Masks part II

A little more work on the comedy/tragedy masks tonight. The tenon was removed, the bottom tried and turned away and the outside sanded smooth.












The piece was then taken to the band saw and cut in half. I had to make a second cut to even up both halves. They're now within 1/8" of each other in width and length.


















The bottom was left thicker than I wanted, the wood was oriented end grain and the dry hard maple was very difficult to cut. On the plus side it leaves us a little more meat to drill the mounting holes.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

A foot in the door.

I had an idea a couple of nights ago and had to try it out. This was the first opportunity to give it a shot. I started by cutting a piece of Birdseye maple from the veneer log core I got a couple weeks ago. It's only 6" diameter so I was very limited in size but the quality of the wood made up for the lack of size. The piece was ripped in half to give me 2 blanks 6" diameter, 6 1/2" long, and 3" deep.












I marked the center on both sides and mounted it between centers. The drive center is a 1" diameter Woodriver multi tooth drive center (stebcenter). The live center the Jet live center that came with my lathe.  It's nearly identical to the Oneway live center.













The outside shaped and a tenon turned so the inside can be hollowed. I have not sanded yet, the finish is straight off the gouge. I love the look of the Birdseye, unfortunately it doesn't show up very well on what will become the rim or on the end grain.












The bowl was flipped around and mounted in the chuck.  The rim was shaped, and the center is now ready to be hollowed out. The blank wasn't quite big enough to core, and even if it was a little bigger the Birdseye is much less pronounced as the diameter gets smaller.











After hollowing the inside of the bowl was sanded before flipped around again and mounted on my vacuum chuck. The tenon was removed, a small recess turned, and the outside sanded smooth. The vacuum drum I'm using here is a 3" PVC pipe coupler.












The inside of the finished bowl. The rim is under cut significantly so it's not as heavy as it appears. The under cut rim made sanding difficult so the interior isn't as smooth as I would like. Such is life.

Bottom view, this is where my idea came to fruition. Turning the collar for my recent hollow form gave me the idea that I could do the same thing for a foot. I followed the same process as I did for the collar, except instead of fitting it for the opening in the hollow form I fit it for the recess I turned in the bottom. The wood for the ring is Desert Ironwood.

Profile view. The foot gives it lift, the color gives it contrast, and it's a nice surprise for the buyer when they flip it over to see the extra effort put into making the piece special.

Here's my sketch from this evening, before I headed out to the shop.  The shape is different on the outside than what I had drawn but the overall effect is exactly what I had envisioned when I thought of using the collar as a foot. 

A bird in the hand

More work on the Birdseye hollow form tonight. Several small chunks broke out around the crack on the end grain near the shoulder. To prevent the crack from opening wider I wrapped the shoulder with painters tape.














The side opposite of the crack. I think it's neat how you can see how the eyes radiate out from the center on the end grain. They're clearly smaller near the center and grow larger toward the larger diameter.














Unfortunately the center was quite rotten and was torn out. As a result I was unable to finish sanding the bottom. I'm thinking about possibly adding a pedestal and finial to this piece to dress it up and to hide the hole in the bottom.















Profile view. This is the best view of the Birdseye figure and the best representation of the overall shape of this piece. It's a little heavier than I'd like and I'm not quite sure why. It's not overly thick in any area (easily checked because of the crack) I suspect the wood is just denser than it looks.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Scratching the surface

This is one of the other pieces I purchased Sunday night. It had several bark inclusions which I broke loose before starting.










I had high hopes that the black coloring was more than just superficial. To that end I planned to turn a hollow form in this orientation, with the black color and the voids on the top.










This is what I planned to be the bottom. The piece started at 9" diameter and 4.5" thick. I was told it is elm but I now suspect it's maple.









This is a section of the Birdseye Maple veneer boule. Even in a dirty and rough state the intense Birdseye figure is clearly visible.
















And here's the crack running down the side. It's unfortunate that this defect is present but that's what happens when green wood dries too fast.














On the end you can see where the drive centers from the veneer lathe gripped the log as the veneer was being cut. I normally use a 1" diameter drive center. The veneer lathe used one at least 6" diameter.
















The remainder of the veneer boule. 6" diameter and just under 6' long.
















I roughed out the outside of both pieces and then started hollowing with a small scraper. The piece on the right is the piece I hoped would have all the black coloring. That coloring ended up being only on the surface. After seeing the coloring and the spalting patterns I decided to flip the orientation of the blank.








The large void will now be on the bottom and the the lighter color and bug holes on the top.











Profile view of both pieces. I was afraid that I would be disappointed with the blank without the black coloring. In some ways I think that this coloring is better.











Close up view of the Birdseye figure. This stuff is very intense, I can't wait to get it finished.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Wild weekend

Saturday evening was biannual Sunnyslope Art Walk. This was my display. Sales were small and slow but constant and at the end of the night added up to a half decent total. I also got a couple of leads to get my work in some shops and to participate in other shows.









I finished and assembled my peppermill Sunday morning. The oil finish really made the color pop. I still have a few pieces of this wood left but I wish I had more.














Here's the bottom view There are 3 parts visible here (plus 2 screws). The adjustment knob that normally goes on the top of the mill is the darker circle in the center. Both parts of the grinding mechanism are the 2 larger circles. The screws don't secure the mechanism, they only prevent the outside part of the mechanism from rotating while in use.












This is the drive shaft. It's secured upside down to the bottom of the knob. The drive plate goes over the square shaft, the end of the shaft is mushroomed over so it is held in place under the drive plate. This also means that I was able to get a 10.5" tall mill out of a 7" kit.













Sunday night I met another turner that had some wood for sale. Among the pile was this piece of Birdseye Maple. It's about 6" diameter and 6' long. It is the center out of a veneer log. It has a huge crack down one side. I'll have to deal with that once I decide what to do with it. For now I'll just stare at it and think of the possibilities.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone