I have been trying to figure out what to do with this particular piece of wood for about 18 months.......several times I picked it up and could not decide what I wanted to do. This particular piece of maple came from a larger blank that cracked and I cut it down basically into a cube shape but left the undulating natural bark edge on it, so I had thought a few times about making a natural edge something or another from it.
Yesterday, I just finally decided to see if I could not get it to a point I could put a tenon on it...........[I was glad by the way that I had the chuck plate I got from Jerry Marcantel in Arizona.......it came in really handy!]
I had one of those design opportunities on this one.........I had to change the original design of the pedestal because when I went to reverse and turn the bottom off, a couple of cuts revealed a bark inclusion and part of the base broke off..........that mandated turning the bottom feature away to a smooth curve up to the base of the bowl and bead underneath. Sometimes one never knows what the wood will reveal, and make you change your design a little! The pic does not show it, but it has a good bit of curl in the grain as well as the spalting.
This is 6-5/8" wide and you can see one side is higher than the other, and it is about 5.5" tall. This went through about 5 sanding sequences total, with shellac sealer added after the first two sequences......then sanded back, a coat of WOP added, sanded back after drying and then another coat of WOP........a total sequence from 120 - 400 grit, then another coat of shellac and the final coats of WOP.......... This thing was sanded slick as a billiard ball! Getting some items ready for placement in galleries.
I have been under the weather for the last two weeks, so my turning time has been limited, so it was nice to get back in the studio er, uh.........shop! Comments always welcome!
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In case anyone might be interested.........my new website is now up. I will edit my profile so that folks can click on my avatar and link to the site.