Monday, January 3, 2011

Some Recent Turnings, Tall and Tiny

 
 
It's been a busy and rewarding fall for me, with holiday orders and a new, larger lathe on duty in an expanded turning shack. With the help of my brother Ron, I added 40 square feet of space to the building; not a huge addition, but it was all I have room for, and it made a nice difference during the Christmas rush.

Thank you to all my customers who purchased turnings of all kinds from the Timberturner and Bowlwood websites... you're all appreciated ! Happy New Year !

Now that the shack addition is finished, and the new Powermatic lathe is installed, it's time to get back to full time woodturning at a normal pace.


Mini Black Cherry Burl Hollow Vessel
Here are a couple of the most recent items I've turned... first is a diminutive hollow vessel of Black Cherry Burl, a "mini weed pot". It's just 3-1/2 inches tall... hollow and lightweight. Note the many birdseyes in the photo below.



Birdseyes in Cherry Burl

A few of the Cherry burls I have on hand are very small, just big enough to end up as something such as this.

Even the small ones are prized.








Another favorite wood is Yew, probably best known by most folks as a short-needled evergreen shrub typically used as a foundation planting. But left to its own devices, Yew can grow to become a small tree. When one bushy beauty had to be removed to make way for progress on an Amherst campus, the wood became available to me-- I eagerly trucked it home, because I know it well.

 
Yew Weedpot




Weedpots turned from Yew have been among my most popular, and sell well. I've not encountered anyone who didn't appreciate its deep, warm orange-red color and attractive grain patterns.

I prefer to leave some patches of cream-colored sapwood on these vases, to provide a striking contrast with the heartwood.

Yew Weedpot, 12-1/2" tall




Notice the grain lines in and around the sapwood  on this 12-1/2" tall vase... like smoke wafting from a cigarette.

The dark brown patch within the creamy sapwood is a bit of the inner bark; the still-darker spot at the very bottom is a small knot.



These, and many other turnings, are available for purchase at www.timberturner.com.

Cherry burl bowls, and Yew bowls from the Amherst tree, are available at www.bowlwood.com.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I also love making bowls, and am thinking about selling some to make a little money. They are all reasonably small but I was wondering how much I could sell them for. Thank You.