Richard Raffan turns an olivewood bowl

This project didn't turn out as planned because of defects in the wood. Consequently you see how a form develops as defects are removed, and how design detail can be used to hold the bowl as it's hollowed. And there's some blood.

[@randycosgrove3608]

I saw this video for the first time some months ago. I'm essentially a self taught ( you tube inspired ) turner since there is no club readily available to me. As such I'd never really done beads before. The only way I'd seen them done was with a beading tool and that gives you only one size bead. And I'm way too cheap to buy a bunch of specialized beading tools that might get used once. Seeing the way you did them was a revelation to me. Now I've used them on several projects and they are not terribly hard to do. Once you showed me how! Thank you so much for the lessons. Although I hope that I can also take to heart your admonition to not cover everything in beads. Less is more.

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

Once you get the hang of minimal tool pressure against the wood and pivotting an edge through an arc there are endless possibilities for fine detailing. I'm delighted to have been of some help.

[@henniebasson515]

Glad you're back. Kind regards.

[@cudamank]

Has a fairly new turner, 3 years or so, I enjoy watching each of your videos. There is always something I see I want to try. And I have found out the hard way about that sharp edge. Lol.

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

Let's hope it's the last. The worst rim cuts are on the ends of your fingers....

[@chrisvos2721]

Robin Wood and yourself came across my videos and i was in bliss.

[@garyjanes2358]

Just this note to say that I started turning and read some of your books and watched some of your videos a decade or so ago…extremely helpful! Glad to see your skill on KZbin! Thank you. Thanks for not “over editing” so we can see the real side of turning.

[@raydriver7300]

What a lovely little bowl. I am surprised if a day goes by when I don’t cut myself or ruin my nails 🌞

[@Cigokar]

It amazes me every time how sharp you keep your gouges. As a woodturner I understand the need for it, but how you always seem to get through your pieces like butter is simply awe inspiring

[@Mortalis2]

I don't know how dried this piece was but, I believe Mr Raffan uses a lot of green wood. Green wood does cut like butter. It also clogs up the sanding paper rather quickly. I have always been envious of how his tools cut and especially how large a cut he can take. If I took cuts half as deep as he takes, especially on dried timber, my lathe would choke and stutter.

[@Cigokar]

@@Mortalis2 Oh yeah, green wood would certainly explain it, you're right. I've been running black walnut and box elder green wood for the last year, it does peel like an apple. I had just assumed since it's finished products (and he's amazing) that it was dry timber

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

This wood is bone dry and quite hard. Much of the speed of cutting is down to the precise angle of the cutting edge to the oncoming wood. Micro adjustments to angles and rotation of the tool can dramatically increase the size of the shaving and ease of cut. It helps to know what to expect by way of shavings from any particular wood.

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

@@Mortalis2 This wood is bone dry and quite hard.

[@DiemenDesign]

Thanks for sharing yet another great example of turning. Lovely little bowl too. It's good to exhibit how a project can change as it progresses as defects are found in the timber.

[@jontoolman]

Great turning and video!!

[@timbutler6006]

Wow 15 minutes to whip up a fabulous bowl. A real pleasure watching you work

[@davidcochran9322]

Beautiful wee bowl

[@victoryak86]

The olive grain pattern is so beautiful, accentuated by your masterful craftsmanship.

[@edwardchapman1914]

Thank you glad you found a camera man again. Love your turnings and demos, they are so matter of fact no nonsense.

[@bertdelisle393]

Hi Richard, good to see you are back to making videos. I always enjoy watching and learn / relearn something every time I watch. They bring back fond memories of the workshop weeks in Calgary in years past.

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

I always enjoyed my times at Black Forest.

[@Jams848484]

I don't know squat about wood turning but it's always a pleasure to see a master craftsman at work, whatever his craft may be.

[@jayscott306]

I learned a lot from watching your methods closely, Richard. Thank you for making more videos.

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

I'm glad to be of some benefit.

[@robohippy]

I had been trying to remember for sure who I learned the trick of drilling a recess from for mounting bowl blanks, and yup, it was you. A long time ago. Never had a chance to turn olive wood. Looks like it cuts beautifully.

[@MikeWaldt]

Brilliant bit of turning Richard, a joy to watch.

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

Thanks, Mike. Looks like I might have a permenant scar from that slice.

[@jude4896]

Nice piece thanks for sharing

[@kenvasko2285]

I think making a small bowl is as much work and much more fussy than making a large bowl. Design and proportions have to be just right. There is little room for error. Nice video. Appreciate you sharing your expertise.

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

You're spot on with your observations. The tolerances are finer the smaller you get, and grain need to be the right scale too.

[@kenvasko2285]

@@RichardRaffanwoodturning I'm curious, what got you into turning. What was that one moment that you said, "I'm going to turn wood for a living." I would love to know your story. Have you written a biography, yet? Do you have your first bowl? That would be fun to see.

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

​@@kenvasko2285 www.richardraffan.com.au/bio/ give you a quick rundown. I have started writing my story, but it all seems a bit self-indulgent, but people keep asking... I do have my first bowl, pencil pot, and some early scoops and boxes. I'll do a video.

[@kenvasko2285]

@@RichardRaffanwoodturning Looking forward to "Richard Raffan, In The Beginning"

[@hfbowerndesigns810]

Beautifully done Richard. I like the shape. Hard to beat the grains of Olive Take care Cheers Harold

[@burnleyize]

Good to see you back on! And thank you again for sharing your skill.

[@luvwud]

Beautiful little bowl Richard, your skill with your tools shows through I'd still be working on the outside when you have finished. Thanks for these videos plenty to be learnt. Cheers Geoff

[@DiemenDesign]

I find it interesting that Richard mostly uses a Spindle Gouge, even for cross grain work. But that's the sign of experience, personally I would use a Bowl Gouge, but that indicates the difference in experience.

[@joallawestervelt6918]

Beautiful. The grains are gorgeous. Awesome job 💕😊💕

[@beardedwoodpecker]

Wounded twice in the line of duty…but the result is an amazing bowl perfectly finished. Full view/Like/Subd All the best and happy turnings Yiannis aka Bearded woodpecker (Athens Greece)

[@glencrandall7051]

Even though not as planned it is still a quite nice little bowl. Olive almost always has a very nice figure and color. this one certainly does. 👍👍Thank you for sharing. Have a great day and stay safe. Try and keep the red stuff inside.😃

[@jackthompson5092]

Beautiful little bowl Richard.

[@MarklTucson]

A pleasure to watch. Very inspirational as well; we don’t have a lot of large wood available here in the Arizona desert, but small bowls like this from the wood we do have look very do-able

[@LewisKauffman]

Thank you!

[@DanielStewartWoodturning]

very nice video indeed! Thanks for making them all, they have taught me a bunch of useful information which no one else has taught

[@mickjulian7499]

I'm just in awe to be honest. Your use of (sharp) gouges is - - - well awesome!

[@benniegreen498]

Thank you for this lesson in turning, so much to take in!👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽

[@tricolorturners]

Very nice. Great to see you back on, RR.

[@jamescarter8813]

Thanks again for sharing your knowledge Richard.

[@jayemporia4516]

I have some olivewood kitchen ware that I absolutely loove! It's so beautiful as well as functional. Maybe some day I will get lucky and turn some wood. I got todo some in my 20s and I loved it.

[@DougMilleratWoodSpunRound]

Beautiful little bowl. I love olive to begin with. Then when the shape is so lovely it makes for a gorgeous piece. I would love to see a detail teaching of how you do that beading maneuver. That could be handy in many circumstances. Thank you for all your videos. I watch and save them all.

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

Take a look at the Beads on a Bowl video kzbin.info/www/bejne/eKWxaWSjfseqgbM. It's the same technique, taking the nose of the tool through small arcs.

[@johnwoods6296]

So clean and precise, what an inspiration

[@tallerpinocho]

great to see you again, lets to learn some ...

[@bonitagoodwin5086]

I'm so sorry I had to fast forward from about 7 minutes to about 2 minutes till the end. I didn't want to see you hurt yourself. 😢 I hope it doesn't mess up your analog or whatever it's called. It's a beautiful little delicate piece! ❤

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

You wouldn't have seen the injury occur, just a bleeding finger from a sharp bowl rim at 10:38. For many people that's something to look forward to, and ii's a fin example of why you should always soften a rim.

[@tomislavtomasicwoodturning]

Great as always 🤗

[@s10m0t10n]

Olive wood really does make some pretty bowls and this was no exception. Thank you for the demonstration, Mr. Raffan but, if it's all the same to you, I'll miss out the 'bleeding' stage.

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

That's why I retained the bloody bit - as a warning.

[@markb8954]

Cute little turning, with a lot of technique & tips added! Now….where does one grab a few pieces of Tunisian Olivewood other than Tunis!?

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

This olive wood came from Camden, just south of Sydney where it's regarded as an invasive species that needs to be cleared.

[@CrimeVid]

Nice one Richard, when you give blood I think you’re supposed to stain the whole bowl !

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

I though I'd best exercise some decorum and taste....

[@CrimeVid]

@@RichardRaffanwoodturning as you do…

[@tomcoker9882]

Thanks for the video. You must have quite a bur on you scrapers as they seem to produce tiny shavings vice the closer to sawdust mine seem to make. What angle do you have on them? Cheers, Tom

[@WhoGnu08]

Your use of scrapers is impressive. From the video, it appears that sometimes you have it flat but tilted up. Is that correct? Or is an illusion of perspective? Your confidence and self-assurance are awesome. I would have agonized forever over what to do about the splits. Beautiful bowl!

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

Splits rarely enhance a bowl, so I always get rid of them as soon as possible, then I decide what I can do with the defect-free wood that's remaining. Scrapers: The angle between the top of a scraper and the surface being cut needs to be less than 90-degrees so when the edge catches it falls into space. When shear-scraping a scraper can be tilted up because there's so little edge in contact with the wood.

[@garryedwards7097]

Hi Richard, thankyou for your great instruction videos, do you always only use boiled linseed oil and beeswax to finish your work? Cheers Garry

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

I've been using the boiled linseed oil and beeswax mix for about 35 years. Before that it was mineral oil or a cooking oil and beeswax. In the 1070s it was cooking oil and paraffin wax in the form of a white candle. I've occasionally tried popular commercial finishes but so far have reverted to what I know and continue to prefer as a soft finish that's not too glossy.

[@terryvance9390]

I have a question about finish. I understand the beeswax, but what is on the rag you use after? Thanks Richard.

[@jennybarnes4806]

Hi Richard, a question if I may. I’m intrigued by your scraper, it appears to have a piece missing on one edge. It this deliberate or did it meet with an accident? Cheers

[@RichardRaffanwoodturning]

This is a shear scraper with a rounded side which needs to be flattened to create a sharp corner. The side is rounded so the tool slides easily along the rest when tilted on edge to shear scrape.

[@tricolorturners]

BTW, I thought camera angles working solo are pretty good.