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This the second of the test pieces from the box elder log that was cut a few months ago. It is a hollow pot that finished up at 5 1/2" dia. x 8 1/2" high and it was hollowed from the bottom and then plugged and finished turned on top. It is finished with EEE, Shellawax and the 3 step Beall buffing and wax.

It is a house warming gift for John P. who gave me the log and will be cutting the tree up. It has a 3/8" hole in the top and turned to a 1/4" thick wall.

Cheers, Jim

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Nice! You are good!! #wishihadjimsskills
 

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I Like It!

Nice shape and proportions.
 

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nice idea to do a great job with a small hole in the middle
 

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Very nice hollow form Jim. Im a little confused though. How was hollowed from the bottom?
 

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Good job Jim, like the colors in that wood
 

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I like it… BUT, I think the other one (1st one) showed the colors better… Much better…

Looks like Flatter is the best way to display the wood colors… Trays… Bowls… Boxes…

IMHO…
 

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great work
 

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You're really enjoying the BE Jim, a great little pot, nice finish mate
cheers
pete
 

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Looks good. I really like the coloration running through the piece.
 

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Like a pot of gold, only filled with red. Nice gift, maybe you'll get another good log.
 

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Real nice Jim, nice shape and will be appreciated by John P. You should be good for another log!!!
 

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well jim you very well know how much i love this wood, ive got your bowl you made me front and center, and box elder is one of those woods that can gve yu a lot of surprises, im sure your gift is going to be well received
 

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Thank you all for the nice comments. The pot for John P and the bowl for John N were presented at the guild meeting tonight and I'm anxious to hear what John N thinks of it. He has been clearing land of trees for 50 years and has never used a box elder tree for anything but firewood.
I have one more piece of that log and due to me cutting too deep with the chain saw, it will not be a very high piece. But this one will be mine.

Hi Andy. I prefer hollowing from the bottom because I have more room to work. I start the piece with a spigot on each end. Then I cut off the thin piece for the bottom and turn the outer shape from the top spigot with a center in it. I support the piece with steady rest and take away the center and bore the inside to match the outside contour and leave a shallow diameter to glue in the bottom. Then I chuck up the short piece I cut off and turn it to fit the bottom that I just hollowed out and glue it in. I grab it by the bottom tenon , holding the piece in a steady rest and turn the top to finished size and sand and polish the piece. Then I use a jam chuck to turn off the bottom

Hi Joe, the color does show a lot better when cutting cross grain. This pot was turned long grain.

Hi Pete, this piece was still green and I don't think lacquer would have dried on it very well but the Shellawax did pretty good!

Cheers…...........good night…..............Jjim
 

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Great work. I just wanted to ask you how you managed to make it hollow - very smart move to work it from the bottom first!
 

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Thanks Ivan. I just explained it above to Andy. I'll take a string of photos next time I do one. I have hollowed from the top but the piece fills up with chips so fast it is real had to see what I'm doing, I do have a boring bar with a laser but I had to take the laser bar off the top on this one because it was hitting the steady rest.
If I was doing a real big hollow vessel and had it screwed to a face plate, it would be pretty easy to hollow from the top like the good turners do.

Cheers, Jim
 

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Another nice piece from BE, Jim. Looking forward to seeing your process of hollowing from the bottom. You said the wood is still green. How big was the blank/log? How much movement do you expect? Thanks for sharing.
 

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Thanks, Candy.
This log was about 20" in diameter. I got two bowl blanks out of it and one long grain piece that I made this pot out of. I still have the other part of this long grain piece and one bowl blank to go. I thinking about a hollow sphere from the long grain piece because I just put 2 new bearings in my sphere cutting jig and I want to try it out on something.

Cheers, Jim
 
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