cedar turning

[Rich Stewart]

I really liked this cedar. I touched up my chisels on a beltsander adn loaded a piece of the cedar onto the lathe. I had to cut those big chunks down a bit. It turned really nice. I had long ribbons of shaving coming off. Was like turning green wood. Finished it off with my BLO and french polish and drilled a hole in it and stuck in a little candle. What do you think?

The small pieces were cut off the big chunks. I also made a couple light pulls out of it. Might make some closet hanging thingys that smell good.

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

Very nice. I love the smell of Cedar when turning it.

Bruce

[Carole Valentine]

Thought you would like it!:D That's a neat little votive holder. If you make closet hangy things, drill a hole so you can put cedar oil in. They don't hold their scent long, and not at all if you put finish on them.

[Steve Stube]

Rich,

It is a beautiful piece of cedar and I like that you chose to keep the natural inclusion but if I may offer an observation, I'm a little nervous about the design - appears to be top heavy and therefore susceptible to tipping over. Where a candle (open flame) is concerned I prefer a broader heavier base to help prevent accidentally upsetting it.

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Rich,

That cedar looks great! I love the inclusion!

[Glenn Hodges]

Rich, it feels great to complete a piece when you start out turning. Your piece shows you have talent. When you stand back and look at it the base looks a little small, but you must save it. I would get a piece of contrasting wood or a piece of this cedar, turn it for a base, drill a hole for this candle holder to sit in, then glue the candle holder into the hole. Doing this will insure the candle holder will have a more secure base. If you do this you will have a candle holder which will be not only be nice to look at(like this one is), but safe to use anywhere. The only fire we ever had in my home started from a candle, maybe that is why I am so sensitive about wide bases for candles. I just added my 2 cents, hope it helps.

[Rich Stewart]

Carol, thanks for the tips about cedar. I was wondering if it would still smell good after finishing and how long it would remain fragrant.

Steve, I, too, noticed it was a little top heavy and I told my wife and everybody else in the house not to light it. I will turn a bigger base on any others that i make. I was getting down to the wire on having to clean up and go to work (did I mention that I have to tear down my ENTIRE workshop EVERYTIME?) and the candle thing was kind of an afterthought. I bought a bag of those votive candles at a craft store, 50 for 96 cents and I wanted to see how big a hole it would take and how hard it is to drill it.

Glen, What a great idea! I was going to just let this one stand unlit but now I think I will take your suggestion and make a larger base for it. I think it would look much better anyway. thanks for the great idea.

Jeff, Inclusions. Great word. I would have had NO idea in the world what you call them. I told my wife about the "if it cant hold water, it's art" thing she was cracking up. I was fairly amazed about turning them. I was afraid it would try to catch on it every time around but I didn't notice they were even there when it was turning.

I also experimented with putting a piece of sticky back felt on the bottom of it. Think I need to recess it into the bottom to make it look good.

Thanks again for the words of encouragement and the ideas and tips.
Your friend,

Rich

[Kurt Aebi]

Oh Yea, your Deck's your shop - How could we forget!

I guess that makes you a "Fair Weather" Woodworker, Don't It! ;)

Make sure you post a picture of the final result with the larger bottom, so far - it looks pretty darn good!