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The Little Vessel That Never Did

Project by mot posted 887 days ago 627 views 0 times favorited 26 comments Add to Favorites Watch

I had some maple burl that I’ve stored under my lathe for about 2 years. I just wasn’t really happy with my old lathe and decided to not turn anything until I got my new Nova. Well, I chucked up this little burl in an attempt to do some sort of hollow form. In the depths of my lack of inspiration, I had real trouble making anything that was pleasing to the eye.

The first outside shape of this little guy met with a reply from my wife that sent it right back down to the lathe. The comment was, “That’s kind of cool. Maybe you can put it out on the porch and a family of bees can live in it.”

Well, with some more turning and sort of wishing that I had chucked it differently, I came up with this. “The Little Vessel That Never Did.”

This little piece is sanded to 400 grit, then finished with a couple of coats of Watco Danish Oil and buffed with the Oneway Buffing System.

Thanks for looking and my apologies in advance for taking away 45 seconds of your life that you’ll never get back!

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)


26 comments so far

View Bob Babcock's profile

Bob Babcock

1808 posts in 981 days


posted 887 days ago

Hey! Give me my 45 seconds back!. JK…everyone needs one of these…..............things.

Hehe…actually I do like it Tom. It would make a very nice pencil holder….and I take my pencil holders very seriously…(I’m not kidding). I’ve made my living with pencils.

-- Bob, Carver Massachusetts, Sawdust Maker http://www.capecodbaychallenge.org

View Dick, & Barb Cain's profile

Dick, & Barb Cain

7037 posts in 1194 days


posted 887 days ago

Very nice,
With figured wood like that, plain, & simple looks the best.

-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

View scottb's profile

scottb

3402 posts in 1222 days


posted 887 days ago

Bees are becoming a precious commodity from what I hear. A more noble home doesn’t come to mind. nice burl.

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://blanchardcreative.etsy.com -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

View WayneC's profile

WayneC

5996 posts in 992 days


posted 887 days ago

I like it. And I bet you learned some things along the way.

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

View mot's profile

mot

4903 posts in 931 days


posted 887 days ago

Well, Wayne…I got to try out my buffing system that I bought three years ago! I got to tryout the straight cutter on my Proforme. I hadn’t done any hollowing on the DVR so that was a treat. I learned that I have no vision for what is inside the wood. LOL

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

View MsDebbieP's profile

MsDebbieP

14159 posts in 1056 days


posted 887 days ago

have you made it through your slump, yet??
interesting title for this artistic piece.

I like how you kept everything very rounded – I think it makes it quite unique and definitely keeps your eye looking around it at all of the beautiful lines.

now what the heck is this apologies stuff?? Man you have it bad !!!!

Thank you for sharing. Thank you for this 45 seconds of beauty.

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

View frank's profile

frank

1503 posts in 1101 days


posted 887 days ago

Hi Mot;
—-and rising from the sluck-o’re-mire, the little burl said; “hey-hey-hey!....I am the burl of what I did, never say never, since that which is past is more then 45 seconds and now I’m happy for gracing your eye with my beauty that remains for ever all to see….” And after having past that thought in mind on to the hands of the turner, the golden figured beauty-of-a-burl sat down and watched those hands give thanks, that once again my hands and mind are back in sync….

Great piece of figured wood you have there Mot, I’ve just spent some time here staring into that heart of this maple one and from where I’m sitting….I see depth of character….’wood art’!

Thanks for sharing what you feel as a lack of inspir....as that only happens before we take our next step full of….at-i-on.

GODSPEED,
Frank

-- --frank, NH, http://frank.wordpress.com/

View MsDebbieP's profile

MsDebbieP

14159 posts in 1056 days


posted 887 days ago

what he said.

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

View surplusdealdude's profile

surplusdealdude

45 posts in 906 days


posted 887 days ago

That’s a storage system for coils of stamps! (If they even MAKE coils of stamps anymore – been so long since I mailed anything)

I like it!

-- surplusdealdude

View oscorner's profile

oscorner

4572 posts in 1206 days


posted 887 days ago

I bet it would make a great candle holder. Add a little greanery around the bottom and it would make a nice candle holding center piece. The burl is awesome looking, you just need to enhance it.

-- Jesus is Lord!

View CharlieM1958's profile (online now)

CharlieM1958

7638 posts in 1113 days


posted 887 days ago

Hard to judge the exact size… How about stick a stem on it and make it a pipe?

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

View mot's profile

mot

4903 posts in 931 days


posted 887 days ago

Thanks for the comments folks. frank, as always, you embarrass me with your insight. Debbie, what he said as well.

Charlie, it’s about 4” high. Not a bad pipe for Shrek.

As an update, my 2 year old immediately grabbed it and it became a home for his Mr. Chin character.

I’ve spent some more time looking at the figure in the wood, and at the shape, and I’m more pleased with it now. The camera brought out some beauty in the wood that I didn’t see because I was obsessing about the shape. I’ve picked it up and find that the way the inclusions sit with the figure in the wood is quite pleasing. Plus it’s the perfect size to pick up and examine it some more. So I take back my 45 second comment and thank you all for taking the time to look at this piece!

Cheers and have a great day!

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

View TreeBones's profile

TreeBones

1557 posts in 918 days


posted 886 days ago

I like that maple burl and you cant go wrong with wood like that. I have some maple that I just look at and enjoy without ever doing anything execpt holding and looking. Nice turning.

-- Ron, Twain Harte, Ca. Portable on site Sawmill Service http://westcoastlands.net/Sawmill.html http://westcoastlands.net/SawBucks2/phpBB3 http://www.portablesawmill.biz/concrete/

View Karson's profile

Karson

25801 posts in 1295 days


posted 886 days ago

Great job Tom. Looks like the family has accepted it into the home.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

View jockmike2's profile

jockmike2

7314 posts in 1142 days


posted 886 days ago

Ron’s Right! Most of what I turn is’nt to use for anything. It just sits there and shows people it’s beauty. I have to laugh when people ask me whats it for, or what does it do, or what do you do with it. I just tell them nothing, its wood art. you just look at it. They get a dumb expression on their face and say “OH”. Mot thats a beautiful maple burl bowl. jockmike

-- Mike. mwurm13@yahoo.com

View Damian Penney's profile

Damian Penney

1030 posts in 886 days


posted 886 days ago

I love burl although I haven’t worked with it yet. Is it difficult to turn? I know for cabinetry it can be a bit of a bear due to the grain going every which way.

-- I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso

View mot's profile

mot

4903 posts in 931 days


posted 886 days ago

Damian, it’s not hard to turn. It’s nice to have a little cyanoacrylate on hand if the inclusions start to want to blow out, but for the most part, is just spins like anything else and is fairly easy to cut.

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

View Steffen's profile

Steffen

251 posts in 930 days


posted 886 days ago

It’s very nice Tom… The great thing about turning is you can let something sit for however long you want and then chuck it back on the lathe and play with it some more. Sometimes things just need to marinate for a while. Put is somewhere where you will have to look at it every day at least once. I put stuff like that on top of my TV.

-- Steffen

View rudedog552's profile

rudedog552

47 posts in 905 days


posted 886 days ago

cyanoacrylate?? inclusions ?? (In my best slingblade voice…) I recon turning is for purdy people, mine ain’t got no gas in it. Great job Mot. I’ve been a professional woodworker for 20 years and the last thing i have left to experience is turning. I’ve never done it, but aspire to. But let me say… that that is the finest bee hive i’ve ever seen. Mot, you are the nam. lol

-- Randy - Live by the spirit...Galatians 5:16

View mot's profile

mot

4903 posts in 931 days


posted 886 days ago

LOL, rudedog…cyanoacrylate is crazy glue!

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

View scottb's profile

scottb

3402 posts in 1222 days


posted 886 days ago

True JockMike… I have a table littered with all sorts of spindle turning practice… perhaps odd pieces from an alien chess set.

People either comment that they’re neat (or say nothing wondering why I have such wierd things taking up precious horizontal space!)... My mom suggested I put em out in the garden where people can see them…, use them as toppers for stakes and the like… much more interesting than garden gnomes (which are frightfully hard to turn)... so methinks I”m gonna. Just wait until you see my interesting “wood-joinery-garden-project”

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://blanchardcreative.etsy.com -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

View MsDebbieP's profile

MsDebbieP

14159 posts in 1056 days


posted 886 days ago

ah hah!!! the Awards entry… hmmm

these are really interesting.

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

View jockmike2's profile

jockmike2

7314 posts in 1142 days


posted 884 days ago

Beautiful Scott, what do they do? mike

-- Mike. mwurm13@yahoo.com

View StevenAntonucci's profile

StevenAntonucci

179 posts in 833 days


posted 818 days ago

Let’s start with the basics-

1.) It’s really not that bad. If everything that ever came off a lathe looked the same, life would be pretty boring.

2.) When I turn something that I feel has missed the mark, I put it on a shelf of misfits. I use the misfits to experiment with burning, coloring, carving before I use the “real thing”.

3.) I already have 2 pencil holders in the shop (purpose made pencil holders…), but before I made them, I had two hollowform mistakes that did the job. This COULD BE a high end pencil jar.

4.) If you really hate it, remount it on a jamb chuck, CA glue a waste block, and turn a tenon to grip. You can retrue it and work on the shape with almost no effort. I see a lidded jar if you cut a small lip in the rim to hold the lid up.

Steven

-- Steven

View dennis mitchell's profile

dennis mitchell

3789 posts in 1209 days


posted 680 days ago

Nice chunk of wood. The simple design works with me.

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com

View TomK 's profile

TomK

504 posts in 769 days


posted 259 days ago

Lucky Bees !

-- If you think healthcare is expensive now, wait until it's free! PJ O'Rourke

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