Poplar/Buckeye/Ebony Urn

[Russell Neyman]

244485

Made this urn for a friend who lost his brother. The basic bowl is figured poplar, and the lid is buckeye. This was a rush custom order, 11" tall and 8" in diameter, and the knob is turned brass. The ebony ring and base really set off the lighter wood, I think. The finish is entirely CA, wet sanded and polished with medium cut auto compound, giving the vessel a sort of ceramic look.

This was the first time I worked with buckeye, and was surprised that it went from muddy ugly to bright yellow and black with just a little sanding and finish. Sorry for the quality of the photo. You can understand that it went from the lathe to the church in a matter of hours, stopping only for a few minutes on my dining room table for a photograph.

Actually, I refer to my funerary urns as "tribute vessels," because it seems to take a bit of the morbidity off of the topic.

[Jim Burr]

That is beautiful Russell!! The reason sucks but the result will serve the family well.

[Richard Madden]

Excellent job, Russell!! I can't imagine how you used CA on such a big piece, but the final product looks great.

[Russell Neyman]

Techniques on applying CA efficiently is worthy of an entire thread. For me, one coat of thick applied (quickly) with a cotton rag, sanding, then at least one coat of thin applied with q-tips. Then, sand like heck, and polish with Beal.

[Tim Rinehart]

Russell, that's a wonderful tribute urn. I like the blending of the color, not easily done with 3 woods. Buckeye burl is pretty cool and holds a surprise till it's finished I think.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Classy work Russell! Nice wood combination... has a masculine feel to it. I am sure your friend appreciates your efforts and your tribute vessel!

[Bernie Weishapl]

That is a beauty Russell. The family will love it.

[Roger Chandler]

very nice form......seems you finish would be very durable as well. Nice work Russell.

[Graham Sugar]

Love the urn and your choice of timber is stunning
I did a similar one some time ago and after a lot of trial found that "Rustins Plasticoat " gave the best "glass like finish" and using Micromesh pads then burnishing compound (supplied in the kit) finally a fine auto polish the rustling finish is the same today as the day it was finished ( 6-7 years I think )
Best regards
Graham

[Mark Hubl]

That is a wonderful combination of materials. I am sure that your friends family will appreciate your efforts.

[Kathy Marshall]

Beautiful tribute urn Russell! I'm sure it will be much appreciated!

[Russell Neyman]

Thanks for the comments.

[Tom Hardy]

Russell, that is very nice, I too am amazed at the CA finish. When I have tried it on a large piece it turned into a nightmare finish for me. An urn for me has always been a weird feeling making it.

[Dave Mueller]

Russell, first a great urn. Good shape and nice contrast with the black top and base.

Regarding the CA finish, I use it a lot, even for larger pieces, such as a 10" platter. It took me a while to work out the technique but now it is pretty bullet proof and really fast. We have guys in our club that take a week (elapsed time) to finish a bowl with lacquer, and I just don't have that much patience. The CA finish takes me about an hour from start to end on a large piece and much less on a smaller one. In another thread going on now (pink flame wood), I posted a picture of a 6" bowl that has a CA finish. I do my CA finish differently than most pen finishes, so if you start a CA finish thread, I'll jump in with the way I do it.

Finally, my wife and I just got back from several days in La Conner, WA...a great little town. If you ever go there visit the Wood Merchant on 1st Street.

[Russell Neyman]

Spinning off from this discussion, let's start a conversation about CA finishing.