Who said only mother nature can make an apple...

[Joe Watson]

Hurricane Irene uprooted a crab-apple tree at a friends moms house and she was looking to get rid of the wood, so i took some.
A few months before this she had the town cut down a willow tree hanging over the house wires and they left the wood in her yard which she also wanted to get rid of, and i took some of that too.
So...
Today i made her an apple (from the crap-apple tree)
Think im gonna make acouple more with some of the crab-apple wood and try my hand at a dish/bowl out of the willow wood and give it to her as a thanks.

Anyway...
Here two pictures of an Apple.
The wood was really really wet (i coated the end-grain of the rest of the wood with latex paint (just ordered a gallon of Anchorseal)), i roughed out the apple first, then popped it in the micro-wave for four nuke sessions, 1, 1, 1:15. 1:20 seconds (letting it cool in-between each session) then chucked it back on the lathe and finished it. Its only sanded: 220g, then wet 400g (next one im gonna hit it with some paste-wax). The stem is a twig from one of the branchs.

So...
All opinions and advice are welcome.

_

[John Keeton]

I would say you did well! I like the sapwood/heartwood combo. I am surprised nuking it didn't result in a crack, though.

[Betty Fox]

Nice apple. :) That looks like a hard shape to make. Very creative on the stem too.

[Bernie Weishapl]

You did well with that apple. Like the wood colors.

[Bill Bolen]

Nice job Joe. Looks juicy too!

[Kaptan J.W. Meek]

really nice.. I'm a big fan of "apples".. I give them to teachers.. They love that stuff.. I like your work here, perhaps taper the bottom just a little more, and "round" over the top edge... It's very close.. Good luck and congrats on wood score.

[Joe Watson]

Thanks everyone.
As for the microwave nuking, the piece was about 4" long and 2" dia if that matters (only my second time nuking wood, the first time was with the same crap-apple wood but a much thinner peice (4" long x .75 dia), tried it for two mins and the wood started to smoke (smoke, not steam) like it was burning from the inside out)... gonna try it again later this week on the second apple.

I like your suggestion, JW... I too thought the bottom needed to be tappered alittle more after i pulled it off the lathe, gonna try and make the second one like your described... will post a pic here how it turns out.

_

[Rick Markham]

I like it, it looks like someone has partially peeled it! Very cool Joe.

[Joe Watson]

Thanks Rick... after you pointed it out, yes it does looked partially peeled.

Made two more from the crab-apple wood and then a dish out of a slug of Willow.
Gave it all to my friends mom and she like it alot.

Here's the rest.
First apple is the one from org post, the second is only sand also, the third one and the dish have four coats of Gloss Water Base Polyurethane (http://www.google.com/search?q=pro+finisher+water+based+polyurethane+1+g allon) (picked up around 7 - one gallon jugs for $7 a piece (mixed box, Gloss, Semi-Gloss and Satin)) - two thin coats, third coat alittle thicker and "sanded" with maroon scotch bright (didnt have any gray or white at the time) and the final coat was pretty thick. This is the first time ive used a clear coat finishing on something turned, the apple came out pretty good, was happy with the bowl - it has "depth".

208930208929208931

[Donny Lawson]

Looks good but don't forget about the pears,bananas,and the oranges.