Leopard Vase Ala Coffee

[John Hart]

Ok, well thanks to Doug Fries and his gift of coffee beans, and a mad desire to come up with something a little different.....Here's something a little different.

I had in my mind that I could simulate a leopard, using coffee beans and tinted resin. It didn't turn out the way I had in my mind, but I certainly came up with a few ideas along the way!! ;)

This is a cherry vase body, encapsulated with resin and coffee beans, with a curly burly piece of maple pallet wood, topped off with Philippine Mahogany

Finished with three coats of lacquer, and I'll buff later. It is 8.5" X 3.5" and it is very light.

I also photographed my process and created a tutorial that is on the home page of Woodturners America.

Your comments and critiques are most humbly welcome!!:)
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[Steve Schlumpf]

John - love the form! Very interesting effect that you managed to create with the coffee beans and dye! Yeah... I like this! Also - I really like the form on this one! Very refined - must be all that exposure to the art galleries is rubbing off!

Seriously - nice work!

[Marty Eargle]

Fantastic piece, John! It's hard to believe that just isn't a painted on design. I especially like how some of the resin shows through the center of the beans. This inspires me to go grind some beans to get ready for tonight's venture into the shop :)

Oh, and a perfect form. I think it's impossible for me to call this anything other than a perfect piece. If this is what turned out, I can only imagine what you had in mind.

[Michael James]

Makes me want to go to Starbucks, but then I remember I wont spend that much on java! Very creative, very original and of course well done! You and your piece are true originals sir. Thanks for posting!
mj

[Greg Just]

Very ncie form with an unusual effect from the beans and resin. Lots of options. How thick is the resin? Also, what is the "U" on the neck? is that from the flash?

[charlie knighton]

very nice, i like the small foot

[David E Keller]

That's cool, John. When you told me what you were doing, I wasn't expecting it to be this colorful. The form is fantastic, and I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with next. I hope you enjoyed making this because I think you're gonna have to do some more coffee forms when this one sells rapidly.

[David DeCristoforo]

That's just insane! The form is great and the coffee beans interlaced with the colored resin is... well I'm not at all sure what it is. But I keep wanting to look at it. the whole thing has a "graphic art" quality to it. Most unusual. I was expecting more coffee but then I was not thinking "leopard!

[Donny Lawson]

WOW, now that is a wild looking piece. Love it. Never worked with coffee beans before but I've seen some really neat items made from them and this is one of them.

[Toney Robertson]

I would say that is unique but that does not adequately describe the piece.

Great form, wonderful imagination, and quite colorful is the best I can do.

[Curt Fuller]

Holy Mackerel Mr Hart! Now that is cool! Really imaginative in the bean and resin mix this time and it turned out great. The form is really great too. I love it!

[John Keeton]

HIGH FASHION!! Hart, this is one of my favorites of the recent turnings you have done! Great stuff - very, very nice.

[Rick Markham]

It's beautiful John! I can't wait to see what your next one is going to be.

[Roger Chandler]

I like the way this one turned out John..........I think these pieces are taking you in a direction that will end up who knows where............endless possibilities.............This is so different it begs for attention and makes one ponder the wonder of the process. I await the jelly beans! ;):D


Keep 'em coming...........this is just too good to stop now!

[Baxter Smith]

Distinctively "yours" John. The color of the resin doesn't appeal to me on this one( thats just a personal thing)but I like the quest for the leopard look. Good luck on getting there!

[John Nowack]

love the form and my wife and I keep looking at the photo....it truely looks like you have photo/picture wrapped around the form....would love to see one off these in person to get a closer look at the details......love every deatil about it

[Tim Thiebaut]

This is so cool John, I would know the neck of that vessel anywhere it is so uniquely yours...and that is a good thing, and I really like the overall style of it as well...the color and beans take it to another level as well, I can see a big improvement over the first one, they just keep getting better and better...I love when people go out of the box and come up with cool stuff like this!

[John Hart]

Thanks for all the nice comments gang. It was quite an adventure, although I really tried to keep things orderly this time....and for the most part, succeeded. :) The nuances that go along with a process like this, really make you think about what you can get away with. Roger, you are absolutely correct that the possibilities are endless....but I'll bet it would be easy to get stuck in a rut. I'm going to try and avoid that.

Greg...the resin is about 1/16" thick, and the wood body is about 1/8-1/16 so, overall...1/8-3/16 roughly. And yeah...on that "U" shaped thing, that's the reflection of the light tubes of my photo booth. I need to get rid of that....especially on the lacquered stuff.

Thanks again!!:)

[Michelle Rich]

when I read the info, before the pictures came up , I was expecting a coffee cup turning! (that could be cool too!) Nifty vase.

[Bob Rotche]

John, I LOVE this peice! Form is about perfect and the coffee bean pattern is just over the top! Your signature vase mouth is really growing on me as well. I am very intrigued by the possibilities of this technique and will go read your tutorial as soon as I have downloaded these pics for future reference!

[Bob Rotche]

Just wanted to let everyone know that I checked out the tutorial for this project on Woodturners America website and it is extraordinarily well done and a must read for anyone interested in this process. Awesome job, John!

[Doug Fries]

Hey John, Nice job, Nice form! I love the way the colors came out. I checked out your tutorial and you sure made the process easy to understand. I might have to try this sometime. Now if only I could get my hands on some expired coffee beans....... :)

[bob svoboda]

What else can be said? Just awesome, John.

[John Hart]

Thanks so much everyone!!, and a big thanks to Doug Fries for the beans. I know I could have just bought some at walmart for a couple bucks, but there's something about the generosity of woodturners that just make you feel good inside. What is it with these people??

I got to thinking.....Imagine a room with a large 24" floor fan running at full blast on a summer day. Two toddlers are playing with tinker toys. One of the toddlers sticks a tinker toy in the fan...and BBRRRAAPP!! Holy Smokes!!!. The kid shakes it off and moves away from the fan and goes back to playing. The other toddler sees this, and goes up to the fan and tries it himself....BRRRAAPP!!! Whoa!! Holy cow...that's scarey!!!! Then he does it 6 more times. .....A Future Woodturner :)

Anyway...thanks again. I finally got the tutorial completed too....in case you were wondering what you were missing.

[Cathy Schaewe]

I really like this - unique!

[Kathy Marshall]

Very Cool piece! I love how the color in the resin flows.

[Dick Wilson]

John, I have not a clue how you do that but keep doing it. You are on a great journey of new design. I already want to see the next piece.

[Roland Martin]

This is a very well done form, John. You're really cruising with this resin stuff, I really like it. I will certainly check out your tutorial, thanks.

[John Hart]

Thanks again y'all. :)

I just came up with my next project about 5 minutes ago. It's a cool feeling....instead of that "writer's block" sorta feeling. Gonna build on lessons learned from this piece.

[John Hart]

For those of you interested in the tutorial, I found a replacement for the Loctite Repair Extreme adhesive. Loctite makes a number of different double tube epoxy system things. Quick-set, Plastics, General use....etc.
Well, I went to Home Depot last night and found their "No Drip" Gel version. It was $4...same double tube syringe configuration. I used it on my new project last night and it works great. Beans don't move or nuthin'.

Just wanted to let you know.

[Steve Campbell]

You nailed it again. Great job.

Steve