Spalted River Birch Hollow Form

[Mike Peace]

I turned this from a River Birch cut down in my neighborhood last February. It is 8" X 2 5/8" and finished with several coats of Minwax Tung Oil and then buffed. I almost let it go too long before I turned it as it was beginning to get a little punky. I tried coathing it in a watered down solution of Titebond 3 and water to prevent tearout and then had to resort to wood hardner.

I am using the "Phrugal Studio" with a shop light. It is a little washed out looking but I did not have to do anything with photo editing software.

Comments and critiques welcome.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Mike - love the wood! Very interesting contemporary form! I've turned a couple like that and it can sure be a pain to hollow in the far part of the shoulder!

There are lots of different software programs out there for editing graphics. I use FastStone and really like the control it gives over the final photo.

[Tony Greenway]

Mike, that's a great looking piece. Definitely worth your efforts.

[Richard Madison]

Very pretty piece Mike. Good save of some beautiful wood.

[Brian Effinger]

Beautiful HF. I love the simple form - it lets the wood be the pretty wood be the main attraction. Well done! :)

Brian

[David Walser]

Mike,

That hollow form is simply stunning. The form, itself, is wonderful, but the wood is the real star. Very well done.


... I tried coathing it in a watered down solution of Titebond 3 and water to prevent tearout and then had to resort to wood hardner. ...

How'd thinning Titebond III workout? I've thinned Titebond Original and Titebond II, but I've always been afraid that Titebond III's "waterproof" formulation wouldn't react well to thinning with water. Just read the blurbs on Franklin's website and all three say they can be cleaned up with water, so maybe all three can be thinned with water, too. Anyone know?

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Nice one Mike, beautiful wood and a very nice form, well done :D

[Roland Martin]

Fantastic piece of wood, character, color, the whole gamut. Nice save!

[John Keeton]

Beautiful wood and a very interesting form! Since I am new to this game, what is wood hardener? I understand the watered down glue, but is there a particular product call wood hardener?

[David Walser]

Beautiful wood and a very interesting form! Since I am new to this game, what is wood hardener? I understand the watered down glue, but is there a particular product call wood hardener?

John,

I believe Mike was referring to MinWax High Performance Wood Hardener (http://www.minwax.com/products/wood_maintenance_and_repair/high_performance_wood_hardener.html). It's a good product and should be available at most hardware stores.

[David E Keller]

Beautiful wood and form. Really a striking spalt.

[Baxter Smith]

Nice shape and color!

I almost let it go too long before I turned it as it was beginning to get a little punky.
Was it completely solid a year ago? And if so,
did you do anything other than just leaving it outside to let it spalt?

[Wayne Bower]

Mike, that is beautiful. I like the form and the wood is wonderful. Nicely done.

[Harvey Ghesser]

Really nice, Mike!:)

[Bernie Weishapl]

That is a beauty Mike. Love the form and the wood is really nice.

[Wally Dickerman]

Very nice piece Mike. The form is very well done, and the spalted birch is wonderful. Nothing like that here in Arizona.

Wally

[Mike Peace]

Steve, I use Gimp which is open source. I got info on this from a Neal Addy tutorial on Woodturning Online. It has a very simple feature called Curves which is super easy to manipulate. I just could not manipulate it to be any better than it was. I did discover that setting the light setting to Tungsten on my camera was an improvement over setting a custom white balance with a grey piece of cardboard.

David, I figured Titebond III would mix with water fine and I have a half of a gallon that is more than 3 years old so I figured it would be a good use for it.

Baxter, yes the tree was alive and well when cut and in February I figured the sap was not up. River Birch just seems to spalt easily even if not in contact with the ground.

Thanks to all for all of the nice comments.

[Mark Hubl]

That is a nice piece Mike. I like the contemporary look. I think that sharp lines can add to a piece. I like organic shapes as well, but I think your shape adds to the piece because the wood is so wonderfully calling for attention. The more contemporary shape adds by saying "Hey just don't look at the wood, look at me, don't cut yourself". Well done.

[Rob Cunningham]

Nice looking piece Mike. Great form and wood.

[Gary Conklin]

Mike, I really loke that piece. Very well done.

[Donny Lawson]

That is GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!. I love the spalted wood.I collect spalted wood myself.,and a bowl made from that is wonderful.
Donny

[Michael Short]

Nice piece of spalted wood. Cool shape that you chose to display it.

[Jack Gaskins]

Outstanding hollow form Mike.

[Ken Glass]

Mike,
A truly beautiful piece of River Birch. I really like your design. I also think your photo turned out good too. You have definitely captured the best look for the spalted River Birch . Well done.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Oh boy that is sweet. Like the form and the wood is amazing! Keep up the great work. Alan

[BILL DONAHUE]

Gorgeous! Everything about it looks good.