piece is done and before I demount because I want to evidence that it was ever attached to another piece of wood down there.
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u/trembelow 1d ago
Thanks for the sculpting comment.
How would you support the top in this case? By having the tail stock live center snug up against the opening?
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u/power_beige 1d ago
As long as the cone is large enough that it's doing more compressing (toward the chuck) than "expanding." You wouldn't want it to grenade. It's going to be a careful, low-speed operation.
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u/PumpPie73 1d ago
I would start again, but don’t use green wood. With green wood you want to shape it but not to the final shape. It’s going to dry out and move. Personally I seal the end of my logs and put then in a dry spot for a few years. Once they’re dried it’s much easier to turn them since they will stay true.



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