Yo, B.

And here's the first finished piece I've pulled from The Urner's maple tree (If you remember, a few posts back...) Many thanks guys. I hope you get as much pleasure knowing that old tree lives on and is making someone else happy, as I've gotten helping it along its journey.

This one's about 14 inches across and almost 5 deep. Finished in walnut oil, it's 100% food safe. I think it looks great on our dining room table, and I hope it looks even better on my neighbor's Brian and Christina's table for years to come.

You'll also notice I tried a slightly different signature for the bottom. Several months ago, we took the kids north for a weekend of poking around, and I discovered these green marble bits in a tiny sewing store. I knew they'd come in handy some day. I think I like them.

What do you think?

For Another Day.

Since moving from Atlanta, I think I've mentioned the incidences of my roughs cracking as they dry have gone up. Either I'm not paying enough attention to the circumference/thickness ratios, or the damp nature of my drying space ain't helpin'.

I got tired of throwing out nice, big cherry roughs, so I've decided to try something. Dye and epoxy. Maybe it'll make for a pretty neat design. Dunno. I do know I'll save another piece of wood and learn something in the process if nothing else. So, off we go.

First I got the rough back in round.

Then taped off the outside of the bowl; as it'll be easier to fill the crack full from the smaller side. Otherwise, I'll have a flat spot that won't be rounded.

After filling the crack, I taped up the inside and let it set for a couple of hours to dry. Had to repeat the process, as air bubbles worked their way up and out of the fill. Suppose a thinner epoxy mix might account for alleviating that, but we shall see as I do more of them.

For now, I'm looking forward to finishing this one, and seeing what comes of it. Stay tuned.

What's In Thar?—Part II

A while back, I got a few pieces of wood from my pal Lou Maxon. Lou's been building a 100% LEED certified modern home in Carnation, WA.

I thought this would be a nice little crotch piece to keep his spirits up while the LEED process dragged out. Consider it part of a greater work in progress. (Who knew it took sooooooooooo long to do it right and not cut any corners?)

In any event, Lou was pleased to get it. And even gave us a wee shout out on Dwell Magazine's blog; where he's a recent sanctioned contributor. How 'bout that?

And It Kept Moving, And Moving.

About 18 months ago I thought I'd try and test the limits of my lathe; just how big could I go? So I put on a piece roughly 16" x 24". Never done anything like that before.

And I roughed out this form. (the part about piece of it exploding in my face, requiring several stitches, I'll save for another day.)

It finally got down to about 15% water, so I threw it back on the lathe. I got the inside working well, then had to wrap it in plastic for a few days. You know, things came up.

Getting back to it, I realized the pith (center of the tree) was still moving. That was the biggest movement in the overall drying, but I figured it was pretty much done. Not so!

With it well out of round by the time I turned it around, I figured I'd just carve the outside and be done with it. Piece saved.

As you can see, I ran out of wall. Blew it out. Was paying more attention to the bouncing chainsaw blade that the thickness of the wall, and the you go. Some really pretty firewood.

Once again, lathe and learn.

Debt Repaid.

I often repay someone who's kind enough to give me some wood with something from what they've parted with. Here, this is from those several rounds of cherry I got up the hill in Queen Anne.

When I delivered it, Jim wasn't home. Bu this wife appeared to be genuinely pleased and surprised to see me.

Turned out pretty well. I think, any way. The wood was under 15% moisture-wise when I got back to it. And although the markings aren't all that distinctive, it's still pretty. I turn to carving if the grain is kind of plain. Seems to work well.

And for the bottom, the usual signature Celtic knot. So much nicer than an actual signature. Don't you think?

Cherry. Walnut oil finish. 8" x 15".

Experiment Complete.

Several months ago, I wanted to see if I could save a rotten piece of wood – and if I could, how would it turn?

If you look back, this was the piece with about 16 nails buried in it; and about three-quarters gone. As you can see, really terrific coloring. I only wish I'd spent more time sanding; but to be honest, the smell was really getting to me; and my eyes were watering a lot. (Note: the manufacture says this stuff is very safe to work with; maybe I'm just super sensitive.)

And, oh look... there's still a nail in there...

I soaked the roughed out piece in an epoxy solution from the Rot Doctor (here in Seattle) and let it dry for a while. The upper right hand portion (in the first pic) is all that's not rotten. I was pleased as punch to see the completely mushy parts solidify and then turn well. Although, there is still a very noticeable density difference as it spins, and I was still having a bit of a tear-out issue.

Kinda pricey at $40 for the two quarts needs to soak this piece. But, good to know you can do it if you really, really want to.

Currently this bowl lives in the gallery at tetherinc.com, where I work, down on Occidental. I gave it to Bebet, our curator, after seeing the bowl she had been using for buttons and such, wasn't nearly as nice. And seeing as I rushed this one, I didn't see the point in trying to sell it.

I think it's red maple, but I'm not sure. Finished with a semi-gloss wipe-on varnish.

Suddenly, Serendipity.

A while back I was talking with my neighbor Tom, the master baker. Another neighbor had just taken down a big ol' cherry tree and folks were making a point of stopping to tell him how disappointed they were in him.

Well, had they bothered to look further, they would have seen the poor tree was rotten to the core and could have come down on its own at any time. In its youth, it had split in a storm and never recovered. Interesting to see how nature had tried to grow around the wound and continue on.

But I digress.

This led Tom to mention he had done the same thing several years back, and he still had some of the wood in his garage. (insert drool sounds starting here...)

He was keen to part with a piece, so I told him I'd return it in better shape than I got it. And happily, dragged an old chunk back to my garage and set upon it.

As I got closer to a shape that I liked, the inclusions made it darn near impossible for the piece to dry without cracking. I was surprised a piece of wood this old, stored in a dry garage, still wanted to move as it dried further. And so it cracked. And kept on cracking.

Probably wouldn't have cracked so much if I didn't let it sit so long between sessions. But, as I've alluded to before, sometimes Life gets in the way.

By the time I got back to it seriously, I figured it was shot. There was no saving it. And I showed it to Tom with my regrets. He wanted it anyway.

A few hours after I handed it over, I got an idea. An idea so strong it literally made me stop what I was doing and go back to fetch that wood back. Luckily Tom hadn't thrown it out.

"Carve the outside," I thought. Why not? It'd certainly cover up a lot of the imperfections; the inside was pretty close to done anyway. Might make for an interesting juxtaposition. (I'm not really a fan of that over-used term, but can't really think of a better one.)

And voila!

To think, I was just gonna chuck it. Goes to show me, I was so hung up in my failure, I almost missed the opportunity to see a real opportunity. Wonder how many other times I've done that?