Work in Progress: Poke

This vessel "Poke" is made of walnut and looks as though one segment is being pushed in causing another to be pushed out...

and the reverse side...

I've been thinking about this design for quite some time now and I'm liking how it's coming along so far...



latest vessel

Wow, it's been a while! It's amazing how fast time can slip away...

Ok, I have been doing some woodworking. I've got a new vessel nearing completion. This vessel is made up of 144 segements of mahogany. I still need to do some sanding and apply the finish, but the turning is done!

Similar to the past couple vessels, "coconut" is also 6" tall with a 6" diameter. There will be a floating bottom to allow the very bottom ring to be made of segments as well. The finish, when applied, will be gloss polyurethane.

Square Segmented Bowl

That's right, I made a square segmented bowl!

made of 25 pieces of pine. I've been thinking of this idea for a little while now. I was supposed to attend my local turners group meeting, but instead I stayed home and worked on this and another project...

The top is about 4" square and the bowl is about 2-1/4" tall.

I think since this worked out fairly well... granted a little rough still... I may give this another go using some hardwood instead.

Work in Progress: Scarred

I did the carved feature of Scarred tonight. I still have a bit of touch up work to do... I also need to finsh sanding the rest of the exterior and complete the bottom, but it's coming along nicely I think.

As I was shutting the lights off in the photo booth, this image caught my attention...

I thought the shadows looked pretty cool here and showed off the carving pretty well...

Sneak Peek - Scarred

My next hollow vessel, which is already underway, is titled "scarred". This vessel will be about 6" x 6" as the last two have been. There are 288 pieces in this vessel and it will also include some carving detail.

Stone

Stone

Stone is made of 85 pieces of Pine. The seam of each segment was hand carved. The entire piece was stained black with Minwax ebony stain before the majority of the stain was sanded off the exterior to add contrast to the stained carving detail. I then finished the piece with 4 coats of tung oil. There are about 20 hours of work in this piece.

Stone is approx 6” tall and 6” in diameter.



Segmented Hollow Vessel #2 - Finishing

With the carving complete, I applied a liberal coat of ebony stain over the entire piece.

The following day, I put the vessel back on the lathe to sand away some of the stain to contrast and highlight the carvings.

I've now applied a single coat of tung oil to the piece. I will add more coats over the next few days...

Missing

I designed and created this piece based on the empty feeling I have from losing my brother Sam last October. Made of 234 individual pieces of Pine, I call this piece "Missing".

Vessel in Progress

I wasn't sure I was ever going to finish the details on this piece! but alas, it's closer to done! I still have some touch up work to do, along with staining and finishing...

This piece will be titled "stone".

Flower

Over the weekend I was able to get together with a photographer friend that snapped a few shots of "flower" for me. It's amazing what a difference a good photo can make!

The black background really looks killer I think. Though the white background provides some really nice detail to the piece.

I'm looking forward to finishing these other couple pieces so I can get some more amazing photos done!

Segmented Hollow Vessel #2 - Carving Complete

After another 3+ hours tonight, I have finished the carving in this vessel. I still need to finish sanding the whole piece... I think I will tackle that tomorrow.

thoughts?

Segmented Hollow Vessel #2 - Turning

After yesterday's glue-up, I started turning the new vessel today. First up was to mount the lower section of the vessel and layout how the base needs to be turned.

Next I turned the rough shape of the vessel and finished the bottom (not shown... sorry).

With the vessel turned around I could start hollowing the inside of the lower section. The tools I have can only go about six inches deep, so I first had to turn the inside of the bottom to the size I wanted. Then I could glue on and start to hollow the next ring.

The final two rings were then glued on and I could finish shaping the outside of the vessel and hollowing the inside.

I didn't want to make the walls of the vessel to thin since I am going to be doing the carving to the outside. The last thing I want to do is carve through the vessel! That would be bad...

This is how the vessel looks after turning...

and this is how the vessel looks after four hours of carving...

It's a slow process for sure, but I do like how it's coming along. I still have more carving and sanding to do, but I think I can get this one pretty close to done this week.

Segmented Hollow Vessel #2 - Ring Glue-Up

Today I got the segmented rings all glued together. Next up is gluing the rings in a stack to form the vessel blank. I've started this too, but there isn't anything to take a picture of yet!

Progress is being made!

Segmented Hollow Vessel #2 - The Beginning

And here were are, right back at the beginning of another segmented hollow vessel. I think I learned a lot from the first one (which still needs to have the gloss poly applied by the way) and hope to make this one even better! so let's get down to it... here's the post-segment cutting mock-up for this new vessel.

This piece includes 85 segments and is 6" tall with a 6" diameter. The glue-up should start tomorrow... hopefully!

New Technique

I had this idea the other day for a way to incorporate carving into my segmented turnings. I didn't want to build a whole new piece to try this out on for fear that I might not like it, so I used an old dish that I've done some color sampling with...

I'm really diggin it! There is some great depth added to the overall look and now I can't wait to put together a new hollow vessel and try this out full scale! I have a couple other ideas on how I can work with this technique in other ways too...

what are your thoughts?

A Segmented Hollow Vessel - Turning

I'd like to start off and say to anyone that wants to turn a hollow vessel... go get a hollowing tool! Using a gouge, scraper and skew I was able to get the results I was looking for, but I believe a hollowing tool would have been WAY easier!

I did turn the bottom of the inside before I finished doing the glue-up. And it's a good thing too, I never would have been able to get it done well otherwise.

I used thin CA to strengthen the foot and that is what is giving the wet effect.

I need to do some sanding now. Sanding the inside is going to be a little tricky, I haven't quite figured how I'm going to do that yet!

I am happy that I've acheived the overall shape I was going for.

A Segmented Hollow Vessel - The Glue-Up

I know this is kind of short and sweet, but i needed to find something to do while I wait for glue to dry! As of this morning I have all 20 segmented rings glued. I'm now working on gluing the rings together to form the hollow vessel blank.

...and since this is such a short little status update, here's another picture to give you an idea of where this piece is going.

yes, you are seeing it right, there is going to be a big hole on one side.

A Segmented Hollow Vessel - The Beginning

What is a segmented hollow vessel? Essentially a segmented hollow vessel is a form of vase without the intention of holding anything. It's an art piece.

I have been working on various design's to follow up my Segmented Abstract Model, Flower, for several months now. I've got a few different designs that I would like to pull together at some point. Recently I came up with a design that felt just right. I knew it was time to make it happen.

With all the sketching done, it was time to make some saw dust and cut some segments. I started the segment cutting yesterday and finished up today. I've got a couple days off from my job and hope to get most of the gluing done before I go back.

The vessel will be six inches high and six inches in diameter and will include 235 segments. Here's a sneak peek...

First Bottle Stoppers of 2011

With the Tung oil and wax finish applied, my first bottle stoppers of 2011 are complete!

2011-001:
151 segments. Made of Mahogany, Brazilian Cherry, Oak, Bloodwood and Walnut.



2011-002:
131 segments. Made of Maple with Oak, Mahogany, Walnut, Brazilian Cherry and Bloodwood

2011-003:

151 segments. Made of Walnut with Maple, Mahogany and Cherry.

2011-004:

151 segments. Made of Mahogany with Bloodwood accents.

2011-005:

151 segments. Made of Walnut with Maple and Brazilian Cherry.

2011-006:

121 segments. Made of Maple with Brazilian Cherry, Walnut, Cherry and brass accents.

2011-007:

51 segments. Made of Mahogany, Brazilian Cherry, Walnut, Maple and Bloodwood.

2011-008:

151 segments. Made of Walnut with Maple, Mahogany and Bloodwood.

2011-009:

151 segments. Made of Walnut with Maple, Mahogany and Oak.

2011-010:

151 segments. Made of Walnut with Maple, Mahogany and Brazilian Cherry.

I'm really happy with some of these new designs and I really like the newer tung oil and wax finish. I think these new stoppers have a much warmer feel to them now.

A New Finish

With the newest set of wine bottle stoppers, I thought I would try out a new finishing technique. Rather than going with the gloss polyurethane, I'm applying two coats of tung oil followed by a buffed paste wax. Here's an example of a finished stopper.

Thoughts?

The New Series - Candy Dishes

I know I've posted a couple pictures previously, but now that I have the first 4 completed, I thought I would post them all at once. These have been tons of fun to work on and I am certainly going to be making more!

The first candy dish includes 61 segments. I stained the wood prior to applying a gloss polyurethane finish. This dish is 2-3/4" tall and has a 5" diameter.

The second candy dish uses a similar design as the first, but includes 121 segments. This candy dish was also stained prior to the gloss polyurethane finish. This dish is 2-3/4" tall and has a 4-5/8" diameter.

The third candy dish includes 81 segments. I decided to skip the stain on this dish and just apply a gloss polyurethane finish to maintain the natural color of the pine. This dish is 2-3/4" tall and has a 4-3/4" diameter.

The fourth candy dish includes 81 segments. Again I decided to not stain the wood prior to applying the gloss polyurethane finish. This dish is 2-3/4" tall and has a 5" diameter.

Part of my original goal in making these candy dishes was to help give me a better visual of how different segment sizes would look as I am designing new pieces. So far I have not been disappointed and I'm looking forward to creating new candy dishes and trying different finishing techniques to continue providing new and different designs.

Please feel free to share any thoughts!

Darryl

New Bottle Stoppers

I had a rather busy and productive night last night. I turned and sanded six new bottle stoppers today. Each one is a new design (with the exception of the one on it's side) and I'm rather pleased with how they have come out. I can't wait to get a nice glossy polyurethane finish on them!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The second one from the left even includes some brass accents. I think my favorite though is the middle one standing up.

A Candy Dish, Cutting Board and Napkin Ring walk into a bar...

ok, probably not the best set-up for a joke, but as far as a list of latest projects go I don't think it sounds too bad!

I finished the latest cutting board that was requested of me. This one is a bit of a monster too with a dimension of 13" x 21"! If it had not already been paid for, I'm sure my wife would have claimed it for her own!

Tonight I turned my forth candy dish. This one is 2-3/4" tall with a 5" diameter and includes 81 segments. I think I will apply a clear gloss finish to this one as I am also planning for candy dish #3. These have been a lot of fun to make, I'm totally making more!

I also finished a prototype of sorts... I had thought of making a segmented napkin ring. I had a chance to get that turned tonight as well.

thoughts? on any of them?