This small box was turned from some mystery shrub growing in my father in law’s yard. It uses glue-in threads available at several sources. I wasn’t to happy with the quality of the threads, they have sharp corners and a bit of a cheap feel to them. But buying a Klein threading jig is not even on the Horizon…
My wife asked for a needle case. Here the result, a quite small box made from Maple from the Firewood pile. Sanded to 600 grid, and just a bit of bees wax as the finish. I since polished it on my Beal buffing system.
This cherry box was turned from the same Cherry Log as the che Cherry Cup. I saw a similar shaped box on some forum (sorry, forgot where) and really liked the shape. Others seem to like them well too, and I have since turned several more. This one here is sanded to 600 grid and finished with tung oil, I since buffed it to a gloss finish.
This is a bit of an odd piece. I set out to turn a bowl from some piece of pine from the neighbors firewood pile (thanks!). But while working on it this shape developed, and I kind of liked it. So it ended up being a (mostly) hollow form.
In some post somewhere I someone claimed that the pith of the wood should best be avoided when turning. While it maybe true that if and how to use the pith does deserve some consideration, as a blanket statement it just isn’t true. Below are a few of my projects that did all included the pith. They are:
BTW The Sumac Goblet was just a quick and dirty job to see how Sumac turns, and is unfinished. In this case the pith is actually quite unstable. I since found out that Sumac is actually one of very few woods that glow under black light! It is kind of eery, especially sitting next to some other species.
My father in law spends a great deal of time polishing rocks and agates he collected ears ago. Trying to find a christmas present for him, I came up with the idea to use the smallest of those rocks in a Kaleidoscope. He really loved it, and I since had to make many more of these for family and friends. Here is a sampling of some of them:
All of these were made from wood from the famous Maple Firewood pile, showing some spectacular grain and spalting. The kits used are available from several sources (sometimes called eggoscopes). They were all first treated with some tung oil to bring out the grain and figure, then finished with an oil and polyurethane blend.
It is hard to capture how they look like inside, but here are some attempts:
These are easy to make, and the results are very rewarding.
Driving down the road I spotted a log, about 4 1/2 inches in diameter and 4 feet long. Apparently it had rolled of some tree trimmers truck, and was laying in a bit dangerous position. Because of that I stopped and picked it up. I suspected it was Cherry. A small shoot with some leaves was still attached, and with the help of some neat tree identification web sites (Minnesota Trees and What Tree Is It) I was able to determine that it was Black Cherry.
When I first turned it, I could not believe the scent. Most woods have a pretty unique scent when turning them, sometimes unexpected ones. But this smelled like Black Cherries taste, rich, sweet and fruity. Since then the wood has dried a bit more and the scent is a lot less strong, but I will never forget that scent of green cherry.
Anyhow, first project from this is this cup, about 3.5 inches tall. Sanded through 600 grid, and just a bit of tung oil and bees wax for the finish.
While at Woodcraft I came across a piece of Bocote in the cutoff bin. It probably ended up in there because it had quite a bit of sapwood to it and also some fine cracks. Always eager to work with different woods and the price being right, I picked it up.
I cut a square of it and decided to turn a bowl from it. My first instinct was to turn it in such a way as to minimize or eliminate the sapwood by having it at the bottom. But then I thought why not celebrate it, and I oriented it instead so the sapwood would make up the rim. The result is very pretty, with spectacular grain highlighted by the sapwood:
It measures about 5 inches across. The bottom was turned using my Longworth Chuck. The finish is a Mylands friction finish (if I remember correctly).