My favorite so far

[Tom Brouillette]

I'm only 18 months into the vortex, so I am easily impressed by things that would be routine to the veteran woodturners out there. Most of my learning has been with red maple from a tree that fell over in the woods behind my house. I finally cut down the last of it (18" diameter and 12' long), that included the point where the tree was bent over - stressing the wood. When I roughed out this piece I knew it would be special. Finished it is about 9 1/2" in diameter, and 7" tall. I used flash in the first picture to show the chatoyance in the grain. Sorry for my poor photography skills.336002336003336004

[Steve Schlumpf]

Tom - you did really good! Great job on the finish! Do you belong to your local turning club? I know that my mentor, Keith Burns, is from Collierville and he is an active member of http://www.midsouthwoodturners.com/Home.html. Best advice I can offer is to look Keith up and get some one-on-one time with him - or any member of your club. Looks like you have the hollowing & finishing processes down, now you can start experimenting with form.

Looking forward to seeing your next HF!

[Tom Brouillette]

I belong to the Midsouth Woodturners Guild. They are a great group of people. I actually used a trick I learned last at month's meeting to finish this one. I sanded it to #800, then used a brown paper bag to get the shine. It is the equivalent of #2000-#2500 paper, and it's cheap!

Nothing beats the interaction and learning you get from a local club.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Tom, the brown paper bag trick works but you do have to be careful because it can/will scratch on soft or uncured finishes. If you see Keith at one of your meetings - tell him Hi from me - he has been hard to get a hold of!

[Rob Grindler]

Beautiful piece.Do you all see the old mans face in the grain in his picture.336015

[Tom Brouillette]

I hadn't seen that before. Self portrait in wood!