From a log I cut last year from a fallen tree. Cut on a day that was about 110 degrees in the shade! It was time to move this along now that it had seasoned for almost a year. Plenty of sap wood to accentuate the dark walnut grain. The lid shown here did not please me so I replaced it with a solid cherry one (can be seen at Etsy with the new lid)
Currently Available in my Etsy Store
Once again I turned something similar to one I really liked that sold recently. I didn’t bring the photo up of the old project since I didn’t want to duplicate it. I went back after finishing and looked though and I like this one even better. Up to 6 coats of lacquer but I plan on a few more to take care of a few flat spots. This was the first day I had to spray outside for quite a while. Rain did come in a couple of hours after I finished, I guess I got lucky. The lid is some canary wood of which I have a few small pieces squirreled away. This will probably end up on Etsy next week.
I sold my favorite spalted piece at Oxford Day a few weeks ago (a very successful show despite the nasty weather). It was the only piece on display with no price and I had the buyer dicker for it since I was not that keen on selling. This one is a variation on that design of the spalted wood with darker top and bottom. The darker wood is sapele and I believe the spalted section is oak (maybe, perhaps). There is a bit of bug damage which actually adds some character to the piece.
This pot was made to take advantage of a strip of highly figured walnut that was laying around the shop. The strips between the segments are a bit of exotic wood from the scrap bin. Top and bottom are ash and the lid is from another piece of walnut. This piece is available in my Etsy store. SOLD
I’m not sure this is big enough for anything but a wooden jar but working within the confines of the wood, this is what I came up with. The figure in this is splendid and demanded to be used. The lid is a piece of bloodwood which I had never used but was included with that generous give away I received from a friend a while back.
I don’t like to waste wood and when I have small chunks of logs sitting around that were waste from other projects, I like to make something from them. This little vase is one such project. It was the remains of a cherry log I had turned a bowl out of. The purpleheart band and neck were from some small pieces that were given to me a few weeks ago. Vase is about 3″ in diameter and has been spoken for by a friend who just couldn’t put it down after seeing it on my bench.
I had a friend bring me a piece of split firewood because he thought the color was different. The outside had turned a reddish brown. To work within the confines of the split log I was able to come up with this shape. I believe it may be apple. The ring and inset are Padauk.
I have been on again and off again about this experiment using my power carver. Everyone else seems to like it so I went ahead and made a lid so I could take it up to the store and get it off my bench. I believe the wood is Black Cherry but not positive as it was from a log left outside my shop. Same with the lid which appears to be some rot damaged maple.
I’ve seen several other wood turners using the metal reactive paints and wanted to try for myself. Good old Santa left some in my stocking this year so I rushed out to the shop to try and was absolutely blown away by the results. I did try several methods to apply the paint – first coat I used a sea sponge, not perfect. The second coat I used a foam brush but I still detect “brush strokes”. I think on the next I will spray the paint on to get a smoother copper finish but after applying the activator most of the brush strokes are only apparent on close examination. This one is a late Christmas gift for my son who is a metal artist — he should appreciate it!
After a lengthy vacation and getting the shop ready for cold weather I was finally able to complete a couple of projects. This piece of oak (or maybe pecan) was sitting out behind my shop for a long, long time and when I cut into it I found some very nice spalting. It was a bit “spongy” which necessitated gluing a piece of hardwood on the bottom for good attachment to the lathe but I rather liked the look so I turned that into a foot. I also didn’t want to go too small so I left the bark inclusion on the side which also added to the appeal of the piece. I have more photos which I have yet to process of this and some other piece of late.