Late Valentine's Day gift for my sweetie....

[Nathan Hawkes]

So I showed my girlfriend this last month, and told her it'd have to dry for a couple weeks then get sanded and varnished. (I also had other things and took her out to dinner--giving an unfinished gift wasn't in the plans, but the wood came to me just before V.day) The wood is Maple burl, likely red maple, but possibly Norway maple. The tree was 52" on the stump, completely covered with burls, and was my favorite tree; it was dying, however, and a VDOT crew took it out. I happened to drive by at the perfect time to say, hey, what are you doing with the wood......long story short, they were from out of town & didn't want to haul it all back. I got several cookie slices about 12-24" thick!!! (and 4 feet across). I've given away about half, and plan to turn the rest over the next few months!! Its about 8" tall, and 4.5" wide or so, and roughly 3/16" thick walls; Its a simple dry vase or open form, whatever you want to call it. The rim is a little distorted from drying, but it was very round....:D.

http://sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=113237&stc=1&d=1237236143


http://sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=113238&stc=1&d=1237236143

http://sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=113241&stc=1&d=1237236161

http://sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=113242&stc=1&d=1237236161

http://sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=113243&stc=1&d=1237236171

[robert hainstock]

I like every thing about it. Very well done!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Nathan - you definitely made points with this one! Beautiful wood! Great form and finish! Hope the rest of your stash has as much figure as this! Very nice work! Thanks for sharing!

[Nathan Hawkes]

Nathan - you definitely made points with this one! Beautiful wood! Great form and finish! Hope the rest of your stash has as much figure as this! Very nice work! Thanks for sharing!


Thanks, Steve. Not all of it is as nice as this, but I'm not complaining!!!!;):D What most of the stash has that this doesn't however, is bark! This was from a wedge cut that the (obviously really dull chain & tired chainsaw cutter) tree service made. Every piece had two or more extra cuts through it!! I realize that the cuts had to be made up in the air, but man, nearly half the wood is wasted, as I couldn't really do much with 3-4" thick slices of end grain. I tried saving as much as I could & coated it with wax--maybe I'll make bottle stoppers or something. I gave away a lot of wood to some local turners; I feel like this wood should be turned!

[Jeff Nicol]

Nathan, Very pretty wood! I have a toothpick holder that I made that would be a perfect match for your vase! The wood I used was Red maple and it looks identical!

Great job and it is always nice to keep the women in your life happy!

Jeff