WOOD ON WEDNESDAY

Here is the finished Avocado vase;

  it is 7" tall and about 2 1/2" wide.  

Here is the 'buggy' side which has its own charm. 

 (The vase has resided in a bag after being 'sprayed' for a week, so it is definitely bug-free now!  Since I am gifting it back to my friend, I wanted to be sure!)  

 

WOOD ON WEDNESDAY

A few months ago, a friend gave me a 6' piece of her avocado tree that had died in our freeze last winter.  I cut off a 12" piece to turn her a memento vase.  The wood is full of holes from tree larva which give it the character I enjoy in a piece of wood!  And might I mention, not all of the 'worms' were dead!  Well, they are now! I just need to cut it off the lathe, sand and sign it but my work was interrupted by a phone call from said friend

 inviting me to go on an adventure! 

An older mutual friend is selling her house and needed to clean out her sewing room!  We bought a lot of fabric at prices that we couldn't resist and at the same time, we helped her out! 

I managed to find quite a lot of coordinating fabrics which I will sure enjoy working with in the future months!  

WOOD ON WEDNESDAY

A Bradford Pear 1/2 log was loaded onto the lathe.

I had drawn a 6" circle to guide with with how much wood to turn away.

It didn't lake long to get the outside of the bowl turned, 

sanded and the finish applied!

The next day, I turned away the center of the piece of wood 

to shape a sweet little bowl!

You will note that between the picture above and this one,

 there is now a new design element added to the shape of the bowl!  The knot on the side blew out.

 I sanded the 'hole' and moved on.

Soon, the sanding and finish were completed and there is a new bowl in the world!  6" x 4"

 

WOOD ON WEDNESDAY

I turned a sycamore log into a vase over the last few days. 

 it is 9' tall and about 6" across.  The orange and dark lines are just beautiful in this wood though they are caused when the wood begins to rot from insect infestation!

I keep a lot of the 'imperfections' which make the character I appreciate when working with the wood.  

You can see what an ordeal it is to make the hole in the center of the vase.  I put a plastic insert in it,  when finished, so it can hold water for fresh flowers if I want.  I do not hollow out the whole piece-I don't have the right equipment to do that nor the patience! 

It does make a mess when I remove the wood to get the shape I want!  Cleaning up after every block of time I spend there

 is part of the job; I always walk away from a cleaned area.

This wood was very dry because it was cut down several years ago.  It is very dusty--when I turn a piece like this, I use a face mask to keep it out of my nose and lungs!  I thought I looked like Araignee when she is soap-making! lol   

After cleaning up, I have to change my shirt, take off the hat and comb the wood chips out of my hair.  Often, I have to give myself a good vacuum before I can enter the house!  

 

IN THE WOOD SHOP

I hollowed out the bowl

 and then moved right into the sanding and finishing!

I am happy to see it now completed!

7 1/2" x 4 1/2"

Bradford Pear, half log

WOOD ON WEDNESDAY

Another Bradford Pear bowl.  No drama on this one!

I leave some of the bark on the bowl--I love the texture it gives it;  if I wanted a perfect wooden bowl, I could buy one at WalMart!

Today, I will hollow out the bowl.  

 I will be making a beautiful mess!

 

CYPRESS POTTERY

How many times have you assumed a project was going to be easy and then you hit a glitch when you least expect it!  The beginning of the bowl went great--fun to shape it into what I had hoped would look like pottery.

When I turned the bowl around to hollow out the inside but it was only a few minutes before it flew off the lathe! 

 ( I am positioned where I am not in the line of flying bowls!!) 

 I had noticed the bowl had several punky spots but I had hoped the wood sealer would strength it but I was wrong.

I had to set it back up to work on the bottom again which is not an easy job because you have to get it aligned perfectly so that it spins just like it did on the first go!  A lot of fussy work ensued but I eventually got it.  I had to turn  off about 1/2" and make another mortise.  Then sand the new wood and add sealer but I hung in there with rests in between coats!  I will try to hollow it out again later today,  if I have enough energy because I am going to lunch with some quilting friends!

(Today is my grandson Ethan's birthday, he would've been 10.  I am going to spend time with friends who will understand.)

And see the bug holes?

I did see one 'guy' retreat deep inside where I couldn't reach him so I expect more fun ahead with this piece of wood! lol

 

WOOD ON WEDNESDAY

Bill helped me split a piece of Magnolia for a small bowl.

I drilled a hole to hold it the worm screw and set to work.

In no time, I had a beautifully shaped bowl and could see some spalting in the wood; always a bonus.

Soon enough, it was sanded and shellac was added.

When it was dry, I turned it around in the chuck and began to hollow it out.

I decided to leave the top edge uneven as the wood was shaped, called a live edge; I merely softened the edges with some sanding.

The shellac will be dry and ready for its debut in about an hour. 

 I need to sand it and add one last coat. 

 I will do that this morning because I ran out of time yesterday!

 

WOOD ON WEDNESDAY!

I finally got out to the lathe again!  The heat wave, among other things, has made it intolerable in the garage where my shop is set up.  The cooler day, an A/C unit on pointing right at me and some black walnut wood to play with all tempted me out to play!  I must admit, I am a bit rusty but with only a few mistakes,

 I enjoyed myself and no injuries ensued! 

I sanded and applied the first coat of shellac before I called it quits.  You can easily see how rich and dark the black walnut wood is!  It is a hardwood and required sharpening of the bowl gouge often.

After the second coat of finish dries this morning, I will begin the work of hollowing it out!

WOOD ON WEDNESDAY

I have a new vase on the lathe out of brown birch wood. 

 Today, I will be drilling out the center for the flower stems.

Bill and I did some rearranging and cleaning in my wood shop.  We found a new shelf that was much larger and stronger and restacked the wood I've chosen for future projects. 

 I do like to work in a neatened area!

We took an unexpected trip to St Augustine because my fancy sewing machine needed a part so I have my portable machine in its place until I get mine back next week!  I'm thankful for the back-up machine because I would have withdrawals otherwise! lol

We had this glorious sunset last night and about five minutes later, it poured!  Debby had to take one last swipe at us!

 

WOOD AND STONE

This bowl is from the other half of the little log. 

 It is so nice to work with the Black Walnut; 

 the grain is gorgeous and sands up so smoothly.

It was fun to make this one

 and the bark stayed on in every inch of the rim

 so that worked up beautifully 

with the finish to bring out the rich color!

Right now it is sitting on the table with a piece of green Jasper 

that I had found in  Washington.  

They make a great pair!

 

SOME FABRIC AND WOOD

A bit of stitching to build all of the star blocks. 

 (the one on the right is going on the bottom row 

but I am lining them up here until I can attach them!)

I also loaded a little half log of black walnut 

and it easily developed into a sweet little bowl!

I love the deep color and there isn't even any finish on it yet!!! 

 Might I mention how wonderful it is to work in front of the A/C unit in a cooler garage! (80* instead of 95*)

 

WOOD ON WEDNESDAY

I have been working on the finish on the outside of the the brown birch bowl-lots of sanding and Shellac, repeat!

But yesterday, I moved on to the the inside of the piece 

and made a bowl!  

I love to see the pile of shavings as I remove the wood to make it just so!

The putty has hardened and made a good repair in the crack (which was a chain saw stutter!

Today, I have to turn the bowl around and take off the tenon, 

sign it and take its glamour shots!

 And look what I have in the window over the lathe where I work!!!  An A/C unit! It's not enough to cool the whole garage to 74* but it sure will take the humidity and heat down and every little bit will be much appreciated!