Show Me Your Progressive Pix

[Mike Cruz]

Ok, one thing that I know I can't really "see" yet is the best use of a chunk of wood for a turning.

SO! Please show me progressive pics that you have from chunk to rough out to finished piece. You don't need to post a million pics, but feel free to post as many as you like. Likewise, don't just post one project. Post as many different ones as you have pics of.

What I am looking for is the progression of:

1) A log

2) Your chainsaw cut up

3) Roughed out for the lathe

4) Finished piece

Of course any pics inbetween would be great, too! But what I am looking to learn here is how to visualize what kind of piece is best suited for/from a given chunk.

Thanks everyone!

[Mike Cruz]

Oh, come on! 78 views and no pics yet? You're killin' me...

[David E Keller]

Oh, come on! 78 views and no pics yet? You're killin' me...

Uh, it's dark here, and my extremely pregnant wife is asleep. If I were to crank up the chainsaw at this hour, my next moment of consciousness would be in the emergency room.

[Mike Cruz]

Maaaaaybe you've already done the picture taking on a previous project?....

Hey, if you cranked up the chainsaw, you'd have a weapon, some protection... never mind, they'd be nothing against a freshly awoken pregnant woman...

[Joe Shinall]

Uh, it's dark here, and my extremely pregnant wife is asleep. If I were to crank up the chainsaw at this hour, my next moment of consciousness would be in the emergency room.

I can second that, and mine's only 4 months...

[David E Keller]

I can second that, and mine's only 4 months...

We're due in less than three weeks... Uh oh, I think I heard her... Gotta go hide!

[Mike Cruz]

Great, just great, I'm making an honest effort to learn here, and I get hijacked by hormonal women and ankle biters!

[Jeff Nicol]

Mike, This is one of those questions that could be answerd in a thousand ways and still not get all that you seek. The wood has very little or no shape to it when we start, that relates to the finished piece. What I see and what Steve, Curt, Mike, Bernie, John, Leo, and on and on see may not be what your mind wants. We can give you pieces and processes to ponder, but you have to let what ends up in your hands come from within your mind and interpretation of what is and what is'nt. The process is looking at the wood and seeing something that you like and how you want that feature of grain, color, knot, void or crack to be placed on the turning. The piece of wood will most always dictate what shape of turning can be made from it, as 8x8x3 blank is most always going to be a bowl or short squat hollow form, a 5x5x10 can be a tall hollow form, a box or 2, a goblet, a vase, etc. When you have the log laying in front of you with the bark on it, there really is no way to know what lurks under the bark, we know that limbs create wild grain and feathers at the crotches, that cracks and bumps on the bark can be burl or bug, bird, mother nature damage that has been grown over by the bark. So making the first cut into the log can be where all the inspiration comes from, by what is revealed within. Once you can see what is inside by either cutting in half, cutting of an end to check for spalting, cutting into a crotch etc. you will now be able to envision what your eyes see and what type of turning could come out of the wood. There is no perfect science to it at all, for I have many times chucked up a piece of wood and had a thought in mind only to end up with nothing like what I had envisioned.

That all being said, just decide if it is a bowl, hollow form, plate, vase, or what ever you want. Orient the grain and color where you think it will come out best and start that thing spinning! I can post pictures if you like, but I have to find something that I have a running record of, most times I never have a before, during and after record of how the piece was made.

Good luck, and just close your eyes and see what appears to you,

Jeff

[Mike Cruz]

Thanks, Jeff. I do realize that you need to use the force. I also realize that while there are certain parameters and ratios that make a piece "work", that this is an art, not a science. Thank you for that reminder and vote to just "do it"...it does help.

I guess what I am looking for lies in what you touched on... each chunk somewhat dictates what it could be. And I suppose that is what I'm interested in learning. By seeing what has been made from what chunks, I might get a better grasp of the process of transformation. By seeing what bowl, hollow form, vase, or gobblet came from what chunk, I hope to grasp the vision of at least a direction to take.

I do realize that there isn't one path, one right way, one possibility that could come from a chunk. That is, as you mentioned, up to he who holds the wood.

Thanks, again, for your input. Yes, I would love to see pics, but if you don't have them, I doubt I'll be able to see what your pieces started out as...after all, while I know some of you guys are good at making bowls out of chunks, I don't think any of you are good enough to reverse the process.

[John Keeton]

Mike, I agree with much of what Jeff has said. I am just not at all sure that it is possible to verbalize how those decisions are made, and each person makes those assessments differently - and even differently as to each piece. In other words, the process may not always be the same for any individual turner.

I have said before that I approach the decision making differently than most in that I usually decide what I want to turn, and then scrounge through my stash to find a piece that will work. Of course, that requires a "stash", and it takes time to accumulate that. And, in my case, an investment as I buy most of my wood already dry, and I use a lot of burls.

I rarely take progress pics unless I anticipate posting a thread on the process. I did do a tutorial for another site on The Witch's Cauldron, and there are a series of pics there. But, for the sake of giving you some idea of what I do, here are some pics of a piece I did recently. I took these as I felt someone might be interested in how the lid was done.

For this piece, I knew the shape I wanted, I knew I wanted a natural edge all around, and I knew approximately the size of the piece. So, I went through the burls I have to find one that would permit me to extract the piece. That really is how I do the vast majority of my turnings.

Not sure it helps you, but my wife isn't pregnant, and I didn't have to crank up the chainsaw! So, at least you get one set of pics!

2010_07180007.JPG 2010_07180008.JPG

[Dennis Ford]

While I think that "just do it" is good advise, progress pictures are a good idea. I will try to remember to take some.
In my case, an interesting piece of wood often sits for hours, days or weeks until a design soaks through my hard head. After that, I want to make shavings fly and see results. It will take some planning to remember the camera.

[John Hart]

Mike...back in 2005, we sorta made a pact here to to exactly what you're suggesting. The pact held pretty good for quite a while and we saw lots of before and after pictures. Kinda dwindled away though.

I think that pact should be renewed.....it was always interesting to see what people started with....even if it was just a block of wood.

[Jack Mincey]

I don't usually take progress pic's, but this was such an unusual piece of wood the excitement got me to take a few pic's as I worked it up. I will post another pic today of the set sanded and ready for finish when I get the last two bowls sanded and the foot turned off.
Jack
The burl.

The burl cut into blanks. Some of the blanks have already been move behind my shop for storage.

Blank roughed out for coring.

Coring out the last nature edge bowl from the blank

Cored set of nature edge bowls. I also got two none nature edge bowls from this blank.

[John Hart]

Wow!! Nice Pictures Jack!

[Roger Chandler]

Now that is a burl! Really nice wood, and much appreciation for you sharing that with the rest of us!