Knotted Curly Maple HF

[Steve Schlumpf]

Every once in awhile I grab some of the ugliest chunks of wood and turn them just to see what if. This piece was roughed out a year ago and set aside to dry. Sure enough, the knots cracked as well as the stressed areas of the form as it dried. Oh well. Filled in the holes and cracks with epoxy mixed with used coffee grounds and turned it anyway.

Maple hollow form with lots of curl, knots, bark and even a small branch. It is 7” in diameter x 6 ½” high and turned to 1/8” with the exception of the very bottom which was left at about ¾” for ballast. As thin as this piece is, it is actually heavier than you would expect when you pick it up. Sanded to 320 and finished with multiple coats of gloss poly.

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As always, your comments, opinions and critiques are welcome!

Thanks for looking!

[Ray Binnicker]

Steve,
I like it a lot !!!!! Those cracks and knots are right up my alley..........Speaking of the coffee grounds; Are they fresh, still damp, or do you let them dry before you use them? I've been using brass filings a lot lately. I get them from my local Home Center; they have two key making machines and they save the filings for me. It gives a nice accent once in a while. Again, great job!!!!!!!!!1
Ray Binnicker

[Steve Frederick]

Beautiful!!
When you say roughed..How thick?
I Love your work!

[Harvey Crouch]

Great form Steve. I like it.

[Wally Dickerman]

Steve,
I like it a lot !!!!! Those cracks and knots are right up my alley..........Speaking of the coffee grounds; Are they fresh, still damp, or do you let them dry before you use them? I've been using brass filings a lot lately. I get them from my local Home Center; they have two key making machines and they save the filings for me. It gives a nice accent once in a while. Again, great job!!!!!!!!!1
Ray Binnicker

Ray, go to your local craft store and get some gold sparkle. Add a bit to your brass filings. It'll jazz it up a bit. I get blue sparkle and add some to the turquoise that I sometimes use in turnings.

Nice HF Steve. Sometimes using flaws such as cracks around a knot as a feature will dress up a somewhat plain piece of wood. Here in Az. we do that with mesquite using turquoise. Both Az. products.

Wally

[alex carey]

Beautiful as usual.

Just wondering, do you use a steady rest for this?

[Bill Bolen]

Beautiful piece Steve. Love all the curl and the dark repaired cracks add a nice contrast to the light color of the wood. Must say your photo work is outstanding too...Bill...

[David E Keller]

Very nice... I love the form and the "imperfections" are very attractive. I don't think the piece would be as nice without the cracks

[charlie knighton]

very nice Steve, could you tell us more about your coffee grounds, i put some used coffee grounds up in a sandwich baggie one time, 6 months later they still had not dried, i ended up using the freeze dried stuff, i would like to hear any pointers on using the 2 part epoxy and coffee grounds

[Curt Fuller]

This is one of my favorites that you've turned. I have a thing for all the quirks, flaws, and other works of art that mother nature hides in the wood. The form is beautiful and the sharp contrast of the coffee filler really adds to the overall look of the vase.

[Ron Bontz]

Stunning as always. The talent /abilities never cease to amaze me here.:)

[Steve Schlumpf]

Thanks for all the kind words everyone - glad you liked the HF.

Steve - this piece was roughed out to about 1", soaked in DNA, wrapped and dried until turned this past weekend.

Charlie - I put a bunch of used coffee grounds in a plastic margarine container over a year ago and let them dry. All I did was throw some into the epoxy mix and stir them in until the epoxy stiffened up. Then forced the mixture into all the cracks and voids - covered each void with duct tape to keep the epoxy in and let dry overnight. Works great. I always overfill the holes - meaning I mound the mixture over the void - then I sand everything smooth once dry.

[George Morris]

Steve beautiful I love it with the imperfections. You could dye it! G

[Bernie Weishapl]

Steve that is a beauty. I really like the imperfections. They really make the piece.

[John W Dixon]

Steve that is really sharp! Thanks for the explanation on how you use the coffee grounds. Is the inside of the vessel darkened with anything or is it just the shadow of the inside? It looks so dark in the one pic I wondered if you used anything on it? Again great work.

John

[Dan Forman]

Nice save on some beautifully figured wood. Do such pieces sell well, or are the "imperfections" most just attractive to turners? I've always wondered about that.

Dan

[cliff smith]

nice hollow form steve, what type hollowing tools do you use? as alwys great work.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Dan - so far all of my sales has been through word-of-mouth advertising and cracks/voids, etc have not played a role to my knowledge. I have sold a few hollow forms that were cracked and the folks that bought them never mentioned anything about it. To me it has always been a part of the original look of the piece and I'm sure that some will like it - others won't even consider it. I do think one of the reasons why it hasn't been a problem to date is that I turn mostly decorative/art type of things. If the piece was to be functional - a crack/void would have a major impact.

Cliff - I have both of the Monster hollowing systems and love them. I used the captured system exclusively on this piece. For more info on the Monster systems, check this out: http://monster-lathe-tools.com/cart.php?target=category&category_id=63

[Aaron Wingert]

Very nice HF's Steve. The coffee grounds trick is really fun...I've done accent bands on a number of my duck calls using coffee grounds and CA. If you use varying consistencies of CA (starting with thick then going to medium and then thin) it works great too. The best part of using coffee grounds is watching people try to figure out what it actually is. When you tell them what it the first thing everyone does is put their nose right up to it and try to smell it. Most people I've shown it to guess that it is cork :confused: before I tell them it is coffee.

[Rob Cunningham]

Nice looking HF Steve. I like the coffee grounds idea, and will have to give it a try.