Sneak Peak

That is gorgeous. I love the grain and color of this one.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

That is great. I am really looking forward to a tutorial. I just got my hollowing tools today.

Very cool! I like your step pictures.

-- Dennis Zongker

This is great, beautiful wood, thanks for showing us, your doing a great job.

-- Dan Wiggins

Trifern is a lathe god!

-- "That Government is Best that Governs The Least."-Jefferson

My gosh, you do fantastic work. Thanks for the inspiration!

A blog and some hints would be great.

Steve

-- Stevethepeeve -- I'm no rocket surgeon

THAT is some wild wood. It will be interesting to watch how you do this.

-- Thos. Angle

Beautiful wood. I’ll be watching as well, I’m really interested to see how you turn out such great work.

-- Working at Woodworking http://www.VillageLaneFurniture.com

Great job Joe. I have turning envy.

-- Mike. mwurm13@yahoo.com

Great pice of ART!

-- Brian, Lebanon PA, If you aren’t having fun doing it, find something else to do.

Joe
I have always admired your work and look forward to this tutorial. I would ask you include how you go about picking your pieces and how you prepare it for turning, what do you look for specifically. How long you dry it, do you wax coat it? Any techniques to limit splitting and cracking? Secrets to a stong chuck hold.

-- DocK, WV

Oh yeah, name for this piece, SNEAK PEAK

-- DocK, WV

Nice Job

-- Jim, Kentucky

Wow, what a gorgeous piece of maple!! Is is green, or blue on the mineral streak? This vase is going to finish out awesome!! Can’t wait to see it!!!

-- Matt, Houston Texas

Good work on the form. I would tuck the foot in under the vessel a little bit more to give it some “lift”. Flat bottomed pots tend to look “heavy” when sitting on a flat surface. The tuck would give you a shadow line at the foot and visually lighten the vessel. (I’m friends with a guy who used to make vessels with flat bottoms who eventually took this advice, and his pots now sell for $1000…)

If you have any more of the wood, you might want to hollow a flatter vessel through the bark side to really show off the blister. By doing that, you’d have “puddles” on the top and bottom of the vessel. You’d probably get two flatter, smaller forms out of the log you showed. Don’t be afraid to sacrifice wood for form or composition…

-- Steven

Joe, I love seeing these step by step photos. That is an incredible piece of maple you got there. I’d also like to see your tutorial blog when you get it done.

Thanks for posting these photos.

(Happy New Year!)

-- Martin, Kansas

I’m having palpatations over this maple! The shape is coming along really nice too. What a tease!

-- "They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night." ~ Edgar Allan Poe

My late father would have loved some of that wood. I will always remember how his eyes would light up and his pace would quicken whenever he found such a wonderful piece. You woodturners are a different breed, much more freeform than us cabinet guys.

-- if the hand is not working it is not a pure hand

Very unusual piece Joe.

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

Thanks for all the kind remarks, I appreciate them all. I had no idea there would be such an interest in a tutorial blog. I will try and start a piece tomorrow and document it. Now the tough part, which piece of wood to use. I stopped by a friends shop today and completely filled my car with wood; trunk, backseat, and front seat. My shop is now overflowing with choice pieces; blistered, fiddle back, burls, roots, and some just “plain” figured wood. Some of the species include maple, cherry, walnut, catalpa, cedar, ash, apricot, apple, persimmon, and elm.

-- My favorite piece is my last one, my best piece is my next one.