blue maple vase

[Wes Ramsey]

I turned this from the 'scrap' piece off the back side of a long crotch piece. Turns out the scrap was WAY prettier than the feather crotch! I haven't been turning but for a year, but I've never seen figure like this in a piece of wood. Simply amazing. The dye really makes the grain pop and it looks almost like stone or maybe granite. I finished it with lacquer and buffed it out with the Beall buff wheels. C&C appreciated.

My one disappointment in the piece is that the chatoyance is very muted. When the lacquer was wet the grain looked wonderfully deep and even 3D, but dry and buffed to a shine it looks flat. Almost no chatoyance at all. I love the result, but I would have preferred to have the depth show up like it did when it was wet. What would be a better finish or method to coax out the chatoyance for future pieces?

blue maple vase 1.jpgblue maple vase 2.jpgblue maple vase 3.jpgblue maple vase 4.jpg

[Roger Chandler]

Fine work, Wes! That has some wow factor to it! Nice dye job, and I like the grain structure. What are the dimensions?

[Dennis Ford]

Very nice work! It looks great in the picture, I think lacquer was a good choice. If you are not happy with the lacquer, might try another brand.

[Wes Ramsey]

Thanks guys! This is my 2nd dye job. I love the depth it adds. I'm using Minwax gloss lacquer from the local big box. This is my 3rd piece to get a lacquer finish and I think I like it much better than poly. I read a post by Thomas Sturgill from a few years ago detailing his lacquer method - several coats of 1/4 lacquer/thinner, sand smooth, then a light spray with aerosol lacquer. I added the Beall buff step to really bring out the shine and level any runs or spray imperfections that didn't get sanded enough. Works great! As for a different brand of lacquer, would that possibly help to bring out the chatoyance? Like I said, I could really see into the piece when the finish was wet, but when dry it just looks flat.

The vase measures 8.5" tall and 3.5" at the widest point with a 1.25" mouth. I was only able to hollow down a little deeper than 6". That's all my Sorby Hollowmaster would do. I will probably use the proceeds from this vase to get his straight hollowing tool. The swan neck doesn't give much room to maneuver in a narrow piece like this.

[Michelle Rich]

super vase!

[charlie knighton]

like your blue.....nice form.......not that I am an advocate of shiney, but you could probably add a coat of renaissance wax on top of last coat of lacqur.....not saying I would do it but ........

[Marc Tuunanen]

That's pretty awesome Wes. I love the colors. Something I wish to try someday. Got a ways to go before I try stuff like that though.

Cheers Friend,
Marc

[Wes Ramsey]

That's pretty awesome Wes. I love the colors. Something I wish to try someday. Got a ways to go before I try stuff like that though.

Cheers Friend,
Marc

Marc,

Give it a shot! So what if you mess up a piece - its just wood God grows more every day! I'm new at pretty much every aspect of wood turning, and even newer at the finishing part. As long as it has a tenon on it you can strip or sand off any mistakes and try again. The way I see it you can't get good at doing something until you've been bad at it first. I went the easy route and got the pre-mixed Artisan dye from Craftsupplies USA. It is a small bottle, but I used maybe a teaspoon of dye in a couple of tablespoons of DNA and had quite a bit left over. My first dye job I used it straight and it was so blue it was almost black! I figure that bottle will last me well beyond the point where I am comfortable with my dying skills, so no harm in getting it wrong a few times. Just understand that once the dye hits the wood it is THERE. Turned thin you can't sand it off as it will soak through to the inside in spots. The harder spots of wood will soak up less dye so you can sand a bit and make the grain stand out more, or you can finish and leave it. It will raise the grain a bit, so you can wet it and sand before you dye, or sand the raised grain after you dye. If you get some spots too light just put more dye on it and it will add more contrast.

All I'm saying is that art is hard to screw up so don't be afraid to learn from getting it wrong a time or two. You may be aiming for one result and get another, but whether it is 'wrong' is only for you to decide.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Very nice vase Wes! Great job on the dye! It has been my experience that the only finishes that bring out the chatoyance in wood have an oil type base to them because they soak into the wood and not just sit on the surface like lacquer does. You could use an oil based finish, allow to dry, coat with de-waxed shellac, then use a lacquer or just use poly. I switched over to poly within the first few months of turning and have not regretted it because it is quick and fairly easy to use.

[Robert Willing]

Wes beautiful dye job! What dye did you use? I tried some dye from Wood Turners Catalog and was not very successful until I diluted it with DA. Straight from the container is very overwhelming and way too dark.

[Wes Ramsey]

Very nice vase Wes! Great job on the dye! It has been my experience that the only finishes that bring out the chatoyance in wood have an oil type base to them because they soak into the wood and not just sit on the surface like lacquer does. You could use an oil based finish, allow to dry, coat with de-waxed shellac, then use a lacquer or just use poly. I switched over to poly within the first few months of turning and have not regretted it because it is quick and fairly easy to use.

Thanks Steve. The crotch that this piece came off of became another vase, and I gave it to DO treatment. I started brushing it with lacquer, but I may sand it back down and try poly. I've seen what the lacquer will do, now you make me want to try poly. Learning experience for me - same wood, different finish and I can compare results apples to apples.

Wes beautiful dye job! What dye did you use? I tried some dye from Wood Turners Catalog and was not very successful until I diluted it with DA. Straight from the container is very overwhelming and way too dark.

I used the Artisan water-based pre-mixed stuff from Craftsupply USA. I found the same thing with this stuff - too dark when used straight. I thinned it with DNA and it works great.

One note on this stuff...I've read that water/alcohol-based dyes will not mix with oil-based finishes, but I had to try mixing a little with Danish oil to see what it would do. Turns out the internet was right on that one

[George Morris]

That is a beauty!

[Gus Dundon]

I don't know how you created this but that is just an extraordinary lathe project!

[robert baccus]

Try starting your dye job with very thin dye/dna mixtures and adding wash coats to sneak up on colors. Sanding back and going to another color sanded back almost always gives a really neat color if you have any grain showing.

[John Keeton]

Nice work! I am not sure the Artisan dyes are lightfast. If you intend to further explore color, I would suggest some research on that topic. Also, the Transtint dyes will mix with lacquer or shellac, and I have used that method to enhance the effect. You might want to look at Procion MX dyes. They are very lightfast and cellulose reactive. Different from Transtint in that the color changes when it reacts with the wood. Lots to explore with color!!

On figured wood, starting with a diluted black wash will pop the figure and add depth to the overall look.