ANOTHER PROJECT FROM OSAGE ORANGE THAT HAD MANY IMPERFECTIONS, HOWEVER, I WAS DETERMINED TO COMPLETE SOMETHING AND NOT DISGARD THIS FOR FREWOOD. THE GRAIN IN OSAGE ORANGE IS EXTRAORDINARE AND ALTHOUGH HARD AND DIFFICULT TO WORK WITH IT IS SUCH A FANTASTIC WOOD, THAT I ENJOY THE CHARACTERISTICS. TOO MANY WOODS ARE ONLY ENJOYED FROM THE FIREPLACE AND SEEN ONLY AS DARK SMOKE.

#39

ANOTHER LEARNING EXPERIENCE OF TURNING A BOWL OUT OF OSAGE ORANGE THAT WAS CRACKED AND HAD NUMEROUS FLAWS. I HAD TO FILL IN AN AREA ON THE RIM OF THE BOWL APPROXIMATELY 1/4” DEEP. IT WAS AN AREA THAT HAD DETERIATED AND WAS A KNOW TYPE FLAW. WHILE TURNING THE HUNK OF THE KNOW FELL OUT. AFTER REPAIRING THIS AND CONTINUING TO TURN I TUNED THROUGH APPROXIMATELY 1/2 OF THE BOTTOM OF THE BOWL, WITH A HOLE AND LIGHT SHOWING THROUGH APPROXIMATELY 50%. I WAS READY TO DISGARD THE PIEC EAN START OVER, HOWEVER, WITH HELP FROM JIM J.,AGAIN, I EPOXYED THE ENTIRE BOTTOM, FILLED IN WITH SOME SAW DUST AND COMPLETED THE PROJECT. LIGHT STILL SHOWS THORUGH HOWEVER IT IS WATER TIGHT. THE OSAGE ORANGE CAME FROM A NEIGHBORS TREE THAT HAD FALLEN DOWN SOME TIME AGO. IT TAKES CONFIDENCE AND EXPERIENCE IN ORDER TO SAVE A PROJECT LIKE THIS. THANKS TO EXPERIENCE FROM M LJ FRIEND JIM.

NEW PROJECT PURPLE HEART BRACELET. THIS IS A FIRST WITH COACHING AND ASSISTANCE FROM JIM, I WAS ABLE TO MAKE TWO OF THESE, WITH ONE CRACKING DURING TURNING AND REPAIRING WITH EPOXY AND FINISHING. I GAVE ONE TO MY WIFE AND WILL PROBABLY GIVE THE OTHER AWAY. BEGAN WITH A PICE OF PURPLE HEART THAT IS APPROXIMATELY 4’ X 6” x 4’. NICE PROJECT.

ANOTHER PROJECT I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON FOR SOMETIME, JUST RECENTLY FINISHED IT. HAVE BEEN WORKING ON OUR WINTER WORKSHOP IN ARIZONA WHERE I SPEND THE WINTERS. I MADE THIS BOWL OUT OF PLYWOOD THAT MY LBJ BUDDY BROUGHT ME FROM MICHIGAN. IT IS LAMINATED OUT OF SEVERAL 4’ x 5” PIECES OF OAK PLYWOOD. THE LID IS ALSO MADE OUT OF A PIECE BUT TURNED THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION THAN THE BOWL. THE FINISH IS EEE AND SHELAWAX. WOOD WORK SHOP HAS COME A LONG WAY SINCE THE MIDDLE OF JANUARY. WE STARTED WITH A JUNKED UP BUILDING AND HAVE A ALMOST COMPLETELY STOCKED WOOD WORKING SHOP AND HAD VERY LITTLE MONEY TO CONSTRUCT IT. I WILL POST BEGINNING PICTURES AND TO DATE PICTURES AT A LATER DATE.

IT IS AMAZING WHAT ONE CAN DO FROM LIMITED FUNDS AND SCROUNGING USED LUMBER, .51 CENT CULL 2×4’S AT HD.

#37

ANOTHER PROJECT BEFORE I HEAD TO THE SOUTHWEST FOR R&R AND NICER WEATHER. I TURNED THIS IN A COUPLE HOURS, ALTHOUGH FAR FROM PERFECT BUT I GOT IT FINISHED AND DELIVERED BEFORE I LEAVE FOR ARIZONA. THIS IS A LIDDED CONTAINER MADE FROM RED BOX ELDER. THE USE IS A STORAGE CONTAINER FOR NUTS. I HAVE A FRIEND THAT OWNS SEVERAL WOODED TRACTS OF LAND AND A 10 ACRE BLUEBERRY FARM. HE DOES NOT SELL THE BLUEBERRIES BUT LETS ANYONE WHO WOULD LIKE TO PICK TO GO AT IT. A COUPLE YEARS AGO I CLEANED SOME OF THE WALKWAYS OUT FOR HIM, BUT HAVE NOT GIVEN HIM ANYTHING FOR A COUPLE YEARS AND HAVE PICKED BLUEBERRIES BOTH YEARS. SO I MADE THIS LIDDED BOX AND DELIVERED IT TO HIM. THE THIRD PICTURE IS OF THE LID WITH A WALNUT HANDLE I FELT THIS APPROPRIATE FOR A NUT BOX. SOME PEOPLE SAY I AM NUTS SO I GUESS THIS PROJECT IS RIGHT DOWN MY ALLEY.

I made a candy dish for my youngest daughter and took it to her on Thanksgiving. When my second older daughter seen it she said, I need one of those only a litte bit larger. She is a Chiropractor and wanted somethingto put stickers in and set it on her counter at her office. So I got busy and this is what I ended up with. This is made out of Box Elder with some red tint. It was cracked petty bad so I had to do a lot of epoxy and box elder saw dust to repair. It is not as smooth in some areas than what I would like, but do to the circumstances and the cracks it was the best I could do. I finished it with triple EEE and Shelawax. #21 since I started turning about a year ago.

This project is a candy dish that I made for my daughter for Hosting Thanksgiving. This was made from a piece of Box Elder that I got the last time I visited my daughter in Oxford Michigan. The third picture is showing the red color in the box elder. The dish is finished with Triple EEE and Shelawax.

THIS IS A PROJECT I BEGAN ON TUESDAY. MY WIFE REQUESTED THAT I BUILD A SHELF FOR OUR MOTORHOME IN A DEEP CABINET THAT HAS ONE SHELF ON TOP AND THAN THE BOTTOM. THE BOTTOM SHELF FORMS THE TOP OF THE CABINET OUR WASHER/DRYER SET IN. THIS CABINET IS SO DEEP THAT IN ORDER TO GET ANYTHING FROM THE BACK EVERYTHING UP FRONT NEEDS TO BE REMOVED MY WIFE ASK ME TO BUILD A HALF SHELF TOWARDS THE FRONT OF THE CABINET SO SHE COULD HAVE ANOTHER SHELF. I DECIDED THAT THE HALF SHELF WOULD CREATE AN ADDITIONAL PROBLEM. SO I WENT TO MY FAVORITE LUMBER/HARDWARE STORE AND PURCHASED SLIDING SHELF BRACKETS. I ALSO PURCHASED A PIECE OF OAK PLYWOOD 3/4”. I PLACED OAK TRIM ALONG THE SIDES THAT WILL KEEP ITEM FROM FALLING OVER THE SIDE OR OVER THE BACK AS THE SHELF IS PULLED OUT.
AFTER I COMPLETED THIS MY WIFE WAS SO THRILLED THAT SHE REQUESTED I BUILD TWO FOR OUR CABINETS IN OUR HOUSE. SO THIS EVENING AT 8:30 P.M. I WENT TO WORK AND COMPLETED ONE OF THE CUPBOARD SLIDE DRAW BY 10:30 P.M. I DID NOT TAKE PICTURES OF THE SHELF I PLACED IN THE MOTORHOME BUT DECIDED TO TAKE PICTURES OF THE I BUILT FOR THE HOUSE.
THE ONE FOR THE HOUSE CABINET IS A BOTTOM SLIDE DRAWER. THE SLIDES I USED WERE FOR CENTER ONE SLIDE DRAWERS, HOWEVER I DIDN;T BELIEVE THAT WOULD BE STURDY SO I INSTALLED (2) SLIDES. IT WAS SOMEWHAT DIFFCULT TO GET THESE LINED UP EXACTLY BUT ONE TRY AND BINGO IT WORKED. AGAIN I USED 3/4 OAK PLYWOOD AND BUILT SIDE AND BACK LIPS SO ITEMS WILL NOT FALL OFF. AFTER COMPLETING TH SHELF AND PUTTING THE ITEMS BACK IN THE CABINET IT WAS UNBELEIVABLE HOW MUCH EXTRA SPACE WAS LEFT. IT IS AMAZING HOW MUCH MORE STUFF YOU CAN GET IN IF YOU CAN SEE THE SPACE YOU HAVE.

This is a project I started back in October and as you can see by the first and second pictures I got to deep on the piece and cut the bottom out, so I had a funnel. I didn’t need a funnel, so over the weekend I decided to do something with it, I considered throwing it away, but decided to glue a piece of Osage Orange on the bottom and try to turn it down. Needless to say it was difficult to get the additional piece glue on center, thus it turned very uneven. However, I was determined and ended up with a piece as seen in pictures 3, 4 and 5. I now have a bowl with a bottom.
The grain in this wood is gorgeous, I love Osage Orange. I did leave some of the exterior bark on it and where some of the bark is the bowl is not perfectly round.

Nice lidded bowl/container turned from a piece of wild cherry. This bowl is one of the larger turnings I have done. I thought using Wild Cherry, the color of the bowl would have been a redder color. It is reflecitng alot of character especially the side shot showing a imdage of some thing This is my 19th project. I sanded this with 60 grit paper up to 600 grit. Than the finish is triple EEE and Shellawax. Managed to get a good tight fit on the lid and over night it even got more tighter. This was a fund project that took me about 3 hours from sawing the log with a chain saw to the finish project.

Another bowl from Osage Orange tree, this lidded bowl shows a lot of character from the Osage Orange tree that I cut off my neighbors property. I am probably going to give this to my neighbor for allowing me to cut the tree up and getting the wood from it.

Second Box Elder coin box for Grandson. I posted an earlier feed and explained how I made the original box. I will not repeat the steps only the changes I made in this box. I used an Arizona Quarter year 2008 which is the year my Grandson was born. That year included a Arizona State Quarter so I chose it because that is where his Mommwa and poppaw go in the winter months. The fourth picture of the group I tried to get a close up to show how much Red color Triple EEE and Shelawax, after sanding from 60 grit to 600 grit paper. This second box like the first was turned and the lid completed prior to the after thought of inserting the coin. I used the same technique on this lid as the other posting and managed to insert the lid back into the chuck with cover not to damage the finish and make sure it turned even. There is a couple little small marks in the lid from the chuck but the Grandson won’t care I am sure.
PJ#19102812

Another project completed from Red Box Elder. I started with a piece approixmately 3” in diameter (after cutting it from a square ugly block, on the Band Saw). I was originally going to make a lidded box for one of my Grandsons. Last winter in Arizona I made a lided round box and when two of my Grandsons (Brothers) come to visit they want to look and play with that box. I stored coins in it and had a one ounce copper round coin inserted in the top. Therefore, I went to work, started at 3:00 PM on Sunday and ended at 8:00 PM Sunday evening with not one but two lidded coin boxes. Postingwwt the other one next.
I turned the box so a quarter plastic tube would fit snuggly in the bottom part and the lid to the plastic container fit snuggly in the lid of the box. As a after thought I decided to insert a coin into the top of the lid of the box and used State Quarter for the year of my Grandsons Birthday, 2004. There were five quarters minted in that year and I chose the Texas quarter because my grandson’s God Parents live in Texas.
AS I said the coin insertion was an after thought because I had already taken the piece from the Lathe and was finished. I managed to place the lid very carefully back into the chuck and turned the indention the exact size of the coin. It fit perfect into the indention, however I didn’t place the coin into the indention immediately. I woke up at 3:00 AM (Couldn’t sleep) and decided to insert the coin. Guess what? Eight hours after completion of the project the lid to the box has shrunk and the coin would not go in. I didn’t want to pound the coin in so I took a C-clamp and placed a cloth be between the quarter adn the inside of the lid and gently clamped down until the coin went into the indention. I thought I might have to glue the quarters in, but I think it will take a stick of dynamite to remov the quarter from the lid.
Fun project and I think the Grandson will love it.
PJ#18102812

This is a turning I did in approximately 2 hrs. It started out as a lidded box, however there was a crack in the top portion of the piece I started with. I had the bottom part turned down to the size and started on the lid when the piece blew in half. The crack was much more pronounced then what I thought. The crack does continue down through this piece and if will probably eventually break in half. I got this wood from a man up by Port Huron Michigan. He cut this tree down and was going to burn it. I happen to talk to him about ox Elder and Red and he remembered when he cut down the tree it looked almost like blood. He salvagedseveral good size pieces from the burn pile and I brought it home.
The Red color is absolutely beautiful in this piece. I have cut most of it up into 10” to12” thick pieces and sealed it so hopefully it won’t check to bad. I am going to send this to the person that got me the wood.

This is another project I started several months ago. I was in need of a small parting tool and could not find one the size I wanted. My friend and LJ Pal purchased the parting blade exactly what I wanted. He assisted me in making the needed hardware to install the blade into the handle. I started on this and approximately 1.5 hours lated I completed the project. Needless to say I did have a problem when cutting off the end to remove it from the lathe. I meant to stop prior to it being cut through but was too late, consequently it came out of the lathe and fell to the floor after hitting the lathe and marring the handle, fortunately I was able to get it back into the lathe and finishing it again after sanding the handle a second time, beginning with 80 grit and finishing with 400 grit. I finished the handle with Triple E and Shelawax. I now have the parting tool I wanted, THANK YOU JIM!!!!

Have been out of the shop for entire summer but decided to see if I still remembered the techniques. I purchased a new lathe in May and just used it for the first time. I made this lidded box in approximately 2 hours, I realize it is not a difficult project but I completed it in record time compared to what I have done to date. I am not sure of the wood but it is a light color and very defined grain. It did have a few small worm holes but nothing going through the box. This could be Ash. I live in a woods and have an abundance of ash trees of which all are pretty much dead from the Emerald Ash Borer. Just happened this past winter. What they do to the trees is absolutely unbeilevable. I am sick but nothing I can do. The finish on the box is EEE and Shelawax. San paper used was from 80 grit to 400.

This is another project that I will be giving away. It was made from an ash tree that wte fias blown down in a wind storm. The finish is EEE, Shelawax and Mat finish.

Project#18

The above pictures are showing (2) planter boxes with picket fence(s) behind. I constructed the two planter boxes out of cedar, one is 32” the other 36”. My wife wanted something between the pole barn doors so I built the boxes than decided to place the picket fences behind the planter boxes. These picket fences were constructed from picket fence treated material I purchased at Menards. The first box took me approximately 4 hrs to construct the second took me a little over and hour. I will be building a third one at the requrest of my wife.

THIS PROJECT IS A CANDLE HOLDER WITH LID. THE WOOD IS ASH AND HAS NICE GRAIN. THE FINISH IS SANDING TO 400 GRIT, EEE AND SHELWAX COVERED WITH MATTE FINISH.
I AM A CANCER SURVIVOR AND WILL GIVE THIS TO MY ENT DOCTOR. SHE IS A GREAT DOCTOR AND MUCH LIKE WOODWORKING SHE TOOK SOMETHING THAT WAS REAL UGLY AND TURNED IT INTO SOMETHING POSITIVE WHICH SAVED MY LIFE. I AM NO WAY PERFECT, BUT LIKE WOOD TURNING IT STARTS VERY ROUGH AND ENDS UP SMOOTH AND BEAUTIFUL WITH MANY FLAWS THAT ADD TO IT CHARACTER.

Heres are two projects that I was going to give to my daughter. We were at Shipshewana and she found a bottle she wanted but it had no cap so she wouldn’t buy it. I purchased it because I was making the bowl pictured above and I thought I would give them both to her. They are made out of walnut. I had the bowl about done and noticed a couple cracks so I expoxy it and left it set over night. The next day I was going to finish the bowl and while I was parting the spigot from the bottom it blew apart. I had a small piece of the walnut left so I made the cap out of it. Finished the projects with triple EEE and Shelawax. Another learning experience.