Friday I posted a note about some fresh, green madrone with a blueish tint here (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...0-Blue-Madrone) and recieved several messages wanting to see how it turned out. I began to make a 22-inch bowl but decided to make something smaller since it was so late in the day. I turned the urn you see here within an hour of when the tree was felled, and had to constantly wipe off my face shield because of the water spinoff. After turning it, I dried it in the microwave two minutes at a time, then applied some boiled linseed oil.
In less than ten hours it warped all to heck, which is what I expected (and wanted) it to do. I love the adventure of this! You just never know what to expect from turning such green wood, and I'm certain there will more distortion in the coming weeks. I also expect the reds to darken and a grain texture to appear.
You can see the blue/purpleish hue on almost every side, but that bright red streak is a curiosity.
I have so much of this that I plan to turn some really huge salad-type bowls, probably with extra tall bases so I can turn them flat after all the warping is complete. I'm also going to rough turn some blanks, seal them, and put them in the drying shed. Should be interesting. Will keep you posted.
Size is 10" wide and 11 inches tall.
Blue Madrone Urn 1.jpg Blue Madrone Urn 2.jpg Blue Madrone Urn 3.jpg
Reply With Quote
