Spalted Hickory Natural Edge nested set

[Nathan Hawkes]

Hey folks. Just showing off one of my recent pieces, a piece of spalted Hickory, probably picknut but I'm not 100% on that--possibly mockernut. It was a blowdown in one of the turning club members' yards. Thanks Paul Pierce! This was at and partially below ground level; the roots were totally rotted away, which caused the wonderful green and red/purple colors. The wood was absolutely solid, and no punky spots in the bowl at all. These were turned green, and cored with the McNaughton center saver. I did use black CA glue on a couple small hairline cracks that formed as the pieces dried. I soaked them in DNA and dried them very slowly in a double layer paper bag for a few weeks, then sanded and varnished them with Antique Oil. They are all between 1/8 and 3/16" thick, with approx. 1/4"-3/8" thick bases depending on the size bowl, to balance them. The largest started out at 13.5", but moved a LOT, to about 12.75. The others are about 10" and 6" at their widest. Although quite thin, Hickory is surprisingly heavy even at this thickness, and very dry in the winter in my wood heated shop.

I'm new to photography; this was just a box and some tissue paper, and a daylight spectrum incandescent bulb. Next time I take pics I'll have to come up with better lighting. The glare spots drive me crazy!!



http://sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=113228&stc=1&d=1237234624

http://sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=113229&stc=1&d=1237234624


http://sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=113230&stc=1&d=1237234637


http://sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=113231&stc=1&d=1237234637

http://sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=113232&stc=1&d=1237234652

[Nathan Hawkes]

more pics.

http://sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=113233&stc=1&d=1237234999
http://sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=113234&stc=1&d=1237234999

http://sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=113235&stc=1&d=1237235008

[alex carey]

Those are all very impressive. Nice job, I'm sure the customer will enjoy.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Nathan - dude - you been busy! This is a great set of turnings! Beautiful wood! Amazing colors! Looking forward to seeing what you come up with next! Nice work!

[Dewey Torres]

Lovely set...off to the gallery with them!

[Jeff Nicol]

Nathan, The coring job is fantastic! The colors in the wood are simply spectacular!! Great job on the thinness and perfect NE with bark.

A very good nested set!

Jeff

[Nathan Hawkes]

Thanks Dewey! These alas are already sold. The pictures are all I have left.....But, I'll be getting a new Stronghold chuck, along with #3 jaws, an extension for the tensioning key, a beall thread tap, and a spindle adapter to let me use my 1x8tpi faceplates on the new MUSTARD.....Seriously though, that was the coolest piece of wood I've ever turned. Steve, thanks! I've definitely been busy lately. I have a 3520B on the way sometime soon (next week hopefully or maybe friday if I'm really lucky) I've sold a LOT of bowls this season, and just haven't really been posting pics of them. I'll remedy that soon.

Thanks again for the compliments, folks. This was a fun set of bowls to turn!

[Nathan Hawkes]

Jeff, thanks! the coring was exciting to say the least. No surprises, but it made me nervous for sure.

[Toney Robertson]

Those are amazing.

Wonderful job.

I have not tried coring yet, how hard is it? How steep is the learning curve?

Great job.

Toney

[Jarrod McGehee]

That sure is sweet Nathan. The colors and form is terrific. Nice work.

[Nathan Hawkes]

Those are amazing.

Wonderful job.

I have not tried coring yet, how hard is it? How steep is the learning curve?

Great job.

Toney


Toney, you have a PM. I meant to tell you about the McNaughton as well; it does have a pretty steep curve. I now have the laser guide for it, which I think is really pretty important especially if you're roughing bowls for later and need to keep a minimum thickness. Be prepared to make some funnels when you're starting out. I'd find some "practice" wood. For me, this ended up being a bunch of cherry that was a lightning casualty, but I cursed and threw things a bunch of times......now I use the laser every time....
I'm pretty stubborn, and also doing things on a pretty limited budget, which I've managed to fund mostly with turnings!@!!! but I should've bought a video on coring, or found someone to borrow it from. I read a couple articles, but I don't always do like I'm told....:D:mad::D:D

[David Christopher]

WOW........very nice

[Don Carter]

Wow! Nathan, that is a cool set of turnings. Congratulations! I love that wood.

All the best.

Don

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Amazing wood and a excellent job of coring and turning, this is an exceptional nice set Nathan, real eye candy :-))

[Bob Hallowell]

Nathan I love this set, looks amazing. I need to get a corer some day.

Bob

[Dave Bureau]

Wow nice stuff. Where do you guys find all this beautiful wood?

[Bernie Weishapl]

Great looking set Nathan. Beautiful wood and finish.