A local company salvages timber from buildings being torn down as well as urban trees being removed, and every once in a while they offer some of their “scrap” free for the taking as firewood. Being the frugal (a.k.a. cheap) guy I am, I brought home a load. One piece of poplar looked like it had potential so I chainsawed in in half to find some fun figuring. Here’s the result. 5 1/4″ high, 5″ diameter. Teak oil finish.
I just finished a couple of silver maple bowls that I had roughed out back in July. The first one had the beginnings of some spalting, and when you hold it up to the light, you can see that there’s a bit of curl.
11 1/2″ diameter, 3″ high. Walnut oil finish.
The curl in the second one is more pronounced. I gave this one a little foot to lift it off the tabletop just a bit.
12″ diameter, 3″ high. Walnut oil finish.
Here’s a peek at the curl. I’m always tickled when I find some of that in one of the pieces I turn. It’s like unwrapping a present.
A friend gave me a couple of maple logs, and I’ve been roughing out bowls from it. I uncovered this ripple–which is called curl–in the bowl I was working on this morning.
Keep in mind that this is rough turned, and still rather wet. I have to let it dry (slowly, to prevent checking), then finish turning it, sand it (probably to 1000 grit, because figure like this deserves that), and apply a finish..
I had the good fortune this weekend to attend a hands-on turning class led by Trent Bosch, a well-known turner and wood sculptor. Here are the fruits of that class: two hollow forms turned from green ash.
They’re about 4 1/2 inches diameter and about 4 inches tall. #1 (on the left) has kind of an amphora shape (minus the handles) with a rounded bottom, so it rests on it’s side. The photo doesn’t show it well, but there’s a little curl figure in #2 on the right. (It’s just a smartphone picture that I snapped this morning after I finished sanding and applying some Danish oil.)
It’s going to be a while before I do some more of this sort of thing. Turning hollow forms requires some tools I don’t have yet. Unless there’s some angel out there who’d like to gift me with some?
Willow Lake Woodworks 