A little sumpn', sumpn' - Flaming vase

[Roger Chandler]

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This is a piece that was a cut off from the box elder maple that I and other members of our club took down because of storm damage a few months ago. As you can see it had quite an infestation of box elder beetles!

I am testing a new gouge, and I had 45 minutes I could spare on Saturday for putting a grind on it and trying it out. So, I looked around at my stash of small blanks and decided to get this one out of the box.

It is 5" tall and 3.5" wide at the shoulder and hollowed by hand with a set of mini hollowing tools from PSI [must be why my fingers are a bit sore today! ] I much prefer the Monster rig, but that was over kill for this one!

I have a good number of large blanks from this tree............looking forward to weather cooperating with me to get a few of those turned into some larger items!

[charlie knighton]

lots of red in that one, must be pretty close to center.....pretty good form....what did you finish it with.....i wondered when we would start seeing some of the box elder.....thanks for sharing

[Bob Bergstrom]

That is some red. Wish could last forever. Keep it out of the sun.

[Rob Price]

Looks really nice. Does the red always fade?

[charlie knighton]

box it up (bag it) out of the light, bring it out for special ocasions, the red turns to brown then to tan......i have not seen one go all the way gone

the redder it is the punkier it is, the sapwood can have burl eyes and the red is more toward the center

[Dok Yager]

Gorgeous Roger! I think the beetle holes just add to the patina in the piece.

[Doug Herzberg]

Beautiful wood, Roger, and a nice vase.

[Roger Chandler]

Gorgeous Roger! I think the beetle holes just add to the patina in the piece.

Thank you Dok........your comments are appreciated!

[Roger Chandler]

box it up (bag it) out of the light, bring it out for special ocasions, the red turns to brown then to tan......i have not seen one go all the way gone

the redder it is the punkier it is, the sapwood can have burl eyes and the red is more toward the center

Actually Charlie.........this piece has no punky wood at all. This is fairly green wood.........the tree has only been down several months. Thanks for the comments!

[Roger Chandler]

Beautiful wood, Roger, and a nice vase.

Thanks Doug! I was just playin' around a bit just to begin testing this gouge I just received. Been wanting to try this form for a couple of weeks now.

[mike ash]

I like it a lot Roger!! Darn I wish I could find some of that flaming box elder. Will the brilliant red color fade or turn a bit brown after time?

Nice job.........................Mike

[Eric Gourieux]

I really like the form on this, in addition to the wood.

You can't keep us hanging! What gouge did you get?

[Dennis Ford]

Beautiful vase, nice wood too.

[Roger Chandler]

You can't keep us hanging! What gouge did you get?

Well, I am not through testing this as of yet, Eric. This was a small piece because I had really had limited time.....I guess I have to admit, I stole a little time from other things, but they could wait a bit! So, I need to use it on a big project to see its full capabilities..........

It is the newly designed and freshly off the machining process, heat treating, oxide coating and other proprietary processes that Serious Toolworks has just gotten their first batch of these. This is their new Ultimate gouge.

It has a flute all the way through the gouge, and you can put a separate grind on either end. I just put the initial grind on one end so far. The gouge sharpened like a dream on my 60 grit Norton 3x wheel and the finial pass or two on my CBN wheel. The metal is very hard to hold an edge a long time.......I never resharpened at all on this vase. The gouge is still sharp and in order for me to determine how long the edge lasts, I will have to have a bigger project!

On this vase, I used the 1/2" gouge and I received the 5/8" as well, but have not had a chance to put it to wood as of yet...I hope to do so within the week if I can work it out!

Their other ultimate gouge had a deeper flute, but they redesigned the gouge, and so far at least, I really like what I am seeing with this 1/2" unit. They do not release the details of the metal........it is proprietary, but I think Scott Trumbo told me they usually have 68-70 rockwell hardness.

Serious Toolworks has given me extraordinary customer service.........the folks there are so easy to work with. I have no affiliation or interest whatsoever in the company, but am just a satisfied end user of a couple of their products. I have their cam-lock handle and man it is the sweetest handle I have ever seen or used........just my opinion and frame of reference!

I will probably post a review when I get a bigger project completed with these new ultimate gouges...........so far, I am liking what I am seeing with the new flute design and the wonderful edge I was able to put on it!

[robert baccus]

Stunning vase and wood too.