Here are a few more

[Jeff Nicol]

Here is a few more of the ornaments, I get to fussy and want cool finials on all of them. They sell well at $25-$30 each. Here is also a bowl/HF made fo wormy Butternut crotch wood with lots of small grooves cut on the whole thing. It looks pretty cool and is7"x3" about 3/16" thick.

Jeff

[David E Keller]

Again, I love the bark on ornaments. Nice bowl as well.

[Skip Spaulding]

Jeff, great ornaments, really like the birch and natural bark. Have a Merry Christmas. Sounds like at $25-$30 a pop it will be a good one in some ways!:D

[Bernie Weishapl]

Great looking ornaments and bowl Jeff. I like the bark on them.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Once again - great looking ornaments! Love the imagination!

Very nice bowl! Believe the optimum word to describe it would be texture! Pretty cool!

Thanks for sharing!

[John Terefenko]

Love the birdhouse. Great job. Can you tell us what the dimensions are especially the first one with the bark??? Do you have to do anything special with the branch before making these??? I would like to try my hand at one like that. Thanks for showing. P.S. where did you get your birds??? They look the right size for the houses.

[Ron Bontz]

You know you are really starting to depress me with such nice stuff and my lack of talent. Excellent work as always.

[Jeff Nicol]

Thanks all for the great responces on this first batch of ornaments! I like to keep them as different as I canfrom each other, I think it makes the customers buy more than one because they can't make up thier minds! Most all the bodies of the ornaments are roughly 3" tall then the tops and finials are added and most of the time I set the roofs down on a little and they mostly start out as 3/4" stock. The finials are from 1" - 4" depending on what I feel like at the time or whatever the legnth of the piece I choose to make them. John, when I start with a branch it has usually been in the shop for a while so they are starting to dry out, but most are still pretty wet. I turn the sides pretty thin and they dry out fast, so by the time I make the top and glue it in place it all drys together and makes a pretty strong bond. I am going to make some smaller ones this year and see how they go, so maybe only 3" total with finial and all.

Don't feel bad about not having any talent, we all have it in us! Just clear your mind and mount a piece of limb between centers, come up with a shape leaving enough to make a tenon for chucking it up to hollow it out. I do this with 10 or 12 at a time and then come back to them and decide which ones I like the way they are or change them a bit or toss them in the fire! Sometimes it takes the mind a little while to see it finished so you can continue the process! Have fun and think of all the smiles they will bring to everyone!

Steve, I just love all the wormy Butternut I have and I never know what is going to come out when I start. This one sat around the shop for months in a different sort of shape, and one day I moved it to another bench next to some other rough outs and I saw what I wanted from it! I just have so much fun doing this that I have never been happier in my life! Woodturning is such great therapy!!


Thanks again all for your kind words!!

Jeff

[Richard Madison]

Good value per $. Thanks Jeff. Very cool bowl! Instead of sanding out the tool marks (not that yours have any) just add more.

[Jeff Nicol]

Good value per $. Thanks Jeff. Very cool bowl! Instead of sanding out the tool marks (not that yours have any) just add more.
Richard, The bowl had so many worm holes in it I decided it needed something to add to the look. The little grooves help you keep a grip on it as it is light as a feather! The feel is nice in your hands too. Always willing to try something new!

Jeff

[Brian George]

Great job on the birdhouses, Jeff!

[bob herr]

Jeff very nicely done. How do you keep the bark from coming off? What finish do you use? Bob

[Jeff Nicol]

Jeff very nicely done. How do you keep the bark from coming off? What finish do you use? Bob
Bob, Most of the branches or small trees are collected in the winter or late fall while I am out hunting or cutting firewood. I have a bunch of stuff that has been collected and has dried out some. Some of the stuff is dead when I get it and it depends on how long it has been dead and when it died. But if you get it before the sap has risen into the tree in the spring or after the tree is done growing in the fall and all winter, the bark will stay on. Some types of wood will crack as it dries and no matter what you do to it it still cracks. You will find that out by trial and error, as I like to use some of the small shrubs and little bushy trees for the main body of the houses. So I guess that is all about that, sometimes I get some things and bugs will get under the bark like pines and cedars. Then the bark comes off, but the bugs have left all kinds of little trails on the wood that looks nice too! Have fun and there are lots of places to get little chunks to play with!

Jeff

[Mike Peace]

Excellent! How did you do the perches? They look like brass.