Mystery Hollow Form - now revealed!!!

[James Combs]

Steve,
Since you extended the guessing another day, I'm guessing Kentucky Coffee Tree.

Ditto on the KY coffee tree.

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Steve,
I could grow old trying to guess and never come close. You are a master at creating suspense. Alfred Hitchcock couldn't have done it better. It's too bad we couldn't sell commercial time on this site while we all wait for your answer. SMC could have said it was selling air time for the "Super Bowl" .
By the way, nice turning......as always.
fmr

[Jeff Nicol]

Steve, Since you said that it is not native to your locale, that puts it somewhere far away. With all my infamous wisdoma and now onto my 3rd and potentially 4th guess. It looks a lot like Yellowheart, and since you said that it soaked in danish oil I think that it would look just like that.

My last and final guess is some old growth southern yellow pine, but as I look at the wood in the pictures more the grain structure and basic under color does not lend itself to the pines or firs. The early and late wood is too small and even to be a pine so I am going with the Yellow heart!

How much longer are you going to tease us? Where did this streak of evil come from? I always thought you were a kind and compassionate soul.

Rescue us from the suspense.......................PLEEEEAAAASSEEE!!!! !

Jeff

[Steve Schlumpf]

Here are a couple of photos of the wood I used for the hollow form.

Western Red Cedar v1.JPG Western Red Cedar v2.JPG

This is an old dry 4"x4" out of Western Red Cedar!

The dimensions for the hollow form: 3 1/4" diameter x 2 1/4" high x ~1/16" thick. I am a firm believer that if you have the form correct - actual size of the piece can be hard to determine. In this case, the very tight growth rings got me to thinking…. would folks be able to guess the size? If not - then maybe I got the form just right on this one!

Cedar Soak v1.JPG Cedar Soak v2..JPG Cedar Soak v3.JPG

This little hollow form is undergoing an experiment of being immersed in Watco 'Natural' Danish Oil for 12 hours, then drying for 12 hours, then back in to soak. I hope that it will eventually become translucent like many of the Norfolk Island Pine pieces that we see. If it works - as hoped - I have plans to turn something for an local juried art contest this November. I will post the results.

Thanks for playing along with the guessing game! Unless I missed someone else - Mark Hubl was the only one to guess Cedar - so he came very close!

Hope everyone had fun! I know I did!

[Tom Sherman]

Great stuff Steve, had me stumped all the way around. Never considered Cedar at all and the size was a complete mystery. Finish is looking good so far.

[David Woodruff]

The wood looks like old growth heart pine from the south, or fir, or hemlock. Could be Mulberry. Its either a double crotch or a great job of gluing. Size is probably 6" to 15" dia. x 4"-6" tall. Might be Osage but the color is a little off. I will think some more and I do not a have trouble making up my mind.

[David Woodruff]

My second opinion. HF from old timber, I suspect fir, not a crotch. I think an old 8" x 10" or similar chunk. Nice tight growth rings. I can not decide if color is natural. This is a nice challenge Steve has presented to us. Being new to the Creek this is a fun game for us turners. Thank You Steve

[Mark Hubl]

Very nice Steve. That should look really nice after soaked through. It will have a wonderful sheen and feel. Great form. Size from a closeup can definetly be hard to discern.

[David Helm]

Well, I only got to this forum this morning but knew right away what it was. I was sad to see that you told everyone so quickly. I've been working with Western Red Cedar for 40 years and would never mistake it for anything else. The on edge turning made me hesitate, but not for long. Your oil finish gives it a slightly different color than I am used to, but WRC often shows a variety of colors from nearly white to brown to a very nice red.

[Paul Douglass]

Even looking at the chunk of wood, I would have switched to fir. Show what I know.

[Bill Bulloch]

After carefully studying the piece and applying my vast knowledge of wood and after carefully reading "ALL" the post, my guess is "Western Red Cedar".

DID I WIN OR WHAT?

[Andy Hoyt]

Hey - now come on Steve.

We all know that WRC is a fabulous roofing material; and that roofs protect the attic.

I'm crying foul.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Andy - sorry, but if you had noticed in the photos... that wood was stored and cut in my BASEMENT shop! I am willing to go as far as giving you partial credit for mentioning some kind of wood found in a house - but that's all I am authorized to do at this point in time.

Thanks for playing! Better luck next time!

[Andy Hoyt]

Yeah, but not when I cast my guess.

Who's doing all this authorizing malarkey?

Are we gonna have to fire your "ED" over this?

Gawd, I need a Moxie!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Wow....... nap time?