Maple Vase

[Bruce Pratt]

A complete experiment - started turning a 4" maple branch and discovered beetle tracks. Decided to leave them in as natural "piercing". After sanding, coated the whole thing (inside and out) with Transfast blue dye, and lightly sanded the outside to take off the surface dye. Finished with 4 coats of Minwax clear gloss water-based polyacrylic. Picture are "front" and "back" of the vase. Dimensions 7" x "3"; walls 1/4".

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Bruce

[David E Keller]

That's a really interesting look... I love how the bug tracts soaked up all of the color. Nice work.

[John Keeton]

Bruce, that is really an interesting piece! The bug tracks in the lower portion look like abstract human forms - pretty neat!

[Joe Wiliams]

Bruce, that is really an interesting piece! The bug tracks in the lower portion look like abstract human forms - pretty neat!
I was seeing cacti:p

[dan carter]

Experiments keep us interested. Good results... I suspect seeing results like this will keep people experimenting.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Interesting piece. I really like how the dye is absorbed darker in the bug tracks/holes.

[Baxter Smith]

I like the look. I can't quite tell from the picture but did you dig out the frass or is that what absorbed the extra blue?

[Bruce Pratt]

I cleaned out the frass. The whole surface of the vase was dark blue after applying the dye. After sanding the outer surface, only the recessed areas of the bug tracks retained the full color.

[John Hart]

I was seeing cacti:p

My first thoughts exactly. I definitely see a desert scene. Very cool piece! :)

[Steve Schlumpf]

Nice dye work Bruce! Really good job on sanding the piece - you know how challenging that can be to get an even color without sanding through in an area!

[Frank Van Atta]

You've definitely got a winner with that one.

[David E Keller]

I learned a word today... FRASS.

I had been using another term which is not suitable for a public forum.:D

[Curt Fuller]

I thik that's pretty cool!