Just pith-etic

Turning this chunky hollowbowlform (my own copyrighted term) I had high hopes for it’s final stages. A bowl that’s almost a hollowform with some styling queues from some of the many wine bottle stoppers I’ve turned. The wood is an unknown type, more from the pile in my parent’s backyard but free wood is good wood, especially if it’s sat for a year or so.

Upon hollowing I soaked it overnight in DNA, then wrapped it in newspaper as I’ve done many blanks in the past. This one though, this one had something working against it, something so evil it had no defense against it; the dreaded pith. This is the centermost part of the tree according to its rings and its chock full of softer, spongy cells called parenchyma. Think of it as the center of a corncob and the same reason why those little corn cob holders never stay lodged in the cob. It’s just not a stable part of the wood and because of that; it causes a lot of ‘checking’ in the wood. Case in point.

So, what will I do with this thing? Toss it in the burn pile (if I had a burn pile, damn city ordinances), try to fill the cracks, purposely cause more cracks? I’m not really sure but I know one thing; Pith is the pits.

Lady Luck

Sunday night, Lydia was good enough to let me slip away after the kids went down till almost midnight to play at Raymond’s shop.

Lady Luck was smiling upon me at the last AAW meeting and I walked away with nice little Hackberry log from the raffle. I’ve been itching to see how the wood turns and what the grain would look like and fortunately Raymond invited me over and we were able to knock out two natural edge bowls.

The hackberry turned smooth as butter, the grain lines are a creamy caramel against a milky white wood. It turned ribbons like a green wood should, and while he finished his bowl much quicker than myself, I still consider it a darn good outcome and after some drying, sanding and polishing, it’ll make a very nice piece. I’ll update the blog when it’s finished.

Winthrop Bowl...

One day while driving by Winthrop College I noticed a large, old hickory tree had cracked almost in half. I drove by it again later in the day and noticed the grounds crew had already cut it into pieces. Knowing it wouldn't be long until the tree was hauled off, I spoke to the person in charge of the grounds and was told I could take all I could haul away.

Apparently it's core had been chewed away by these HUGE black ants. I mean, these things were science fiction movie prop big. I grabbed a few that weren't still covered in them, tossed them into the back of the car. I came back later for a few more. They're like potato chips...

It's been in my shed for over 6 months or so and I decided to hack into a smaller log. The pic on left is the piece with the bark stripped off and the right is after I've rounded it. I've really no idea how I'm going to shape or finish it, but right now it's soaking in DNA. It should be fully dry in two weeks or so, check back for an update on this piece.

Pens and Poets

Tonight was the local chapter of the American Association of Woodtuners meeting in Charlotte. Meeting in a secluded metal building with nothing but the sounds of airplanes flying over head on approach to the local airport, we collectively froze our buns off. The building, while not immense, is large enough that heating would be far too costly and the cement slab floor conveys the cold with stunning efficiency.

The meeting was a focus on spherical turnings. An interesting demo followed by all the attendees who brought an item sharing a little info about it. I brought a few of my roughly turned lidded boxes, a pen, and a few bowls. All in all, it was a good time.

Raymond and I stopped by The Grape Vine in Baxter on the way south and I had a few of my new favorite beer 'The Poet'. While from a bottle, a very good stout made by the New Holland Brewing Company. A mildly dark stout with enough solidity in the head to leave a ring on the glass indicating each swallow. It's not often a man finds a beer that he'll actively seek out in the future, so I consider this a good outing.

While we were there I ran into a friend from high school, Kevin Lavender, who I haven't seen in more than 15 years. Time, it waits for no man. So many years passed, so much living under our belts but a little conversation and we're right back in High School.

This was not a bad day. Lydia was vested as the single parent tonight, but she managed to make it through and I'll be repaying the favor tomorrow night. Wonder what I'll be posting about then...

As the worm turns...

This is a bowl I finished recently. It's made from an unknown wood from my parent's house. At the rear of the property there's a natural gas Right of Way and it's wood was stacked and set aside rather than being carted off. So, like any other wood hog would do, I grabbed a few logs and stashed them safely in my shop.

As I was turning this hunk, I noticed a small rotted area which I thought might lend a little character to the piece. I turned some more wood away, exposing the hole, then suddenly was shot in the face by an invisible squirt gun. I stopped the piece to get a look and then I was reminded of a joke:

Q. What's worse than finding a worm in your apple?
A. Finding half a worm in your apple.

You guessed it. Apparently a juicy grub worm had taken up residence in my piece of timber and I had shaven his hind end off. At 1,200 revolutions per minute his innards became outards. With hook tool in hand I removed the rest of him and finished roughing the piece. An overnight soak in DNA, left to dry for a week, and then finished.

Not as smooth as I would have liked and there are some tool marks, but it was a learning experience of drying the wood as well as going one step thinner on the walls of the bowl. It'll be good enough to put my loose change in at least.

Bringing out the dead – Cleaning out email.

Today I decided to clean out some of my old Gmail emails. It’s a great free software but with gobs of space, you tend to hold on to a lot of junk. In my case, a little over 4,000 emails. I started at the oldest and kept a few, tossed the rest. I cam across some that made me think.

1: Simply how time flies. I found some as old as May of 2006 that were in regards to woodturning. I got the lathe for Christmas, so that it must have been Christmas of 05, meaning the beginning of 06. Three years later, here I am. I’ve moved forward, but three years worth? Probably not. I think it’s time to step up the progress. Unfortunately a lot of that is dictated by money and time and both those are seemingly always in short supply.

2: You don’t have forever. A handful of the emails were from a very talented artist who passed away a year ago. He was either loved or hated, there was no real middle ground with this guy. He had a gruff personality, we got along as often as not, but we mostly remained on speaking terms. He really pissed me off last time we spoke on the phone and then I had not heard much about him until I learned he died suddenly. Time for reconciliation had passed me by. Whether it be relationships or personal goals, you best get going. If you’re not moving forward then you’re doing nothing. There will be plenty of time for that when we’re gone.

Ivy been infected...

Here's a closed box I made a month or so ago.

I was helping a group clean a wooded area for the Children's Attention Home here in town. While moving some wood around I came across a spalted piece of mystery wood, it's bark had long fallen off, just an unremarkable log of unknown species.

After hacking it into a piece that would fit in the wagon, it sat in my shop until I felt it was fully dry.

Certainly after such a noble effort as cleaning out their woods, good luck would befall on me, right? Well, apparently this wood had either been covered with the same poison oak/ivy we were stripping off the other trees or the spalt was just too much for me because my top lip and right hand both broke out in a rash. To add insult to injury, one toe on my right foot even fell victim to the outbreak. If I weren't wearing a double canister respirator, I'd hate to think how my breathing would have been the next day.

Homemade sharpening jig..... just not my home.

I was at my buddy and fellow turner, Raymond Overman's, house and he was good enough to save me some bread and made me a sharpening jig. It may not be shiny painted metal, but the it's going to do what it needs to do.... and that'll more than do!

Natural Edge Sweetgum Bowl

Two years ago or so, my dad cut down a Sweetgum tree in his back yard. If you have to ask why, then you've never had a Sweetgum in your yard. Aside from a Magnolia, they're probably the most worthless, unbeneficial trees you can have. Nothing like having 10,000 spikey grenades in your yard, waiting to either pierce your bare foot or cause you to sprain your ankle.

I've only turned two or three bowls, but I'm pretty impressed with the way this one came out. Much like the pens, I've never been content to just turn a plain ol' pen and I can already tell that with bowls it'll be the same way. The shape, texture, grain, etc will have to be something very nice or I'm not going to waste my time with it.

Sweetgum trees; This is the only positive thing I've seen come out of one:

Day one.... anyone here?

Well, I decided to start a blog. I was reading another blog by a turner who has perfected the art of drying roughed out bowls in DNA, shortening the drying time to two weeks. Not only that, but he has also kept the wood from checking. Now, this may not be a particularly interesting thing to 99% of the people who read blogs, but that the rest of us may find this somewhat interesting. We'll just have to see how this goes.

This blog will be a way for me to keep record of certain things. Social things, things I need to remember, journaling certain projects, etc.

I'm sure there's some stamp collector out there with a blog people follow. If he can do it, dang it I can too. LETS GO!