Burning and Turning

This twisted box was one I did as a sample for my demo in Prescott earlier this year.  I decided to do some burning on it but I didn't want to do it all over the box.

 This is the design I settled on.  I think it emphasizes the twist.  I've taken to calling this one Kudzu because of the bottom and how the design on the bottom is only connected to the sides and the top in 3 little spots, like kuzdu vines slowly growing over a building.

I also had to find a different place to sign it.  I ended up signing it on the inside of the joint so the signature can only be seen when the box is open.

Tonight I started working on some bowls for next weekend.  I've been invited to demo and sell out at Boyce Thompson Arboretum next weekend.  The wood for these bowls is Visco Acacia and came from BTA earlier this year.  I like to have bowls with a local connection whenever possible.  These are small, only 4-5" diameter.  I have some that are bigger but I don't know if I'll have time to get them done.

Back on the horse

The last time I did any turning was Saturday October 23rd.  I know this because it was the date of my Flagstaff demonstration and I never unpacked my tools.  They were still sitting in a 5 gallon bucket just inside my door when I opened it this morning.

The piece on the right is a multi axis box from my Prescott demo earlier this year.  I spent last weekend doing the burning on the outside inbetween sales at the art tour. 

The piece on the right was from my Flagstaff demo.  It had a problem during the demonstration that prevented me from doing as much as I had planned.  Today I decided to finish turning it and I'm leaning towards sending it back to them to do with as the wish; auction, raffle, or winter heating.

The burning on the first piece was more marketing than anything else.  Prospective clients could see me working on a piece and have a better understanding of the process, particularly with this design as it's all done freehand with almost no planning ahead.

I still have to finish and sign the Flagstaff demo piece.  Some readers may notice the photos are drastically improved.  We upgraded cell phones this week and the new one has adjustable focus and higher resolution.  A vast improvement.

The month from Hell.

Not really Hell, just extremely busy, hence my lack of posts.  Over the course of the last 30 days I've had an art show, a woodturning demonstration, Halloween, a son in the hospital, a poker game, my wife had 3 quilting events, my Mother visited for 3 weeks, and our dog had puppies.  Add on 60+ hour work weeks for the last month and I haven't set foot in my shop for more than 10 minutes total in that time.  

The show I participated in was the Artists of the Superstitions Studio Tour.  I was one of 2 artists that were hosted at the shop of another artists.  All 3 of us are woodturners so I'm somewhat convinced that our individual sales were lower than the would have been had we not been competing against each other.  It turned out not to be a bad event all things considered and I will definitely think about adding it to my calendar for next year.  I only sold 8 pieces total over the 2 days but the average sale price was just over $50, pretty good considering.

Now that this 4 week period is over my lack of shop time should be over too.  I'm hopeful that I can get back to work soon, this is almost certainly the longest period I've gone without turning in the last several years and I'm itching to get back to it.

Happenings

Sorry for the lack of updates, I've been swamped with work lately so my shop time has been dramatically reduced. 

I've only been in the shop turning 3 times in the last 2 weeks.  Bernie was over a week ago to rough and core a piece of the Olive I got recently. 

Saturday I turned and cored this set of Olive.

The biggest bowl in this set is 11 1/2" diameter.  I'm undecided about the voids, I may end up filling them in or I may end up leaving them natural.

On Sunday I roughed and cored this set. 

The biggest bowl is 16 1/2" diameter. 

These 3 also have big voids that I'm undecided about.  I've got a while to think about that, it will be at least a year before I get back to finishing these.











I'm headed to Flagstaff to demo at the Peaks Woodturners on Saturday.  I'm going to do the same multi axis demo I did earlier this year in Phoenix and Prescott.  This will be my first trip to the Flagstaff turning club, I'm looking forward to heading North on Saturday morning. 

Sunnyslope Art Walk

Last night was the Fall Sunnyslope Art Walk.  It's a small 1 night show from 5-9PM in central Phoenix.  Things started out pretty slow but a flourish at the end of the night that culiminated in 2 big sales made it more than worth my while.

The pieces below have now found new homes.



Desert Ironwood and Holly




Desert Ironwood












Douglas Fir Burl (set of 2, smaller bowl not pictured)

Central Avenue Olive

I also sold a few other smaller pieces including some magic wands, some pendants, a small burned hollow form, and a lidded box.  A very successful and profitable show.

Warped Olive

A small Olive hollow form I turned yesterday.  I turned it green and quite thin and put it through a couple of microwave cycles to speed dry it.  This piece came from a small burl like area near the bottom of the tree and the stresses in the wood caused a significant amount of warping as it dried.

I'm not sure how much you can see the wood movement.  It's pretty easy to see that the piece is no longer round, what can been seen is the leather like look and feel of the surface.

Weekend work

In progress picture of a 17" Olive platter I roughed out on Friday night.  To start pieces like this I sometimes jam the blank against the jaws of my chuck.  This ensures that the top of the blank is relatively flat and I can easily adjust the position of the blank if it's off center or heavily out of balance. 

The blank is only held in place by pressure from the tailstock, it's driven just by friction.    The underside of the platter has been roughed out and the tenon has been formed.  I neglected to get any more in progress photos.  From this point the blank is turned around, gripped in a chuck, and the top side turned so the whole piece is a uniform thickness.

This piece will end up with a partial natural edge on both sides.  It's right at 17" now and will spend the better part of a year or more drying.

Saturday I spent several hours working.  First I had to sweep up all the shavings from this week.  Second I finished up 10 seam rippers for my wife's quilting groups.  Next I cut up some more of the Olive from earlier this week.  Last I roughed out some lidded boxes from the same Olive.  I convinced my daughter to try some turning.  I had control of the tools, she was holding on for dear life.  She's now certain that she doesn't want to be a woodturner when she grows up, she's currently got her heart set on being a Kindergarten teacher.

3 roughed out lidded boxes.  They're cut in half and hollowed to about 1/2" thickness.  All 3 were tossed in the same paper bag and placed on a shelf.