Apple Wood Pepper or Salt Grinders

I turned these pepper or salt grinders from an apple wood limb I've had around for a number of years but only recently cut up into useable lengths.  Apple is a beautiful wood - it has wonderful swirls of color; the downside is that it likes to develop cracks, so you have to keep an eye on it.  These grinders have a ceramic "crush" mechanism which sits in the very base of the grinder, so you can do pretty much what you want with the top end, as long as you create room for the peppercorns or salt chunks.  The tops have a friction fit with the mechanism in the base - see if you can figure out where the split is in the taller grinder (the smaller, mushroom shaped one, is pretty obvious).  The taller of these is about 6 ¾" high; the shorter about 6".  Both are roughly 2 ½" across at the widest point. 

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Black birch bowl with penny copper metallic dust band

This bowl was turned from a birch blank and started off to be a closed form vessel.  However, as is sometimes the case, error and happenstance intervened to create artistic opportunities and the piece ended up as a somewhat unusual bowl instead.  (I'll leave you to surmise how that evolved.)  The bowl measures 5 ⅞" across and is 3 ⅝" tall.  The black finish is Rust-Oleum Hammered Black Finish, sprayed on.  The copper band is Penny Copper Metallic Dust, from Inlace.

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