We usually take the winter off of working in the shop, we spend the winter months trapping bobcats. Most of the time I am home with the kids and cathing up on much needed office work. Even though it is noce to take a break from the dust and loud noise; it is also nice to return to it. We have been back in the shop for a month know making table lamps and working on custom orders. My new project for the next few days is this soon to be table lamp. Can you see the beauty? I have taken pictures of the wood before I start working on it and will continue to take pictures until it is finished.
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As you can see the wood has a lot of weatherd gray wood, this will be taken down so you can see the dark rich wood grain. I will also use the dremmel tool to cut off the small branches and smooth up the jagged edges. The whole piece will be sandblasted, this helps get the junk out of the crevices and makes the red part of the wood really shine.
This piece is going to be shortened a bit and it also needs to be leveled up.
The base is far from being ready, it too will have to leveled and cleaned up. You can see a few colored markings on the top, this is art work compliments of my two younger kids.
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This last pictures gives you an idea of how the lamp will sit on the base. I should have more pictures to post this evening. My goal is to have this lamp ready to be sprayed by this weekend.
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I am now off to the shop to sift out the blasting grit, there is a bunch of junk in it that is clogging up the hoses.
Have a great day and will post more soon!!!
-- Tim & Candy Hicks Custom Log Furniture www.rockymountain-twist.com Dust... What Dust
8 comments so far
Dadoo
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1763 posts in 2188 days
#1 posted 1898 days ago
Interesting blog here Candy…will be fun to follow it. Will be better to do it myself someday. What type of medium are you using for sandblasting?
-- Bob Vila would be so proud of you!
trifern
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#2 posted 1898 days ago
What a great looking piece. I look forward to seeing more.
-- My favorite piece is my last one, my best piece is my next one.
Scott Bryan
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27253 posts in 2020 days
#3 posted 1898 days ago
Hi Candy,
This is going to be an interesting post. I will enjoy seeing you bringing out the hidden beauty in these pieces of wood. I will be honest with you, I probably would not have seen a lamp inside the juniper. Sadly that comes from being “artistically challenged”. But I do enjoy seeing those who are gifted in this area plying their skills and transmuting a seemingly mundane piece of wood into a gorgeous piece of functional art.
This blog is going to be fun and I am sure will be enjoyed.
Thanks for sharing this experience with the rest of us.
-- Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful- Joshua Marine
Tim & Candy Hicks
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243 posts in 1908 days
#4 posted 1898 days ago
For Sandblasting we use walnut shell 20/40 , it pits the wood abit but can be sanded out. I like using 40/60 because it polishes the red wood real nice, but takes forever to actually get the trash off. We use aluminum oxide on some of our larger pieces that dont fit in the cabinet blaster, we can recover it quite well and it seems to work just as good.
-- Tim & Candy Hicks Custom Log Furniture www.rockymountain-twist.com Dust... What Dust
Tim & Candy Hicks
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243 posts in 1908 days
#5 posted 1898 days ago
When we first started workign with juniper we struggled to figure out what we were going to do with each piece, now that we have been doing this for 3 years we can look at a piece and kind of know what to do with it. If we find a piece that stumps us and we just do not know what to do with it, we set it aside, in a spot that we see it often and eventually it will just “hit us” and we know what to make out of it. My husband is working on a piece like that know. We had no idea what to do with it, but if you turn it just right you can make a lamp put of it. I will have to post a picture of it, maybe even start a new blog on that piece as well.
Well better get back out to the shop and make more dust.. more pictures are coming this evening.
Thanks every one for looking!!
-- Tim & Candy Hicks Custom Log Furniture www.rockymountain-twist.com Dust... What Dust
GaryK
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10263 posts in 2186 days
#6 posted 1898 days ago
Looking forward to seeing more of this!
-- Gary - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way - Tyler, TX
Mario
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902 posts in 2249 days
#7 posted 1897 days ago
Very nice. I relly like things made from wood like that. It is a reminder of the material that we use.
Thanks for the post. I look forward to seeing more.
-- Hope Never fails
Tim & Candy Hicks
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243 posts in 1908 days
#8 posted 1897 days ago
Scott, I dont think any of us is “artistically challenged” I believe that we all have some type of artistic ability and more often than not we try and force an idea to come to life instead of just relaxing and letting it come to you. I am not a “wood whisperer” hahaha but i have noticed that the more I try to make something come to life, the more frustrated I get. So I quit trying so hard and it just comes to me. The biggest part of woodworking is not making a chore out of it and keeping it fun.
Mario, I sometimes forget how fortunate I am to live here in the remote corner of colorado, we are able to go out in the trees and find our specific natural pieces that have yet to be touched by machinery, plus it is a great time that we have together as a family. We must never forget where our wood comes from and always try to do as much as possible together as a family
-- Tim & Candy Hicks Custom Log Furniture www.rockymountain-twist.com Dust... What Dust
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