1 Piece Turned Paper Towl Holder

Here are steps to make a turned paper towl holder out of 1 piece of wood. I am using Pin Oak but you can use lots of different types of wood.

Lathe
Lathe tools
Log about 14 inches long and 7 inches wide

You will need a lathe, your log, wood turning tools, and some baic wood turning knowlege. Get out your drive center and fit it into the headstok of the Lathe. Then, while holding up the log with one hand use the other to move the tailstock of the lathe towards the log until the live center touches a place near the center of the log. then slowly tighten the tailstock until the log is mounted on the lathe. move the tool rest in and slowly spin the log with your hand to make sure the log does not hit the tool rest.

Start the lathe and keep it going fairly slow for a while (about 300 or 400 RPM's). Use a roughing out gouge to take long strokes off of the log while you leave about an inch and a half un-turned. When the shaft is about and inch and a half thick you can round the top of it for looks. Remember to sharpen your tools often. when you like the shape of it you can start sanding. Use 80 grit until all of the lathe marks are out of it then you can use 120 grip and then 220 grit sandpaper. then turn of the lathe and unmount the paper towel holder.

After the towel holder is sanded you should oil it. Put oil on it at least every day for a week or two. I used Lemon oil. It is pretty hard to keep the base from cracking so if it does crack then you can sand the edges or the crack so that they are smooth and rounded. This will give it a very old look!