Maple or Koa?

[Jamie Donaldson]

I've been playing with some fiddleback maple and TransTint dyes, and was able to create KY Koa! The first light wash of black dye was sanded back, then brown and yellow dye mix washed to produce a pretty good match to Koa I was using as a model.16" square, turned in my regular square form, and finished with several thick applications of Deft gloss lacquer.

[Dennis Ford]

Whatever you call it, it is a beautiful piece.

[Russell Eaton]

Jamie I think it is sweet. The photo is incredible as well.

[Roger Chandler]

That is pretty slick, Jamie............really pops the grain! Nice turning!

[Alan Trout]

Jamie,

Very nice piece. I really like the color.

Alan

[Kathy Marshall]

Outstanding! Both the form and the dye job are excellent!

[Justin Stephen]

I like that quite a bit. Well done.

[mike ash]

Great form on this piece, but even more impressive in my mind is the match you made to Koa. I've got a special stack of Koa boards and your dye process does an outstanding job of matching!!!

[Bob Bergstrom]

Man those curls are hurting my eyes. That is phenomenal job of popping the grain. Thanks for sharing.

[John Keeton]

Jamie, first of all, great to see you posting your work!! That is one beautiful piece of wood, and of course, great work on the bowl - one of your specialties. Since my only exposure to Koa is the piece you gave me (I just looked at it today, in fact!), the color immediately reminds me of some of the early flintlock rifles of curly maple.

Being a professional photographer since the beginning of time sure makes for some sweet pics!;):D

I hope we will see this one when you do the demo next week??!??!?

[Dan Forman]

That's outrageous! You know you could corner the market on ambrosia Koa. :D

Dan

[Bernie Weishapl]

That is just beautiful Jamie. That wood is just beautiful also.

[Jamie Donaldson]

Thanks John, I actually had some time to turn this last week, and made another similar piece using this same wood from Lexington Woodcraft. The second square is finished without any dye for Mark, and does look quite plain next to this piece! You will be interested to see the texture on the dyed piece, another experiment in popping the figure.

[David E Keller]

That's gorgeous, Jamie! The form is fantastic, and it shows the faux koa curl beautifully!

[Tim Rinehart]

Very clever ruse...I like it. Beautiful bowl form too, to boot.

[Baxter Smith]

Great color, great wood, great shape. Have to agree with John on the gunstock look on a beautiful piece of wood.

[Justin Stephen]

What are you using to dilute the TransTint?

[Jamie Donaldson]

Justin- I regularly use cheap ol' rubbing alcohol with TransTints rather than H2O so I don't have to sand back the raised grain, and the alcohol dries much faster.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Nice form! The dye work with this piece is amazing! Love that curl!!

[Justin Stephen]

Justin- I regularly use cheap ol' rubbing alcohol with TransTints rather than H2O so I don't have to sand back the raised grain, and the alcohol dries much faster.

Thanks. Reading the options, that seemed like the prudent choice to me as well.

[Hayes Rutherford]

The curl sure catches the attention, then my eyes slowly scan that oh so well executed edge.

[steven carter]

Very nice Kentucky Koa! Beautiful bowl form and a great "warm" coloration, the grain really pops!

[Jim Burr]

I'm speechless Jamie, which has hardly ever been the case. It doesn't get any better!