Cedar HF

[Cody Colston]

Aromatic Cedar with a Bois d' Arc collar and finial, 8 1/2" x 6 1/2" and finished with Deft gloss from a rattle can.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Cody that is a beauty. Really nice form and finish.

[Ted Calver]

Oh yeah!! Great form and finish..that boi d'arc finial looks like the flame on a candle..very nice!!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Cody - love all the colors! Nice form and finish but the rich color of the cedar is really amazing! Must have smelled great! Thanks for sharing!

[ROY DICK]

Cody,

Outstanding for sure. Ya gotta love that cedar.


Roy

[Barry Richardson]

Great piece Cody! I appreciate how you use local native woods, I like to do the same whenever possible:).

[Walt Caza]

Hi Cody,
Congrats on another terrific piece!
Beautiful wood, and beautiful work.

I'm intrigued by your local wood choices:
You told me you've got River Birch, Bois d' Arc, Sweetgum, Eastern Red Cedar,
Hackberry, Redbud and a couple of others...even Mesquite.'

I have not seen, nor heard of most of them?
I love the way you feature them and flatter them!

Bois d' Arc surely must have some french pronunciation?
Many folks are sensitive to cedar from what I understand.
Did you have any issues, or take any precautions with it?

Such great turnings both inspire and confound this novice...
hope you get some shop time,
Walt

[Cody Colston]

Thanks for the comments, guys. They are surely appreciated.

Steve,

The Cedar came from a large tree just behind my house in my neighbor's field. It had died and he let me cut it down for the wood. The tree forked about 5 ft. off the ground and both forks were about 18" diameter. The short, large trunk was full of Carpenter Ants and didn't yield many usable pieces. but, I got a large stash from the rest and still have quite a bit left. you're right, it has some wonderful figure for Cedar.

Barry,

I like to "rescue" wood that would otherwise be burned or left to rot. Plus, I see no reason to buy turning blanks when I have so much free wood available to me. Plus, i sorta like the idea of working only with native East Texas wood...so do my customers at art/craft shows.

Walt,

Bois d' Arc is a french word meaning "bow wood" as the Osage Indians used it for making their bows. The local pronunciation is bodark. Most people outside of Texas probably know it by the more common name of "Osage Orange." BTW, the "orange" has nothing to do with the wood color which is bright yellow with white sapwood. The orange refers to the softball sized wrinkled fruit that resembles an orange in size and texture. The fruit is inedible and is locally called "horse apples." I have a couple dozen of them in the yard from a tree growing on my back property line.

The Bois d'Arc that I'm currently turning came from a tree that a buddy of mine cut from his fence line. All it cost me was a couple of bowls for his wife. I like turning it because, like Mesquite, it is very stable and can be turned green to a finished bowl without much warping or cracking. That's convenient because dry Bois d'Arc turns like concrete. :)

I haven't found any wood yet that I am allergic to. I use Eastern Red Cedar a lot in both turnings and flat work. So far, I've not experienced any problems and I very seldom wear a dust mask for anything.

Thanks again for the kind comments.

[alex carey]

love the wood and the contrast you used. Great finish to.

[Richard Madison]

Nice work Cody. Great combination of woods.