Mason Jar Goblets

I turned two Mason Jar Goblets for the People's Choice table at the Olbrich Show in October.  One attendee liked them and bought them at the show.  She also asked me to make some more for her, so I did, and they went out in today's mail.  The new four are quite like the originals, though not exact copies (I worked from general dimensions and a photo).  I didn't have any more of the dark brown laminated birch that I'd turned the original bases from, so I turned the bases from some solid walnut I had in my shop.  The finish is an undercoat of Watco Walnut Danish Oil, topped with several coats of high gloss Waterlox.  The turned bases on the larger goblets are 4" high, 2 15/16"D at the bottom and 1"D at the top; on the smaller, 3 ¼"H, 2 7/16"D at the bottom, and ¾"D at the top. 

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Tool Handles for West HIgh Woodworking Class

As part of a program by my woodturning club, Badger Woodturners, several of us have been mentoring the woodturning students in Madison's West High School's woodworking classes.  I began working in the program last Spring, and have been doing it two afternoons a week since the beginning of school this Fall.  The school received a number of unhandled Thompson Tool bowl gouges, which have slowly been acquiring handles.  I decided to turn handles for two of the ⅜" gouges, and the photos show the result.  The woods are spalted maple and Padauk.  The ferrules are copper plumbing fittings. 

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Birdhouse Ornaments on a Crabapple Branch

Friends of ours requested five miniature birdhouse ornaments for their grandchildren, so I turned the one additional ornament that was required and have hung them all on a little twig from our ornamental crabapple tree.  (The base is a firewood cutoff from a walnut bowl blank.)  They'll get them tomorrow - you see them first today!

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Miniature Birdhouse Ornaments and Bottle Stoppers - Olbrich Show

Here are some photos of the Miniature Birdhouse Ornaments and the Bottle Stoppers that I turned and had for sale at the Olbrich show.

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BotStopGrp - 1

 

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Olbrich Show 10/28/12

Here are some photos from the recent Olbrich Gardens show, which we co-sponser with the local woodcarvers club. The first two show the "People's Choice" challenge table, where the public votes on which submission they like the best.  The third photo is our raffle table, where donated turnings by our members were raffled off as a fund-raiser for our club activities.  (Scott Jameson is wearing the turned wood cowboy hat he won at the raffle at Hannes Michelson's demonstration in September, where he turned the hat from a block of maple.)  The fourth photo is my vendor table at the show.  And the last photo is a close up of my "Ball Jar" goblets entry in the People's Choic, which was captioned "Cocktails to go."  (They were purchased by an attendee at the show.)

I had a very good show, in terms of sales - and a lot of fun, too!  My experience at the show, as well as feedback from other vendors, suggest that lower priced items moved pretty well, and more expensive ones not so much.  Sign of the economic times, I suspect.

 

People's Choice - 1

 

People's Choice - 2

 

Raffle Table

 

My vendor table

 

"Cocktails to Go"

 

Shallow, Elongated Elm Bowl

This elm bowl was turned from wood from a different elm tree than the two bowls posted earlier today, and had its own interesting characteristics - principally that as it dried it went a good deal out-of-round, and therefore appears almost oval in shape; the rim is also a little "wavy."  The bowl is ⅝" wider across the long diameter (9 ½") compared to the short one (8 ⅞").  It stands 2 ½" high at the rim.  I also did a little more decorating on the bottom of the bowl than I typically do, as shown in the photos.  This bowl is finished with several coats of Minwax Wipe-On Poly (Gloss).

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Rimmed Mulberry Crotch Bowl

I turned this smallish mulberry bowl from a piece of crotch wood I picked up in one of our club raffles.  Mulberry turns nicely and finishes nicely too.  This bowl is 8" across at the rim and is 1 ½" high.  It is finished with Minwax Antique Oil Finish.

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Rimmed Elm Bowl

This bowl was turned from the same elm tree wood as the one in the previous post.  It has some interesting grain and color variation and several small knots.   In order not to lose any more depth than necessary I kept the pith in (nearest the rim) and it developed some radial cracks - as pith will usually do - which had to be glued.  (Naturally I didn't take any photos of that aspect.)  This bowl is 8" in diameter and 2 ¾" high.  It is also finished with Minwax Antique Oil Finish.

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Deep Elm Bowl w/ Branch

This elm bowl had a branch running into the blank, which made it very interesting but a little difficult to turn.  The bowl measures 8 ¾" across and is 4 ½" high.  It is finished with Minwax Antique Oil Finish.

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