Pot of Gold

[Baxter Smith]

This is a piece of cottonwood I received from John Keeton yesterday as part of a wood exchange. Thanks John!
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He told me to have fun with it so…

I remember the first post John made about finding this “Gold Mine” of rotting Cottonwood and how excited he was about it. He made several trips back to the “mine” documenting each trip with pictures of his truckloads. Since he was willing to part with a piece of the “ore” that included a nugget or two, and being the day it is, I thought this turning might be appropriate.

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JK’s Pot of Gold - 5 x 2 ¾ x ¼ one coat of AO

[James Roberts]

Well played sir. Great form and fine work on a beautiful piece of wood.

[Robert McGowen]

Nice bowl, Baxter. Those legs give it a unique look.

[John Tomasello jr]

Nice I like it, now you have to fill it with all your gold.

[John Keeton]

Dang, Baxter!! I want my wood back!! That is very nice - and, you certainly did the piece justice. I love the form, and the legs really are a nice touch!

For reference though, most of the truckloads from the "gold mine" were actually some spalting/rotting maple, that turned out to too punky. The cottonwood did come from the same place, but it was a live tree that had been felled.

Seeing this makes me want to go back!! There is still a pickup load for the taking! Just a mile down the road......I pass by every day......Hmmmmm....

[Matt Ranum]

A very nice look, especially like the feet.

[Curt Fuller]

That's a great looking bowl. I love the feet.

[alex carey]

pretty wood, nice job on the feet.

[Roland Martin]

Very well done Baxter. Really nice wood and you did it justice for sure.

[Donny Lawson]

Very nice. I'm trying to figure out how you did the feet. Those are great.
Donny

[Karl Card]

Very nice. I'm trying to figure out how you did the feet. Those are great.
Donny


same here on the feet

[Frank Van Atta]

Very striking piece. You certainly did the Cottonwood proud.

[David E Keller]

That's really nice looking. I never knew cottonwood could look like that... It's one of the few trees that actually grows around here, and now those trees are in danger.:D

[Bernie Weishapl]

That is a great looking bowl Baxter. I really like the feet.

[Gary Conklin]

A fine example of craftsmanship and artistry!

[Kevin J Lalonde]

Very nice Baxter. I've always been a leg man!! Man your just whipping em out here lately!! Keep em coming.

[ed hoxter]

what part of delaware are you in??? ed hoxter Almost forgot, that"s a beautiful piece of cottonwood.:)

[Jim Slovik]

Baxter,
I'm not sure what it is about that piece butI find myself looking at the photo again and again. I really like it. Nice job.
Jim

[Steve Schlumpf]

Baxter - a very well thought out design! Pretty wood, great form and the feet help elevate the piece out of the ordinary.

Well done! You should be proud of this one!

(did you notice? I didn't call this one interesting!)

[Maylon Harvey]

Really nice, I like it a lot.

[Ted Calver]

Baxter...this is a very nice piece...leprechauns are gonna get it!!

[Roger Bullock]

The feet really sets this one off. Have to stick this one in the I've got to try this file. Thanks for the inspiration.

[Mike Golka]

Ahhh, me buyoo-- I'd be dancin' the jig twas it I that crafted such a fine piece of work as this.

[Baxter Smith]

Thanks to all for taking the time to comment!



For reference though, most of the truckloads from the "gold mine" were actually some spalting/rotting maple, that turned out to too punky. The cottonwood did come from the same place, but it was a live tree that had been felled.
John, I honestly wasn't trying to embellish the story!:) I didn't think this one had any appearance of rot but figured you must have gone back for some better pieces. You may be out there right now.:D Glad I rememberd the one about your grandfather being a tobacco chewer accurately but my memory is sometimes a little fuzzy. Sort of like the cottonwood.

Speaking of fuzzy and remembering things accurately - or not. I think I remember you saying in one post that you had tried turning a piece of cottonwood just to see how thin you could turn something. If your only experience with green wood was the cottonwood and maple that was too far gone, I can see why you would prefer dry wood.:) Give some green fruitwood a try, you might find its good to "go green". Or at least fun to make shavings.:D

We had some large Balm-O-Gilead poplars in the bushes beside our driveway where I grew up in Maine. One of the bigger ones died while I was building my house and since I wanted to incorporate something from there here, my Dad cut it for me. He took the 4 foot lengths to the same lobster trap sawyer he took the yellow birch I sent you. I stickered it for a couple of years then used it for raised panel wainscoating in the entryway between house and garage. Pretty wild looking stuff but extremely fuzzy after going through the shaper. Lots of hand sanding. Think I remember cutting off some of the stringy fibers with a utility knife.




Very nice. I'm trying to figure out how you did the feet. Those are great.
Donny
Donny, I am the last person you should ask on how to do anything turning related but I will try to explain what I came up with yesterday. I mounted the blank on a faceplate and turned away the bark and made it bowl shaped. I left a large dovetailed tenon on the bottom. The legs you see are whats left of it. I used the indexing feature on the lathe to mark out the location of the three legs thinking that if the pot warped it would still sit on all three. I then turned a dovetail recess in that tenon to fit my 50mm jaws.

I reversed the blank and using the dt recess I turned the inside of the bowl. I then turned it around again and using a friction drive and my tailstock, rounded out the DT recess and made it slightly deeper. Tried to follow the same general curve of the bowl bottom.

After removing the bowl from the lathe, I marked the side angle of the feet on the DT tenon and used a DT saw to cut the sides down near the bowl on the outside and inside of the tenon. (Should have used the coping saw as I later had to sand to a slight curve.) Then used a coping saw to cut away the parts between the legs. Then there was some sanding, power and hand, to get it smooth. Hope thats sort of clear.:)


Very nice Baxter. I've always been a leg man!! Man your just whipping em out here lately!! Keep em coming.
Thanks Kevin. When I was working on some NE bowls in December someone suggested suggesting carving some feet on one. I found some pictures in the galleries but had no clue on how they did it. Didn't think that would be something I would ever try. Never say never!:)


what part of delaware are you in??? ed hoxter Almost forgot, that"s a beautiful piece of cottonwood.:)
Thanks Ed, pm sent.


Baxter - a very well thought out design! Pretty wood, great form and the feet help elevate the piece out of the ordinary.

Well done! You should be proud of this one!

(did you notice? I didn't call this one interesting!)
Thank you Steve, I take that as a great complement.
Funny what a little attempt at being humorous in design can result in.:D And I did notice. Feel free to use it on my next one.:)

Baxter...this is a very nice piece...leprechauns are gonna get it!!
Thanks Ted. I haven't been out to the shop yet to check!;)

The feet really sets this one off. Have to stick this one in the I've got to try this file. Thanks for the inspiration.
Thanks Roger. Glad to inspire.:) I know I see at least a couple of things here every day here that does that for me.

Thanks again for the kind words!

[Mark Hubl]

Nice little pot. Good form, the feet really add to the piece.

[Jeff Nicol]

Baxter, I really like it and the wood is great! John did you right with that chunk of wood! It has lots going for it and the color variations are wonderful!

Great job,

Jeff

[Terry Murphy]

:DThere is gold in them thar woods!

Very nice looking nugget.

Terry

[Bill Bolen]

I find myself really drawn to this piece Baxter. The feet sure set it off. Great job..Bill..

[charlie knighton]

very nice....

[Gary Chester]

Very nice Baxter!!!

I can see a little leprechaun cooking a pot of stew over a campfire in this.:D

And cottonwood huh... I see a lot of this around here and always thought it wasn't good wood for turning, you've proved that assumption wrong...

[Vince Shriver]

I did my first turning ever this week (legs & spindles for a windsor chair from yew wood) under the supervision of a very accomplished cabinetmaker. I was amazed, and I am even more amazed at your bowl. That's just plain gorgeous! I do believe I will persue this vain of woodworking seeing what is possible - thank you for posting.

[John Keeton]

I did my first turning ever this week ...I do believe I will persue this vain of woodworking seeing what is possible - thank you for posting.OH NO!!!!!:eek: Another victim to the vortex!! Please Vince, from one that has sunk to the utter bottom of this pit - think about this!! Life as you once knew it will quickly become a faded memory.... Turn back....Now!!:D

[Leo Van Der Loo]

This is a piece of cottonwood I received from John Keeton yesterday as part of a wood exchange. Thanks John!
145381

He told me to have fun with it so…

I remember the first post John made about finding this “Gold Mine” of rotting Cottonwood and how excited he was about it. He made several trips back to the “mine” documenting each trip with pictures of his truckloads. Since he was willing to part with a piece of the “ore” that included a nugget or two, and being the day it is, I thought this turning might be appropriate.

145377
JK’s Pot of Gold - 5 x 2 ¾ x ¼ one coat of AO

Well this one is certainly not just another bowl Baxter, it looks good, the feet are just the right touch for the bowl, and yes nice wood also, well done :D

[Brian Effinger]

Great little piece Baxter. Really like the form, and love the feet.

[Baxter Smith]

Very nice Baxter!!!

I can see a little leprechaun cooking a pot of stew over a campfire in this.:D

And cottonwood huh... I see a lot of this around here and always thought it wasn't good wood for turning, you've proved that assumption wrong...
Thanks Gary. I don't know have much experience with different turning woods but this one was very different than the others I have tried. Don't know if I would call it a particularly good turning wood or not. The little gold/orange spots made the piece so to speak. John sent me another blank of cottonwood as well. I will be very interested to see if they are also present in that one. It seems to be very wet, almost soggy. I might have preferred to rough turn, let dry and return, but I was on a time schedule!;)


I did my first turning ever this week (legs & spindles for a windsor chair from yew wood) under the supervision of a very accomplished cabinetmaker. I was amazed, and I am even more amazed at your bowl. That's just plain gorgeous! I do believe I will persue this vain of woodworking seeing what is possible - thank you for posting.

Good luck with your turning Vince. Lots of beautiful work gets posted here that this one doesn't even come close too. Lots of helpful advice as well!


Well this one is certainly not just another bowl Baxter, it looks good, the feet are just the right touch for the bowl, and yes nice wood also, well done :D

Thank you Leo. Your past advice and encouragement has been a great help in whatever I have done.


Great little piece Baxter. Really like the form, and love the feet.

Thanks Brian. I think the feet look good as well but am not exactly sure why. Is it mostly because they fit the theme, the shape, or they just make the bowl different than most? Since they seem to have been popular, I am interested to see if others will try them on different styles of bowls. I don't remember seeing feet on bowls in the galleries except for some NE ones.

Thanks again for all the support.:)

[Scott Lux]

I'm late to the party here, but +1 on the I gotta try that. You did a great job on this one. I find the form whimsical, and your execution flawless.

I'm surprised at the cottonwood too. We have a lot of it here (I live along a small river) and people have a very low opinion of it. Folks won't even put it in the fireplace.

Nice job.