Roseberg, Oregon Madrone "Urn"

[Nate Davey]

This is the rest of the piece of Madrone Mike Ash gifted me. I erred on the side of caution on this and left it a little thick. The form is 6" tall and 5" wide. This is VERY wet madrone and a joy to turn and finish. I sanded this to 320 with Abranet then wet sanded the outside with Doctors Walnut Wood Finish with 400 wet/dry. It was then burnished while on the lathe. I left the inside unfinished. Now I'm waiting for the wood to start moving. I'll post a second pic when and if it moves. Thanks for looking.

P.S. The pics were taken with my iPhone.

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[David E Keller]

That's nice looking, Nate! Is the bottom just a rounded surface? If so, it may take on an interesting position once dry!

[Nate Davey]

I left a small pedestal on it Doc, that should be interesting also.

[Tim Rinehart]

Nice form Nate...take a pic every day! It will make for interesting series, perhaps.
Beautiful piece of madrone, you oriented it nicely...and I suspect it will exaggerate the movement. I've only turned it once, and it moved like crazy.

[mike ash]

Glad this one worked out for you Nate. I like the form and the coloration of the wood. It will be interesting to see it's final shape.

[Scott Hackler]

Cool Nate. I love Madrone, especially Madrone that hasn't been boiled! I like the movement that evolves from it drying. I have found that the thinner it is, the more radical the warping can be. Also, hold the hole up to your ear and listen. You will (or should) be able to hear it popping as it drys!

[Russell Neyman]

As many of you know, green madrone is my favorite wood and it's plentiful here where I live. (I've often been tempted to harvest it and sell it here through classifieds, since it isn't grown in many regions of the country.) I turn it very thin and then dry it in a microwave oven one minute at a time, which gives you the advantage of watching for cracks during the drying process and treating them as the occur. In my experience the key to avoiding the cracking isn't so much the thickness as much as it is having consistent thickness throughout.

Leaving an extra thick base is a great idea, because you can come back after it has warped and twisted and re-level it.

If this is fresh off the lathe and is a wet as you described, I can guarantee you that there will be some surprises in about a week. Or less.

[Michelle Rich]

fascinating wood..I'll keep my fingers crossed

[John Keeton]

Nate, it sure looks better in one piece!! I like the form, though I wonder - if it moves enough to move the center of gravity substantially, will the smaller base create a problem of it remaining upright? I guess we will see what happens!! This will be interesting. You should keep the thread going with update pics!

[Cory Norgart]

Very NIce Nate,,, Ive never turned Madrone,, but I would like to get my hands on some Madrone Burl, does the Burl move and warp as much as the sapwood does???? Nice form!!!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Will keep my fingers crossed that the piece makes it through the drying process intact! Looking forward to seeing this finished!

[scott schmidt grasshopper]

cory, that can be arranged,contact me

[scott schmidt grasshopper]

Nate, I hope the form holds up for you, one of the thoughts I had was on the idea of turning thicker to be safe. the thicker you make it the more likely it is to split and crack . thin can crumple like paper where as cardboard must crack/ buckle is the annology.

[Nate Davey]

Thanks all for the comments. I'm looking forward to it's final shape as well, although I did see some cracks when I got home that will get a little CA. As to the base, I intend to make a separate piece of wood as the base if it becomes too tippy.

[Harvey Ghesser]

A very nice form, Nate...

Please repost after it dries. You should have fun watching it morph!