Fuzzy Turns

A while ago I posted Oops(II), about an ash vase cracking open at the neck and then losing a few bits which essentially meant it was a vase no longer. I have reworked that piece and it has now become a box.

Since the top was no longer available, I had to find something different for the lid. Not a problem, he said, we have some nice curly olive ash, which will do very nicely, thank you.

Since the colouring of the two pieces was quite substantially different, I had to come up with an idea to overcome this. Out come the dyes, and here’s the result. Not too shabby, if I may say so myself. It’s about 8″ tall and 4″ diameter, a nice size to store pens, keys, or whatever you want.

I particularly like lid, with its swirling grain, and some curling going on there, too. My wife still says it looks like an urn (which it isn’t because there’s no thread on the lid). Well, whatever. I like it. And you?

OK, I have to admit, this is starting to get spooky. Now I have also won the chairman’s challenge for August, being absent in Tuscany all the while, and with a fellow club member presenting my piece on my behalf.

This tazza has been lying around the workshop for several months in pieces. I started with it, then realized that segmented turning is not all that easy, especially of one doesn’t have a precise table saw. Which I don’t, and even if I wanted, I simply don’t have the space.

Making the segments with a bandsaw and then sanding them into the right shape is tricky at best. The slightest inaccuracies show up tremendously when glued together, especially in the center where they are all supposed to come together in a neat star shape.

I couldn’t achieve this, and therefore put it away and thought: ah well, another lesson learned. But then came up this chairman’s challenge, and I thought: OK, the other rough turned tazza I have is a long way from finishing, so why don’t I finish this as best as I can and we’ll see what happens. And there we go: I win again.

The good points are: It is a nicely balanced piece. The foot and the tazza walls are thing (I am talking less than 2mm). The colour contrast between the plum and the alder does come out very nicely and it is pleasant to look at.

The bad points are: The foot is too big. The stem could have some more interesting detail (and be thinner, but then I’d lose the pattern). And most of all: the segments do NOT match up all in the centre. You can’t see it in the picture above (devious, I know), but it’s bad.

Nevertheless. I’ll take the win. Sorry, guys. Not apologetic. No, not at all.

My oh my, this is starting to get serious! My candlestick (picture below) has one its category in July. Bham! Kapau!

I got a lot of really good feedback on this piece. People liked the organic look, and the combination with the brass insert into the foot (yes, take a closer look, there is a flame inside).

This piece almost didn’t make it to the finish line. The initial idea was to have the very top shaped as petals. However, most of this piece is made from monkeypuzzle, a very soft wood, and when I started shaping the petals, they broke off one by one.

Now, when it comes to a competition, I am not one to throw the towel in so easily. I decided to cut off the entire top and make another one from a harder wood (sycamore, in fact), and not faff around with petals and the likes.

Lucky me, the end result is indeed pleasing to the eye (and the judges, but the sounds of it).

Now, before y’all get excited out there and start wanting one of these: I am not making more of these unless somebody pays me some serious money. The amount of work involved is staggering, to say the least. So for now, appreciate the picture, coz that’s all there is.