Bringing out the big guns.

I don't think I'll need a 6" diameter vacuum drum very often but every once in a while I'm sure it will come in handy. I built this one last night so I could finish the bottom of the hollow form I've been working on for the past week. The drum is a 5" long piece of 6" diameter PVC from the local Lowes. The mounting block is a drilled and tapped piece of Persimmon I got at the 2011 DWR.







The piece was sanded with 150 grit before it was turned around and mounted on the vacuum chuck. I wasn't able to get a good vacuum because of cracks and voids in the piece but because of the surface area involved (28 square inches) even a couple of pounds of suction can hold a piece sufficiently for light cuts and finish work.







The bottom of the piece with the tenon removed and sanded to 150 grit. I need to continue going through all the grits and then apply my finish.

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Giving back

I'm headed back to BTA in the morning to get the last piece of the Sissoo stump. Part of the agreement with the arboretum is that they get finished pieces made from the wood that I receive. The weed pots are from some Acacia Visco that they cut down to make way for new water feature.








The bowl is some of the Sissoo I helped cut a couple weeks ago. This particular piece is mostly Quartersawn with just a bit of sapwood and is roughly 7 1/2" x 2".













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Weekend warrior

A batch of Sissoo bowls from this weekend. All 8 of these were turned green to finish and then microwaved to speed the drying process. They all need a good sanding and a quick finish now that they're mostly dry.









I don't normally turn green to finish but I wanted these to go back to the Arboretum As soon as possible. I think they'll be pleased.

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Boyce Beauty

A pile of Sissoo (Dalbergia Sissoo, AKA Indian Rosewood) sourced from Boyce Thompson Arboretum yesterday. The big piece on the top is actually a big crotch piece.









The butt end of the crotch piece. I assisted taking this tree down, sectioning it up, and cleaning up the mess yesterday. It had some frost damage (yes, it does sometimes get below freezing in AZ) and the Arboretum decided it needed to be removed.








Tonight I ripped the crotch in half to prepare it for turning. I was not disappointed with what I found. I'm now thinking about ripping a platter blank off of the face of this blank to best preserve this amazing grain. The bowl made from the remaining wood would be shallower and slightly smaller diameter but the spectacular platter would be worth it.

There's 1 more piece at the arboretum with my name on it. Their chainsaw broke down before the last cut could be made. There's also 5 or 6 pieces about 8" diameter and 4' long but I'm not as interested in them. Lastly there's another very similar tree that they plan to take out soon. I'm already on the short list to help them take that one out.

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Artists @ the Arboretum

 Today was the 4th annual Artists at the Arboretum event presented by the Soroptimist International Gold Canyon at Boyce Thompson Arboretum near Superior AZ.  I've been there all 4 years and have done pretty well for a small venue with a relatively inexpensive entry fee.  I only had 7 sales selling a total of 9 items but the average sale price was pretty good so it was overall a pretty good day.  I had my 6 year old daughter with me all day so that was also a plus.

 2 more catch up photos.  These are a pair of figured Eucalyptus hollow forms I started working on about a week ago.  They're from a chunk of wood I sourced from a local firewood lot.  The piece looked different, not quite a burl but also not just straight grain.  I took a small gamble and purchased it, I now wish I had gotten quite a bit more.

Hollowing is partially done, when finished the pieces will be 6" and 4" tall and both 4 1/2" diameter.  The outside shape will be refined and changed as the hollowing proceeds.  It's slow going as this is very hard and very dry end grain Eucalyptus.

Birdhouse

A frustrating night to be sure.  I wanted to make a bidhouse for an upcoming event.  Artists in a show I'm in have been invited to decorate birdhouses that will be raffled off to help raise money for a local non-profit. 

I did another birdhouse for the same event 2 years ago and wanted to try something different.

The body is made out of Cedar, the roof is Walnut Burl.  I had to turn 3 bodies before I got one finished.  I wanted them to be quite thin in order to reduce the weight and I cut through the bottom on the first 2. 

The blanks for both the body and the roof are from pieces I've had for quite a while.  The Cedar came from eBay 5 or 6 years ago, The Walnut Burl came from a trade with another local turner about 4 years ago.

The roof was turned with steps to simulate shingles.  This was further enhanced by burning lines and by texturing the wood with a wire brush.  The ring on the top is copper wire.  Overall size is about 4" diameter and 5" tall.