Project Information
Nautilus shells are one Nature's more perfect examples of the logarithmic spiral. This is my first attempt and proof of concept in plain 'ole (CHEAP!) pine. Turned out pretty nice. This little guy only has about a 3 inch diameter, but as a proof of concept, I'm pretty pleased with it. I'm planning on making some larger spirals in maple and mesquite. I suspect the final shaping and sanding is going to take just a TAD more time for those…
The stand is a bit of pear tree crotch-wood off-cut. I've been milling some pear that split off a neighbors tree and after flatenning the base, I was struck by how "coral reef" like this bit looked. I didn't have to do a thing to the top to get the shell to sit stably. Thank you Mother Nature!
I ran across Steve Garrison's page a while back. He's got some great pictures of spirals he's built and has an ebook "Wood Shells - A New Art Form". I finally had some time, so I bought a copy and after reading through it and playing with some concepts in sketchup, voila!
I thought I had seen Steven's site mentioned on this site in the past (maybe as a prize donor?), but maybe not, since I'm not finding any references with a quick search. Since I'm not 100% linking to his site is allowed, I'll wait for comments before adding it.
If you're curious, http://www.stevengarrison.com/id2.html has a couple of his spirals/shells. Exploring his site is worthwhile. He has some very cool stuff.
The stand is a bit of pear tree crotch-wood off-cut. I've been milling some pear that split off a neighbors tree and after flatenning the base, I was struck by how "coral reef" like this bit looked. I didn't have to do a thing to the top to get the shell to sit stably. Thank you Mother Nature!
I ran across Steve Garrison's page a while back. He's got some great pictures of spirals he's built and has an ebook "Wood Shells - A New Art Form". I finally had some time, so I bought a copy and after reading through it and playing with some concepts in sketchup, voila!
I thought I had seen Steven's site mentioned on this site in the past (maybe as a prize donor?), but maybe not, since I'm not finding any references with a quick search. Since I'm not 100% linking to his site is allowed, I'll wait for comments before adding it.
If you're curious, http://www.stevengarrison.com/id2.html has a couple of his spirals/shells. Exploring his site is worthwhile. He has some very cool stuff.