There are a number of "how to" pages listed above that I set up for DIYers like myself, showing many of the techniques I found on the internet & have used to make lots of exotic wood projects. These include cups, mugs, regular goblets, Celtic-banded goblets, cylindrical "boxes", bandsaw boxes, bandsaw snakes, puzzle boxes, an iPhone speaker, & various home-made chucks & tools. I also wrote a "techniques & calculations" page with measurement guides for different projects. A page devoted to inlay techniques is also included in the contents list above. I included a final list of fun projects, including a backyard pirate ship, observatory, & some kid-friendly crafts. This 1st page shows some of the straight & tulip-lipped goblets I've made over the last few years:
What follows below is a step-by-step explanation of how I did inlays into one of the mugs I made. The method below shows a "faux turquoise" design, although on other pages I also show how I made a "faux opal" inlay. Lots of details, although the first slide's description is a "synopsis" of everything:
Using a bandsaw or a set of homemade parting tool guides as shown below, shallow bowls can be made from flat boards. The bandsaw base can be angled to cut up to a 45° tilt, but this results in a flat sided & conically-shaped bowl. After trying this bandsaw method out, I came up with 2 versions of a simple parting tool guide tool which made it easy to form shallower angles as the bowl became deeper; this meant a more rounded bowl. You do need a board at least ½" thick (WRONG: need ¾" minimum), so the cut rings have enough overlap that they can be glued together in a stack. Below I describe how to use either the bandsaw or DIY parting tool guides:
Also made from at least 2 varieties of wood, a checkerboard pattern is a lot of work but really fun to do! The first 5 slides are different patterns with the width in millimeters to 1st cut on a bandsaw, in case you want to try out a different design. You do need to make 2 platters at a time in order to alternate the wood types:
Typically, turning a so-called "box" (it's actually a cylinder) is one of the 1st things a new lathe owner tries. Because making a lid to fit snugly can be initially daunting for the beginner (me just a few years ago), the "Techniques & Calculations" page that follows (see index above) shows several methods to more easily carve out the base & lid. These wooden "boxes" are lots of fun to make, & there are tons of shapes, burn lines, & decorations you can play with:
Included is a link to a well-known site demonstrating how to make one of these puzzle wooden snakes. They use a removable eye block to take it apart, & I came up with a removable tongue instead. Then I got inspired and made a bunch of wooden snakes using a new mechanism that I had developed, with a removable "mouse" that fits inside the jaw; pulling the mouse out of the snake's mouth by its tail allows the puzzle to be disassembled:
The "Aargh-O-Naut" pirate ship my kids & I built in our backyard, with functioning rigging, including a skeleton steersman, dog, & stow-away. A carbide cannon is fun to make, although loud when fired so I rarely shoot it. The locked treasure chest has a secret compartment that pops open when you figure out how to unlock it & read through the hidden directions on releasing it: