I ended up with a nice length of polypropylene 2×4 which begged to be turned. I like to experiment with alternative materials and as I often say, I’ll turn anything (well not salt – see Peter Brown for that!). This turned like butter and sanded like wood. The lid was a teak one I had made two years ago and had been sitting on my workbench all this time waiting for a purpose. It is a nice snap fit and I don’t have to worry about shrinkage and expansion on the pot.  More Views and comments

I have had a couple chasing me down to buy one of my honey pots for months now. I felt like I was in a rut with these but people seem to like it. The owner of the Green Phoenix told me the last one was sold to someone looking for a burial urn for their pet. A whole new market? In any event I had to get one done so I used some of my new Sapele with Wenge and Oak for the band and a maple top. Nice pot but I need to branch out a bit more!

I have to admit it is more fun to pick up a seemingly piece of trash wood and find beauty inside than to pick up something that you already know what it will look like when you start. I don’t even know where this piece came from but it had been hanging around my shop for a very long time and it was time to either toss it or turn it. I’m glad I picked the latter! It has sort of a marbleized grain to it with random color patterns. About 5″ in diameter with a mahogany lid and wenge spindle. Don’t even think about it — this one is mine.

I was cutting a part of a stump off to get it through my band saw. The stump had been sitting for a while and I wasn’t even sure what it was (or where it came from for that matter). Rather than throw the cut off in the trash, I chucked it up in the vase to see where it would take me. It appears to be cherry with just tons of figure in it (from being so close to the ground I imagine). With the serious angle on the end it could only take one shape and it seemed to me that it wanted to be a nice little wind-proof tea light candle holder. So it was!

I had someone give me a pretty gnarly looking piece of plum. Since most fruit wood looks amazingly beautiful I had to give it a turn. To the left is the raw material. There was a lot of cracking and checking in the log but that’s just part of the challenge. I was able to get two small pieces with minimum cracks and took them in different directions but still just lidded boxes in the end. I was right the wood has beautiful character.

Yesterday was a no work day due to the snow so I got a free shop day. Got the shop up to a perfect 60 degrees. This jar is made from Brazilian Cherry and Sycamore. It is so smooth that it demanded a high gloss finish — which I normally don’t do. The bottle is to give size perspective (plus it was really cold and refreshing since it was in the unheated room of the shop for days).

I need a salt cellar to keep on my stove. I do a lot of cooking and when I found these I just wanted one. This is a prototype and the next will be a bigger diameter but to experiment I just picked up a scrap of walnut and put a purpleheart top on it. It has a swivel pin and magnets to close it. The next will be more decorative but this one is functional and I will be putting it use immediately!More Views and comments