Elm Vase

Between work, school and honey do lists I've not had a lot of time to turn. I've been "working" on this since December. Started from a freshly cut elm log. The form is 19" tall and about 10" in diameter. Not real happy with the final shape or the cracking due to improper drying. It's a little different here in NM where the humidity has been 6%. This is the deepest I've hollowed so a lot of learning points. Thanks for looking. Couple WIP photos as well.

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Very impressive vase, elm is resistant to cracking but nothing is bullet proof. Drying wood this time of year is very difficult.

Great looking vase and a very impressive size. But I agree the cracks really distract from this beauty. Might be a good candidate for some kind of epoxy filler and a couple butterflies.

sorry it cracked..it would look good with tall dried flowers

Nate,

I don't often comment on pieces but for some reason felt I need to on this one. I feel the shape is very nice. It reminds me of Rockwood pottery. They used to make shapes like this that sold well. As someone mentioned elm is generally easy to dry but I guess the stress of being worked on and put away over six months or so was to much. To bad since this was/is a keeper. As Curt said this may be a candidate for some filler. If the straight crack lines look to awkward you can take a dremel with a small abrasive cutoff blade and make those lines look like grass stems, then fill them (you may need to add other lines that are not cracks to achieve this). The one at the rim could be turned into a water fall look. So many possibilities so don't give up on it. Worst case scenario you still don't care for it but you have gained some valuable experience in embellishing. Could end up being really cool looking. Ohh I just dated myself using that word cool didn't I :)

Thanks for the advice and comments Dale, I'll put some thought into embellishing the cracks.

I think it looks great. anything truly beautiful is also flawed.

I like it ,cracks and all they add a lot of character . Elm is a verry fine even grain wood ,tough , light ,and butiful with just light oil .

Very nice work Nate, I think Curt has a good idea or you might try just the epoxy.

Hey Nate,

I don't have any suggestions but I really like this piece a ton!