Tuesday, January 08, 2008

(Yet) Another Cherry Bowl




The chunk of cherry from which this bowl was turned came from a former neighbor's tree and had been in the firewood pile. The wood has a fair amount of burl and figure and also had a branch coming out of it. All in all it turned into a pretty interesting and attractive bowl. 8 1/4"D x 5 1/2"H.

Small Sycamore Bowl

This pretty little bowl measures 6 1/2" across and is 3 1/4" tall. I like its line.




Laminated Rolling Pin

I turned two similar rolling pins from a variety of hardwood pieces which I had glued up and then cut on the diagonal to make the blanks. The brightest red colored wood is bloodwood. There are also maple, walnut and purpleheart. I contributed one of the rolling pins for our turning group's raffle at a show in October 2007. All of the turnings donated by group members comprised our "challenge" for that month's meeting, and my rolling pin received the blue ribbon. Our cat seemed to like it, too.



Walnut bedside table lamps




I turned two identical walnut bedside table lamps from some walnut that a friend gave me. It had been well dried, so it turned and finished quite nicely. The bases and vertical sections were turned separately. The glass globes and hardware came from a mail order vendor. (Unfortunately the globes developed cracks after about two weeks, but they still look okay.) The lamps are about 17" tall at the center.

Sunday, January 06, 2008

Multi-Axis Candlesticks

These candlesticks, which stand about 9" tall, were turned from poplar. In each, the end that became the top was variously centered on three different axes (as well as the center axis); the bottom end remained in the center axis. This technique results in an eccentric turning, because the different axes cause different parts of the turning blank to rotate more closely to the tool rest, and the portion cut shifts accordingly. In turning the first candlestick I followed a very helpful article in the most recent issue of the AAW magazine. All together I turned three similar candlesticks. (The third one - not pictured - was a door prize at the Badger Woodturners' holiday get together.)


Spalted White Bay Bowl

I've been away from the blog for a while (but not from my shop), so I'll be adding a few newer items over the next little while. This footed bowl is turned from spalted white bay, a wood from Florida. The base is turned from wenge, which provides a nice color and grain contrast. The bowl measures 7 1/2"D x 4"H. The grain and spalting lines in the white bay are fantastic - its amazing what nature can do! (This bowl was a Christmas present for my wife.)