I had this done a couple of weeks ago but was giving it away as a birthday present and was afraid the recipient would end up here and see it. I absolutely love this piece. It was made from the same limb that big mama and son of big mama came from – some diseased sugar maple. This one I turned in a different orientation so it looks like landscape going around the jar.  The wood was a bit soft so a couple of coats of lacquer helped stabilize it a bit. The top is cherry and the knob is walnut with a Kremlin shape. I hated to part with this one but she seemed so pleased with it that it made it worthwhile. More Views and comments

This is another lidded vessel turned from a piece of Mahogany that someone gave me that he had left over from building a front door. Normally I don’t find mahogany all that attractive but to bring out the highlights in this I used a bit of yellow dye. The top is cherry. I experimented a bit (isn’t that what it is all about?) and did a bit of an undercut in the middle. I topped it off with a spindle made from walnut with black dye on it – poor man’s ebony! More Views and comments

Still working the off-cuts of that spalted maple. I found a labeled piece of Ambrosia Maple out in the wood room and it looks suspiciously like this stuff albeit without the black lines — which look a bit like someone had taken a Sharpie to the different shades. In fact, this whole piece has a somewhat cartoon-like quality to it. There is a yellowish stain that goes down deep in the wood (just like the Ambrosia piece I have). If it weren’t such a small spot it may have added to the character, now I just call it a flaw. The lid is a pop fit and made from walnut. This vessel is about 3″ tall. Finished with lacquer and wax.More Views and comments

This is based on my small jars but on a larger scale. I found a piece of wood back in my lumber room that was a bit too “erose” to get any kind of bowl out of but it was so sweetly spalted that it needed to be used. I don’t even remember where it came from at this point — I should start labeling things.  I cut it into chunks to make smaller projects. This is the “full ounce” size measuring in at about 6″ tall by about 3″ in diameter. I thought about giving it to some friends who are getting married in a couple of weeks but I just can’t bear to let this one go (sound familiar?) Not sure what the wood is but I’m going to guess maple and the lid is cherry. It has a tight snap fit lid. Finished with teak oil and wax.More Views and comments

I had to choose from the many jars I had sitting on my mantle to give to a friend who is bringing us some willow. I had to pick up and study them all to see which I wanted to part with. This is the one I ended up with. It is a bit small but a good snap fit on the lid. Made from cherry and walnut with a short cherry spindle on the lid — the kind I call an apothecary jar. Highly polished with homemade friction polish. Unlike most of my jars, this one has a foot on it.

I have made a lot of these little lidded boxes as giveaways to friends and everyone loves them. Some called them trinket boxes and some called them ring boxes but everyone called them beautiful! This one is made from English Cedar, Ash, Walnut. This was actually my least favorite of all of them (which is why I didn’t give it away!)

This piece came from some spalted hackberry. You’re right — I’d never heard of hackberry before either but I’ll turn anything somebody gives me. I first made a bowl and had a small piece left that had to be used for something. This was one of my first jars and I was hooked immediately. It has a snap fit lid of walnut and just looks great sitting on the mantle. Despite many requests, I can’t let this one go!

Hackberry is a good landscape choice. Grows to a broad crown with arching branches, not unlike the American Elm. Well-suited to urban areas, it withstands wind and city conditions. Grows 40′-70′ with a 50′ spread.

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My favorite things to turn are what some people call boxes but I have other names for them. They are basically little urns. The ones with more taper and short lids I call Apothecary Jars and the ones with the tall finials I call bud pots — you may guess why. In any case they are fun to make and consequently are piling up at my house. Can you say “gifts”?