Worm Tracks.

[Jack Mincey]

I came up with this form while helping one of my high school students save a bowl out of a large rotten boxelder burl he brought in. I liked the shape we came up with on his bowl so much that I had to turn one using this form. This one is turned from a burled maple blank I had that was at the point of being to far gone. I named it "worm tracks" which the last picture shows why. I didn't fill the worm holes, just left what the worm put in them and soaked it with deft until it became firm. It is 9" tall by 7 1/2" in dia. The finish is many coats of deft brushed on to seal the soft spots in the wood and 4 or 5 coats sprayed over this.
Jack

[Bernie Weishapl]

Jack that is a beauty. Really like the form, wood and finish. Well done.

[alex carey]

Love the form and the wood, nice job.

[Dolan Brown]

Jack,

Beautiful piece. Really nice form.

[Ted Calver]

Jack,
I like that shape and coincidentally have one on the lathe very similar. I hope it turns out as nice as yours.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Jack - love the form! Beautiful wood, great color variation and enough natural stress to give it a lot of character! I understand what you did with the worm holes - but if it were me, I would have picked everything out of the tracks before finishing the piece. Just gives it that much more of a visual impact!

Nice work Jack! Always a pleasure to view your turnings!

[Mark Burge]

Great form Jack. I was wondering if you used the deft during the turning process to help get a clean cut on the softer wood. I have an older hunk of wood that I got from my parent's farm. It is spalted and a little soft, so I was thinking of doing something like this.

[Bill Sherman]

WOW! Spectacular! Love the shape and the wood.

Bill

[Jonathan Harvey]

That is a stunning piece.

[Chris Rae]

Wow! That is a wonderful piece! I love it, the wood, the form, great job!

[Paul Engle]

Jack, Bernie got right, that's a beaut! The shape is spot on and I bet your student/s are beaming from stem to stern over saving the original one. Does you art instructor ever get involved in some of these? Keep up the great work keeping kids off the street and in the " shop "!!!

[Jack Mincey]

Thanks for the compliments everyone. I am pleased with this form and will make more vases with a similar shape. Paul, Our art teacher's room is next to the shop. My students are always taking their bowls over to show her. She entered some of my students bowls in several arts shows for High School Students over the last 3 years. One of the bowls has won first place in their division in every time. Two of my students even received $100.00 prize in two of the shows. Mark, I didn't have to put deft on this bowl to make my finial cut, but we did on the students boxelder bowl. It took 2 or 3 coats of thinned deft before we could get a good finial cut on it. I will post a picture of it when he gets it finished.
Thanks again.
Jack

[Cody Colston]

That's a very nice piece, Jack. It's got curly figure, spalting, worm holes, bark inclusion, natural edge...

They don't get much more interesting than that. Thanks for showing.

[Jeff Nicol]

Jack, Like I said in an earlier post I have been turning a lot of maple and have been finding some of the wormy trails too! The shape and colors of your piece are what make me come back for more! It is lovely and very appealing to the eye!

Great job,

Jeff