Question on turned boxes ...

[Ron Smith ... Richmond, VA]

I've been making these pretty regular for a few weeks now (the ladies at work love them) and have been having a blast. My question is now, does anyone do any engraving, pyrography or other artwork on wooden items like these? I do scrimshaw on my custom powder horns, but haven't done anything on wood items yet. I'm looking for some opinions that might improve on the plain boxes a little. I hate to mess with the grain of the wood, but think maybe something small might fit in well. I'm always looking for new ideas, and here at the Creek is the best place to get them, at least I've found. Thanks for looking, be safe and have fun.

[Scott Greaves]

Hi Ron,

You are limited only by your imagination!

Since that isn't a good answer ( ;) ), Why not take a look at Andi Wolfe's web page. (http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~awolfe/COW/wolfe.html) She has done some amazing things with surface decoration! Your boxes are very nice all on their own, but there are any number of things you can do to spice them up. Another option I can think of would be coloring. Check out Jimmy Clewes gallery page (http://www.jimmyclewes.com/Gallery.htm) for some examples of coloring. I saw him at the Utah Symposium this year, and the coloring is absoutley beautiful! Phil Irons also does a lot of coloring (http://www.philirons.co.uk/) that is pretty wonderful! Piercing (no, not with earrings and such) is also a neat effect. (http://www.guild.com/servlet/Guild/ArtItemPage?item_id=21400) And for that matter, carving of vessels is also a neat thing to do, such as what Trent Bosch does (http://www.trentbosch.com/).

This should keep your head spinning for a while. Have fun, and good luck!

Scott.

[Keith Outten]

Ron,

I just couldn't resist responding to your question. I think everyone here knows by now that I do a "Little Engraving" and I'm learning more about lasers every day.

This plaque has some nice detail considering it was just a scanned document, a vector graphic would provide a much nicer detail and this can be done on round boxes as well.

You options for graphics are almost endless including photographs.

Go to http://www.carvingpatterns.com

They have some beautiful patterns, I'll bet you find something you like from their web site that would be perfect for your boxes. You can carve or do scrimshaw type engraving from their patterns, I purchased their entire collection and I use them to engrave lot of projects.