Kathy Marshall
09-06-2012, 12:42 AM
Last winter, Tom Winship and I did a little wood trade. One of the pieces he sent me was this little chunk of Texas Mesquite. It's been sitting every since, waiting for just the right project to show the color and grain.
I don't know if this is typical for texas mesquite, but the color and grain are very nice, almost burlish, and nothing like the mesquite I get locally.
After a little more shop cleaning last night, I decided to treat myself to some lathe time (a storm was moving nearby and it was actually pleasant and breezy in the shop with temps between 85-90 :D).
I took it to the bandsaw and took just a sliver from one side so that all the corners would be square. I probably should have made the blank a perfect square, but it turned out ok anyway.
I could have gone a little thinner, but if you look close you'll see a crack that runs across the entire piece, except for the outside bottom of the bowl part. I dribbled some thin CA in it before I turned the bottom, but I didn't want to push my luck and depend on the CA to hold it together. I needn't have worried since when I dribble the CA, quite a bit leaked out around the recess in the bowl and when I went to remove it from the chuck, it was glued to the chuck pretty securely :eek:. Luckily, I had applied some finish to the top before I chucked it, so I was able to remove it from the chuck without damaging the wood. Some elbow grease and some acetone removed the glue, then a little more sanding and another coat of finish and it looked like new.
It's 5" x 5 1/2" x 1 1/2" finished with antique oil.
I still need to make a lid for it and I'm thinking something very fine grained (maybe some hard maple) and either dye it black or try to come up with a light brown or tan that would complement the lighter colors in the mesquite.
Thoughts?
240640240641
Thanks for a beautiful piece of wood Tom!
Thanks for looking!
Comments and critiques are welcome.
I don't know if this is typical for texas mesquite, but the color and grain are very nice, almost burlish, and nothing like the mesquite I get locally.
After a little more shop cleaning last night, I decided to treat myself to some lathe time (a storm was moving nearby and it was actually pleasant and breezy in the shop with temps between 85-90 :D).
I took it to the bandsaw and took just a sliver from one side so that all the corners would be square. I probably should have made the blank a perfect square, but it turned out ok anyway.
I could have gone a little thinner, but if you look close you'll see a crack that runs across the entire piece, except for the outside bottom of the bowl part. I dribbled some thin CA in it before I turned the bottom, but I didn't want to push my luck and depend on the CA to hold it together. I needn't have worried since when I dribble the CA, quite a bit leaked out around the recess in the bowl and when I went to remove it from the chuck, it was glued to the chuck pretty securely :eek:. Luckily, I had applied some finish to the top before I chucked it, so I was able to remove it from the chuck without damaging the wood. Some elbow grease and some acetone removed the glue, then a little more sanding and another coat of finish and it looked like new.
It's 5" x 5 1/2" x 1 1/2" finished with antique oil.
I still need to make a lid for it and I'm thinking something very fine grained (maybe some hard maple) and either dye it black or try to come up with a light brown or tan that would complement the lighter colors in the mesquite.
Thoughts?
240640240641
Thanks for a beautiful piece of wood Tom!
Thanks for looking!
Comments and critiques are welcome.