Curly Redwood Rough outs

[Jack Mincey]

I had some time to rough out a few HF's today, so I decided to try some of the redwood I got from Mike Smith as part of my prizes for the fall bowl contest. Since they where already in round blank form I had to go with a shape that I felt brought out the grain of the wood best. These are just off the lathe with no finish, but the curl is going to be something special when I do finish them. The first one is around 14" in dia. the second HF is around 10" high and the last bowl is the smallest. The redwood is hard to get a real smooth cut, but it hollows as easy as a hot knife in butter. Here is Mikes contact info if anyone wants to see if he has any of the curly redwood left.
http://www.easternncwoodworkers.com/
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v727/flyrod444/100_1657.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v727/flyrod444/100_1658.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v727/flyrod444/100_1659.jpg
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[David E Keller]

WOW! That curl is amazing. I can't wait to see the finished pieces.

[David DeCristoforo]

Redwood can rival the best figured maple for amazing curl. These are proof. Very nice looking forma as well. These should be show stoppers!

[John Keeton]

Jack, that is some awesome wood!! I have already emailed Mike to save me a piece. Once he digs out from the foot of snow, he is working on an order for me anyway, so this will help fill that in.

Great forms on these, but we would expect nothing less from you! I really look forward to seeing these finished. What do you plan for a finish? I put some WOP on a piece of redwood once as a test, and wasn't really happy with it - kind of killed the color. But, it may just have been that particular piece.

I also wonder about using some grain filler on these - the one piece of redwood I started was very difficult to get a clean cut on, and the surface looked similar to yours. One could use pumice as a filler. It becomes quite translucent when applied with a lubricant of some kind.

Just some thoughts.

[Carol Kinney]

Jack, those look fantastic! I roughed out my first HF yesterday and was thinking of going with the DNA. How long will you be waiting before finishing and how will you tell if they are dry enough?

BTW - as you can tell I'm fairly new at this :)

Thanks for sharing,
Carol

[dan carter]

Very impressive wood, very impressive job, nice forms. Expect Mike better find more than a piece or two that he has left after seeing these.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Well these sure brought a big smile to my face!! Beautiful wood - great forms! Seriously looking forward to seeing these completed!

[Jack Mincey]

Thanks everyone, Not sure how I'm going to finish them yet. I'm thinking that I might sand them down to 400 and then wet sand them with danish oil to fill the grain. After that dries a few weeks I can use a lot of different finishes on them I might have to experiment on the least of the three and see how I like it. Carol, I used DNA back when I first started turning green wood but for the last 4 years I just turn them to a consistent wall thickness and put them in a brown paper bag and lay them on the floor of my shop and let them dry. A consistent wall thickens all the way down to the bottom of the bowl is very important when drying bowls this way. The other key is starting with wood that is crack free. Some of the small HF's dry in just a few weeks since I can turn them thinner while the larger forms can take up to 6 months to dry. I usually turn them a little less than 10% of the dia. since HF's don't move as much as a open type bowl most of the time. As you get a lot of roughed out bowls sitting around in bags you just pick one out with a 6 month or older date on the bag and it should be ready to turn.
Jack

[Nathan Hawkes]

I need one of those smiley faces with the huge eyes. They may not be finished, but I can see amazing work there, Jack!!!

[George Guadiane]

I don't often GET wood envy, but I gotta say, I HAVE IT BAD!
And you have done an outstanding job of showing it off.

[Carol Kinney]

Thanks for the information Jack, I just might try your way this time and see what happens. I also might need to get the bottom of mine a little more to make it more consistent with my side wall thickness, other than that it should be good to put in a bag. Thanks so much Jack and good luck with finishing these beauties!

Carol

[Bernie Weishapl]

Jack that is some amazing curl in that wood. Wow those are going to be nice when finished. I guess the redwood I got was some bad wood because all three I bought were useless.

[Michael James]

I need one of those smiley faces with the huge eyes. They may not be finished, but I can see amazing work there, Jack!!!

ditto:eek::eek: and one for Nathan :eek:

[alex carey]

finish it quick!, im excited to see it.

[Jamie Buxton]

When I've put oil-based finish on redwood, it looks okay initially, but it darkens a great deal. In a couple of years, you may not be able to discern that wonderful curl. I haven't tried a waterborne on redwood, but I'd hope that it ages better.

[Cathy Schaewe]

Wow, catch a little pneumonia, miss a lot! I hope I e-mailed Mike in time to get a piece or two!