Richard Raffan completes a nested pair of Tasmanian blackwood bowls.

[@MarklTucson]

Always a wealth of technique information watching you turn. Really appreciate seeing how you fix things when something goes wrong -- that's very helpful. Beautiful bowls with wonderful grain -- I knew the grain was going to be spectacular when you polished to 400 grit.

[@LuannYoumans-ec5fc]

I'm definitely a fan. Absolutely beautiful bowls .😊

[@annlaurie1484]

They certainly are beautiful, both the shape and the wood of course. 😊

[@kaybee2300]

Beautiful bits of wood

[@borisfurlan9792]

Beautiful grain on those exquisite little bowls. As usual, a pleasure to watch and learn from. Thank you

[@johnnyb95678]

Beautifully done! I always enjoy watching you work and really appreciate you sharing your expertise. Thank you!

[@DiemenDesign]

Very nice as always RIchard, thanks for sharing. Was enjoyable watching with a Cup of Tea and some biscuits this afternoon during the rain here in Tasmania.

[@DavidBird-uu8km]

Very nice, the color and grain are beautiful.

[@frenchcreekvalley]

I think you do a better job than anybody of explaining how you apply the tool.

[@johnlavarine8155]

As always, beautiful creations Richard!

[@STMwoodturning]

Beautiful grain and color in those bowls!

[@StevenCapaldi-xk7ef]

So enjoy watching you turn

[@WhoGnu08]

Beautiful, simply beautiful.

[@pigeonmanof180]

Gorgeous. Well done.

[@glennnord2605]

Very nice looking bowls as always .

[@glencrandall7051]

Excellent work, as usual. Thank you for sharing. Have a great 2025 and stay safe.🙂🙂

[@PJSeiber]

Always a very enjoyable video. You da man!❤

[@Penqueen2010]

Perfect as always

[@markduggan3451]

Very impressive.

[@tonyb2760]

Beautiful wood

[@josephpotterf9459]

Thanks very nice turn

[@totterdell91]

very nice Richard

[@SteveWagner-re8bn]

Once again you are truly a master. Question how do you soften your wax? ratio

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

This lump is about 20% boiled linseed oil.

[@feedthechunk9836]

Well it's nice to see that someone with 55+ years of turning experience still gets catches. Just goes to show that no matter your experience it happens to the best. Granted us newbees seem to get a lot more, well I do anyway. I'd love to hear more about tool rest heights and where it should be for different cuts.

[@coskunturkoglu9740]

Hi good job ...

[@kerryc4556]

A couple of the things that I have learned from your videos is to go light and slow.

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

Yes - go light and steady, letting the wood come to the tool.

[@dotchronium7563]

Hi Richard I was just curious what grit do you sharpen your gouges to? Thanks.

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

I generally use edges straight off an 80-grit CBN wheel. I often hone scrapers rather than go to the grinder and can hone gouges about to be used as shear scrapers.

[@dotchronium7563]

@@RichardRaffanwoodturning Thanks Richard

[@kenvasko2285]

Would you sell these as a 3 bowl set? If you do, is it a concern the 3 have similar yet different shapes?

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

It doesn't concern me one iota the bowls are totally different. Everything I make will be sold, so I'm open to offers on the three or as individuals.

[@michaellebo5257]

Richard, where did you get the coring tool you use? I would like to get one like that. The other coring tools here in the US are very expensive.

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

I've had this Stewart System Slicer for 40 years. Sorby used to make one similar.

[@DiemenDesign]

The McNaughton set comes with a straight cutter, which can be used to do the same thing.

[@darrylcrum2495]

Richard, one of my family names is Blackwood and I want to make something from blackwood. Is it a hard wood, like red elm?

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

This is Tasmanian blackwood, Acacia melanoxylon. The quality and colour depends very much on where it's grown. I prefer the richer brown grown on red basalt, and avoid the paler light yellowish brown that's prone to checking if too much heat is generated when sanding.

[@SlaveToTheLathe]

Leadwood and Tamboti are really dark woods.

[@DonaldChilders-k3b]

Send them right on to me