Stoppers

This year I started turning bottle stoppers. This picture is of the ones that I took to Christmas with the family to give away. I have had some fun with these...quick, unique, satisfying. I had the larger stoppers for several years and tried to build my own mandrel, but it never worked well and I gave up. I recently purchased a mandrel from Ruth Niles with some of the shorter stoppers. It works like a champ! I knew I was going to make some presents and I needed to order some more stoppers so I ordered from Ruth again. When the check got there she emailed me to say that she sent them out. I thought this is cool, response from a real people. Then a couple of days later, she called me, said that she had a couple of orders "get lost" in NJ and wondered if I got my order. I said no, she called back next day...I said I was not in a hurry, lets see if it comes and it came on Thursday. I really love buying from small companies that care about the customer.

Commission

This is the first "commission" I have had.  I try and give bowls to people who give me wood but this was can you make me some bowls if I give you some wood... She wanted to pay me and ask what I would charge.  I have no idea what to charge and no idea what they are worth.  It was taken from land her husband's family owns in WVA and that the parents never got to move to and there is just a camp there now that the boys use it I guess.  She wanted to give one to her husband and his mother.  Both of these are from the same log, claimed to be a Chestnut Oak.   Clearly oak and darker than the other log that looks to be white oak.

I roughed out both blanks and turned what the wood gave me, like I almost always do, sometime I have to start having design ideas but  I have not gotten there yet.  This first one is rather V shaped with some curves to it.  It has a couple of nice knots in it that give it some character.  I roughed it out with a tenon on the end and got it fairly even and thin.  It stayed pretty round, though some of my pictures don't show that and there was little or no cracking. 

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The second one is another story.  I had a recessed dovetail and when I roughed it out it was pretty thick and thicker at the base.  it has a large knot in it and it started to crack on the outside near the knot.  I turned out the cracks and made a bowl from what was left..  The knot kept cracking and has some CA holding it together..   It moved a lot but doesn't look that bad in pictures.  Maybe it came back as it dried.    I put a couple of coats of salad bowl finish on them and looked pretty good rubbed down with steel wool a little bit.

sometimes it's the tree...

I am always on the lookout for wood and if I get something I try and make something for the donor.  Mary's neighbor took down a tree and by the time I got there he had gotten rid of all but one log so I took it and made a bowl.  The bowl is cool in that it has a bark inclusion on the base and some sort of inclusion running through the bottom of the piece and makes the C shape in the bottom of the bowl. ....

The bowl had been hanging around  the house and I was trying to find out what type of tree it was.   Mary said that it was one with the bark that falls off.  Sycamore, one of the many types... So when I heard that he was selling the house soon because they are going through a divorce, I thought it important to get it to him.  I gave it to Mary to deliver and it turns out that his wife was there most of the day cleaning out stuff from the house and after she left, Mary delivered the bowl and he was very appreciative of it.   With all the disruption in his life, this is a touch of memory of something that grew during the good times of his life there.

Bad day at the office..

This was an experiment that ended up poorly... This was a piece of Brenda's wood that I am trying to make something out of.  I had roughed half the log out and I am letting it dry some.. The sap wood is oxodizing (I think) and is turning rusty colored.  I had just been to a club meeting where the demonstrator mentioned that he turns as green as possible and the sapwood does not get as brown and more contrast if turned green... I thought I would turn the second half of log green and see what happens...  I have not been turning much and have been making lots of errors by getting too thin in some spots.  So I just wanted to get some turning in and make some sawdust.  I was doing pretty good and it sanded nicely doing well.  I liked it a lot... the sap wood was turning out nice and white which is what I was trying to do.  The base was discolored and I wanted to try and finish it.  I put it in my cole Jaws but I was afraid of distorting it and making the rim wavy.  I pulled up the tail stock and was taking off the base.  the knob that the tail stock was in split and instead of just carving or snapping it off, I tried to turn it off and it jumped out and broke.  I was bummed but I noticed how consistent it was all the way around.  it is slightly thicker at the rim but I like the feel of that. 

the week that wasn't

It has been a weak week in my turning world...  The good news is I got some locust (I think) from BrendaL.  Bad news is I have been working on the mud room and very little time on the lathe...I did 1/2 a small ash rough out and cracked big time...   I started finishing a beach bowl...I was very conservative and is rather thick but trying to get something out of these Smail blanks..

I have been working on my 2nd hollowing ...cherry 'bowl' because it is mostly...realized base is real thin and not finished.....that is a bummer...  I am very sad...  I hope the next week will get better...

oak and chainsaw....

I got a couple logs of oak to make some gifts for Linda D.  One of the logs was pretty decayed on the outside but the inside is looking good...I think it is red oak... The other I think is white.  I split them up when I got them on friday and then the chainsaw started acting up... Got one half of the red cut to size and roughed out.   Today I bought a spark plug, sharpened the chain and cut the other to size.  there is a branch that will make nice character...   I rounded it out and have it sitting is shavings waiting to get hollowed out tomorrow.   Need to find out how to keep chainsaw running..... 

I need to finish the bottoms of 2 bowls...cherry from Deb M. wood and Box elder ...with some character...  I bought some acrylic finish to try and avoid box elder from yellowing...lets see what happens..

potter county timbers

Went to State College last weekend to see some PSU football and to see the Smails.  Pat and Nancy had some trees taken down a month or so ago... They had 4 logs for me ....2 ash and 2 beech...I have already messed up an ash blank...bummer..  I have been having trouble with the curve at the bottom and got too close, tried to fix it and boom...  I have 3 rough turned bowls though...hoping to get some to come out...  Saving some of the cutoffs on the sides, maybe an ornament or bottle stoppers... I would like to get them something nice...maybe for all the members of the family...

These two pictures are from the beech and the growth around damage and then growing around it... the marks below the growth were a little punky but not too bad..  in the roughed out bowl i soaked it with CA.  The wood  at the barkless area was  dark from exposure but not deep at all  Wood turned nicly, waiting to see how it checks, moves...  hope to get some turning done this weekend.  sure wish I could cut down on the sanding by having a good finishing cut...