Progress Pic - Bubinga Platter w/Carving

[Jim Becker]

This not-quite 16" Bubinga platter pictured at the end of this post is finally starting to look like it will be finished sometime in this century. Between business travel, various events like family picnics and gatherings with friends as well as normal "landscaping" activities, my shop time has been limited.

The platter was turned several weekends ago from a piece of wood I aquired from Alan Turner and has some beautiful figure. However, there was an internal crack from the edge in about 1.5" that was discovered when I roughed out the disk. Rather than reducing the diameter of the platter to eliminate the crack, I filled it with CA from time to time as I cut and decided to try my hand at a little carving to mask the defect later on. A local turner by the name of Bill Sarver had recently demonstrated some carving techniques at a Bucks Woodturners meeting, so that process was in the front of my mind.

After fully sanding the face of the piece through 600 grit on the lathe, I dismounted it and took it to the bench to "play". Using a combination of woodburning, high-speed pneumatic cutters and hand tooling, I managed to eek out a few leaves that appear sorta real...at least from a few feet away. I have a lot to learn before I can even do a small percentage of the quality that Wolf does!

I wasn't sure if I wanted to leave the carving "natural" or color it, but in the spirit of experimentation, I decided to paint with the Golden fluid acrylics. It was a good decision as the coloring enhanced the relief effect considerably...and covered up some of the less than skillful gouge work. Once the paint was dry, I put an application of T&T BLO on the top of the platter and took the shot shown below. So far, I'm pleased. Remaining work includes final power and hand sanding of the back of the platter after remounting on the vacuum chuck to pare away the tenon used with the Talon chuck while completing the face. The back will then be oiled and when that cures, I believe I'll be shooting this one with lacquer and lightly buffing.

In retrospect, I should have done a triplet of the carving to balance the piece while it sets flat. This one will probably look best when viewed as a wall hanging or on a stand that holds it relatively vertical.

[Jim Ketron]

You the man Jim!!:eek:
Nice work as usual!
That leaf looks awesome!
Looks like you have been doing it for years.
Jim Ketron

[Steve King]

Jim,
That looks great, to take a defect and make it into a Beautiful Platter.
Steve

[Howard Rosenberg]

I think painting it (so skillfully!) is a nice touch.

But I think one leaf is a very delicate move that really makes that one stand out.

As I always explain to my youngest son, "never confuse balance with symmetry" - three leaves would be too "obvious" and diminish any potential impact.

Great job, Jim.

Howard

[Martin Shupe]

Jim,

It looks "real" enough to me. Very nice platter.

(Almost done with school and can't wait to finish!)

[Jim Guy]

The platter looks great - and I agree with Howard, one leaf pattern is just right. I believe for less is better.

[John Shuk]

I think it is great Jim. I don't see any problem with the leaves at all. I think that things should look as though made by human hands at times and I think they fit in nicely with the figure of the platter. Good work!

[Todd Burch]

Pretty neat Jim. Put a hamburger or hotdog on that thing for some scale and take another picture. Is 16" the maximum you can swing? Could you post more on howyou chucked that thing from both sides as you were going? Could you show your vacuum chuck setup too please? Thanks! Todd

[Richard Allen]

Hi Jim

Your usual execlent work. More carving might look nice. Or more carving might beg that the differnt carvings be compaired. I think what you have looks terrific. Painting was a good move, considering the results you got. Are those bubinga leaves? Adding a bubinga flower and fruit would be a nice touch as well.

Thanks

[Jim Becker]

Thanks for your kind comments, folks. They are appreciated.


Put a hamburger or hotdog on that thing for some scale and take another picture.Great idea. I'll do that for the next pics


Is 16" the maximum you can swing? The Stubby 750 can swing 16" inboard with the bed up to the headstock and 30" inboard with the bed pulled back.


Could you post more on howyou chucked that thing from both sides as you were going? Could you show your vacuum chuck setup too please?I can do that. Please bear with.


Are those bubinga leaves? Adding a bubinga flower and fruit would be a nice touch as well.I wouldn't know a bubinga leaf from a pine needle! :o Well, I suppose I could tell them appart in that respect. Seriously, they are just leaves I quickly sketched on a piece of paper and traced onto the wood prior to heating up the woodburning pens. But I think you bring up a good point...matching the decortative items to the species is a great idea for future projects.

[John Miliunas]

Ahem...Well, you did it *again*! We all already *KNOW* you can turn, but now you go and throw another attribute into the mix! :eek: Between you and that Todd guy, I'm seriously thinking of selling off all my WW equipment and taking up knitting or something like that! :D 'Course, on the flip side, then I'd have some 103 year old lady making me feel inferior! :mad: Very nice, Jim! Your "experiment" was a complete success! :cool:

[Jim Becker]

Between you and that Todd guy, I'm seriously thinking of selling off all my WW equipment and taking up knitting or something like that!
Can I have the W&H molder?? :D Byron could outfit you with a really nice sewing room, too...:p

[Todd Burch]

Yeah John - it's probably not worth starting over on another hobby. I mean, even if you could get Becker to cough up $200 for that W&H thing-a-ma-bob, you might not even be able to buy a 1/2 way decent set of knitting needles. Yeah... stick with wood.

[Jason Tuinstra]

Jim, great work!!! It's nice to see how you turned the crack into wonderful focal point. The detail on those leaves are wonderful. I just wish all my experimenting ended up this way. You da' man.

[Daniel Rabinovitz]

Jim
It turned out very nicely.
Nice job hiding the crack - good idea to use the leaves.
Daniel :)

[David Wilson]

Jim,
Great job. When I first looked at pic, before reading entire post, I thought a real leaf had droped on the wet finish. Kool.

[Chris Padilla]

Nice but I have this funny urge to flick that piece of parsley off with my finger so it doesn't interfere with the steak 'n potatos 'n corn on the cob I'm about to dig into! ;)

I like the single piece and think it would have been too busy with 3 symmetrically placed around the rim...to forced by you whereas mother nature forced this one...and it works! Very nice.

[John Olson]

I don't turn my self so it fascinates me how you and wolf can turn flat wood in to works of art. But wolf had all those years in the navy carving whale bones. All I did in the corps was dig slit trenches. And then do push ups over them. I like the way you turned a problem in to an asset.

[Greg Mann]

I think painting it (so skillfully!) is a nice touch.

But I think one leaf is a very delicate move that really makes that one stand out.

As I always explain to my youngest son, "never confuse balance with symmetry" - three leaves would be too "obvious" and diminish any potential impact.

Great job, Jim.

Howard

I agree with Howard on this one. The solitary natue of a single leaf gives it great character.

Greg

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Jim, That is just fantastic. It looks like a real leaf is just sitting there. Great job; it makes me want to start turning again. Alan in Md.

[Mike Scoggins]

Jim,

Nice job on the platter, and I like your creativity shown in the leaf idea. I enjoy seeing all of the projects posted on SMC, but it's almost as much fun seeing how creative some are in solving problems along the way to a finished piece.

Thanks for sharing,
Mike

[Alan Turner]

Nice work, Jim. I like the lemonade from lemon approach as well. Good use of that scrap piece of Bubinga.
Alan

[Jim Becker]

Nice work, Jim. I like the lemonade from lemon approach as well. Good use of that scrap piece of Bubinga.
Scrap? The guy who sold it to me didn't consider it scrap...:D :D :p

[Alan Turner]

I forgot -- turning blank was on the label, right? Can't beat labeling.
Alan

[Jim Becker]

I forgot -- turning blank was on the label, right? Can't beat labeling.You shoulda been a salesman...:p

[Dave Malen]

Jim,
Nice work! Very creative solution. Now if you make 7 more you will have a dinner set. :)
Dave

[Jim Becker]

Now if you make 7 more you will have a dinner set.
I think working with that much bubinga would kill me... :o

[Bruce Page]

Beautiful job Jim. Both the turning and the carving look great!

[Bob Hovde]

Beautiful! Small things make craftsmanship = art.

Bob

[Alan Turner]

Jim,
Why the negative comment on Bubinga? As you know, I have a bunch, but have not yet used it except to play a bit. Abrasive? Bad smell? Chippy? Allergic reaction? I know it is hard and heavy. Enlighten us please.
Alan

[Jim Becker]

Why the negative comment on Bubinga? As you know, I have a bunch, but have not yet used it except to play a bit. Abrasive? Bad smell? Chippy? Allergic reaction? I know it is hard and heavy. Enlighten us please.
Reaction. This is the first wood I've worked with that I immediately felt the need to wear a dust mask. It's lovely to work...I was just made uncomfortable physically with it.

[Alan Turner]

I cut some drawer slips of it on the TS, just becaue it was handy, and did not noitce anyting unusual, but with your comments in mind, I will pay closer attention next time. Thx.
Alanh