CURLY Koa/Hop Hornbeam BURL Box

[George Guadiane]

This SEEMED like a good idea when I started it... I have admired Mike Stafford's (and others, of course) and thought I would try a version of his fine work.
Now I remember why I don't often make boxes (but I have to do it, I'll like the results under other circumstances).

This box is turned from the remains of a vase blank I turned a while ago. It turns out that I was incredibly lucky to have oriented the HF the way that I did, this piece was VERY punky! I wasn't sure I could get it to "decent," I gave up on GOOD early on.
I liked the idea Mike used with the koa insert on the maple box, and I was going to do a reversal, but I couldn't find a nice enough piece of maple so I dug out my hop-hornbeam burl scraps and tried that - I like it. The wood is ROCK hard when dry, but is still looks nice and smells interesting.
I used a maple ring to save as much of the remaining koa as possible - that came out well enough, but as the picture shows, there was a punky spot that just kept getting worse, the more I worked on it.

Diameter: 4 1/4 inches
Height: 3 3/4 inches
Finish: Sanded to 800 Burnished renaissance wax.

[John Keeton]

Very nice wood combo! I do like the hornbeam burl - nice touch.

[James Combs]

I have been sitting here looking for some inspiration for my next project and I think I just found it. A box, now why didn't I think of that before sitting down...

BTW what the heck is hornbeam??

[Richard Madison]

Has that "gnarly" look that many customers like.

[Harvey Ghesser]

Nice box, George:)

I think the grain is fantastic and a shinier finish might bring it out better. Terrific combination of woods!

Harv

[Steve Schlumpf]

George - nice little box! Love all the curl and the rich root beer color of the wood! Very nice work!

[George Morris]

George very nice box! Well done!

[Gary Conklin]

Neat little piece! Love the burl! Great form on it too.

[David E Keller]

Nice looking box. It looks like it was made years ago... Almost like it has developed an instant patina. I like the insert, but I'm not sure about the flat section in the middle of the insert.

[Bernie Weishapl]

George nice box. Wood has some really rich color.

[George Guadiane]

Thank you everyone for your kind comments!

I have been sitting here looking for some inspiration for my next project and I think I just found it. A box, now why didn't I think of that before sitting down...

BTW what the heck is hornbeam??

Glad that I too can bring a little inspiration to the forums.
Hornbeam/Hop Hornbeam are two of the ironwoods. Slow growing very hard... I understand it has been used for tool handles and plane soles (and that kind of thing). A logger friend found the burl along with a bunch of others I bought from him. There was only one other picture of a hop hornbeam burl piece that I could find, before I added one of mine to the mix a while ago. I think the wood is a member of the birch family.


Nice looking box. It looks like it was made years ago... Almost like it has developed an instant patina. I like the insert, but I'm not sure about the flat section in the middle of the insert.

Actually not flat, but cupped a little. I THINK it looks better in person than it does in the photos. I like the idea of the instant patina thing.

[David DeCristoforo]

"BTW what the heck is hornbeam??"

Since you asked...

http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=hop+hornbeam&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

[Aaron Wingert]

Great looking piece of koa you've got there, and the shape and finish did it justice. Sometimes even though things don't turn out how we initially picture them, they just seem to work out. I'd say that's definitely the case with this piece! Great work.