Production run

A production run of 6 Mesquite mortars and pestles.



Raw Materials.

















Pestles complete.














Mortars & Pestles complete.


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Catch up

Acacia with spiral branding.













My new license plate.














A storm downed tree that I passed on. The tree was about 14" diameter but was cut into lengths about 8" long.











Mesquite, Palo Verde, & Ask headed to my club's 50/50 raffle.












Palo Verde burl rescued from a firewood pile.














Olive stump/burl rescued from the same pile.














The remains of the Chinese Elm from my front yard. It died suddenly and had to be removed. We'll replace it eventually.

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Roller coaster

It's been a roller coaster the last 3 weeks. I had back-to-back shows, a demonstration, family in town, a museum exhibit opening, my wife's birthday, plus my normal 9-5. I'm hopeful that things will settle down soon.


The "Mesquite" exhibit opened at the Tohono Chul Park in Tucson on 4/26. I took my Mother to the artist's reception as she was in town and my wife was attending my son's 4th grade music program (I went to the 1:30 showing). The piece above is mine and is one of the first pieces visible as you enter the exhibit.

















I have 2 other pieces in the exhibit, the hollow form on the left and the 3 piece nested set on the right. The small natural edge piece in the center is by a turner from the Tucson club. The little blue sticker indicates it has already been sold.













About a week ago I got word that a local club member was having some health issues and was liquidating his shop. The lathe and most of the other big equipment sold almost immediately and it was mostly small stuff left at this point. Last night I found out that among the pieces left over was a Teknatool Titan chuck. I've wanted one for a long time but they've been out of production for the past 3 or 4 years. Ironically they were just reintroduced but the specs changed enough that the one I had ordered was returned completely unused. Safe to say that this is an older one with the original specs (made in New Zealand, not China/Hong Kong where I believe they're being made now) and I got it at a really good price.





He also had a pair of Supernova 2s for sale and even though I don't need another one the price was too good to pass up. This photo illustrates the size difference between the Supernova 2 and the Titan. The Supernova 2 is a sizable chuck and I've used it to turn bowls and platters up to 19" but it's dwarfed by the Titan chuck and there's even a set of jaws larger than this that's next on my shopping list.


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Accepted!

Last month I submitted 5 pieces for possible inclusion in a museum exhibit down in Tucson.  The Tohono Chul Park museum is having an exhibit that celebrates the Mesquite tree.  All entries must be made of or feature images of the Mesquite tree.

I received notice today that 3 of the 5 pieces I submitted were accepted and will be in the exhibit from April 26th to July 22nd.  The email indicated that they had 160 pieces submitted for consideration from nearly 70 different artists.

Now I have to get them down to Tucson before the April 26th opening.  Not an easy thing considering I have 2 shows between now and then, not to mention my day job.

The 3 piece set was turned from wood I received in the 50/50 raffle at the local club a couple years ago.  The first hollow form was from wood sourced at Boyce Thompson Arboretum.  I'm not certain where the wood for the other hollow form came from.

Art festival prep

I found out on Tuesday that I was a late addition to an arts and crafts festival that's taking place this weekend. Now I'm scrambling to get a few extra pieces completed.









This 4 piece nested set in oak burl was tonight's effort. I've had this piece of wood for 5 or 6 years and finally got around to roughing it out about 6 months ago. Since then it has been kicking around the shop waiting to be finished.









I'm ecstatic with the results. I think it's probably the best nested set I've ever done and should be well suited to this event. It will undoubtedly have a prime spot in my booth and I need to take some quality photos in case it sells.








Next up is a hollow form I've been working on for a while. It's mesquite with sapwood and the natural edge surrounding the opening. I had a near disaster with this piece last night. I don't have time to go into detail.







Suffice it to say I was able to salvage the piece, even after being within 30 seconds from tossing in the bin. In truth I would nave cut it in half before tossing in the recycling bin to see how consistent the wall thickness is and where it could be improved.







Last is a hollow form I started a while back. I finally got around to turning the pedestal, lid, and finial. The lid and finial are 2 pieces, the pedestal is one solid piece. Both the pedestal and lid/finial are made of Macassar Ebony.






Overall size is 7 1/2" diameter and 17" tall.







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Collaborations

Both of these pieces are at least a couple years old, both are also collaborations with my Mom.  First is a Mesquite hollow form I turned 2 or 3 years ago.  My mother asked for several pieces that she could do some carving on.  She's done some relief carving on a couple other pieces I've given her so I thought she'd do more of the same so this piece was left between 1/4-3/8" thick.  Little did I know she intended to pierce it.  Thickness is the enemy of piercing so this took 10X longer than it would have taken if the piece was turned to 1/8" thick.


She surprised me by giving it back to me as my Christmas gift in 2009.  I know how much work went into this which makes me appreciate it even more. 




This piece is some Honey Locust I got from Boyce Thompson Arboretum several years ago.  I turned a smal hollow form while it was still green but the rim cracked.  I sent it to my Mom and she cut, carved, and painted it in a Southwest motif before sending it back.




She and I were talking about this piece recently and she thought it was a gourd, not wood.

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Before & After

The President's Challenge for Saturday is Before & After. The piece on the right was my starting piece.










This is the other half of the log I'll be taking as my 'before' sample. I chose to strip off the bark To better show the actual shape of the wood underneath. There's more bug damage on this half but that only serves to makes things more interesting.










Above is the finished piece. Eventually I'll probably add a few more coats of oil to bring it up to more of a semi gloss finish but for now I'm out of time.










Alternative view with natural void on the side. This void was actually a huge help as it allowed me to better see and feel the wall thickness on the hardest to get to part.











Profile view. I also oiled the inside of the piece and the oil is leaching from the inside to the outside through some of the cracks, making them slightly darker.



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Break time

This is likely my last post for a little while, I'm going to take a week or so off to recuperate. My allergies are acting up so I think a break is in order so I can get them back under control.










Profile view of the near finished hollow form. I still need to do most of the sanding but that will have to wait until after my break.












The bottom with the tenon removed. I had to tape over the large voids and major cracks in order to get even a partial vacuum. With the 6" drum I ended up with about 90 pounds of pressure (28 sq inches @ ~3.2 PSI).

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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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Strange Daze

I tried darkening the Mesquite with Lye but it didn't darken as much as I wanted it to so I colored it with Sharpie marker. I'm still planning to do a couple more variations before I break out the Ebony.














This evening I did a small pair of Mountain Mahogany hollow forms. They're not as thin or as light as I'd like (pretty tough to get light weight with woods like Mountain Mahogany or Desert Ironwood). I wanted to have something to show at our club meeting this weekend and I'm not sure my Sissoo hollow form from above will be complete by Saturday morning.

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Prototype save

Before I start turning the ebony I purchased I figured I should try to prototype a design in some scrap mesquite. I'm fairly happy with my first effort but I can see some room for improvement.

I think the finial could be taller and thinner, the stem on the pedestal could also be thinner and all of the other elements can be tweaked slightly.









To the left is the Macassar Ebony I purchased at my local Woodcraft. It appeared darker and more uniform in color when covered in wax but I've seen much lighter Macassar Ebony before too.

I think I'll do another couple prototypes before starting to turn the ebony. I may also try dyeing the Mesquite black to get a better idea what the piece will look like when it is finished.

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Local woods only

1 quick photo of something I've been playing with the last couple of nights. I don't want to give too many details yet, I am willing to say that these are for our club's August President's Challenge - Local woods only.

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Spheres

Some spheres from Thursday and Friday night.  The smallest one at the top was made when I made the kendama and is made out of Cedar.  The 2 below that on the left hand side are both Eucalyptus.  The lightest colored one is Olive, the dark one in the bottom middle is Desert Ironwood.  The large one on the right is Mesquite.  The bowl is one I did a couple of years ago, I think it's Cottonwood.

Roadkill

I spotted a wood pile beside the road on Wednesday while driving between dental appointments (long story).  The pile was mostly Pine and Eucalyptus but there were a few chunks of Mesquite mixed in.  I don't want or need any Mesquite but I picked it up for fellow club members, likely to be part of the 50/50 meeting next month.  It was already cut pretty much how I would cut it, slightly longer than the diameter (9-10" diameter, 14" long).  Got to love free wood.