Spalted Maple Vase

[John Hart]

Here's a small piece made from the maple crotch I cut up a week ago. Not completely done with the finish yet but wanted to show off the figure.
6" diameter and 5" tall. Wall thickness a little over 1/8"....WOP finish
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[George Conklin]

Pretty piece, John.

1/8" must have been a little hairy to turn.

Nicely done.

[John Hart]

Thanks George :)
I must admit I was a little nervous but all is well. It's a bit thicker toward and around the bottom.

[Tim Elett]

At what speed did you use for something that thin,very cool vase by the way

[John Hart]

Thanks Tim :)
Well, my speed varies throughout. I complete the outer profile first at about 1000 rpm. Then turn it around and hollow at about 1100. But when I'm going for final thickness, I ramp it up to about 1800 and attack with the point of my skew. Driving down into the vessel while keeping my eye on the outer profile, and follow that....if that makes sense.

[Frederick Skelly]

Beautiful piece. Love the figure, spalting and color!

[John Hart]

Thanks Frederick :)
It was fun. I enjoyed my day today

[Tim Elett]

I can't imagine turning something like that at that speed,not that experienced yeat.

[Dave Mount]

Nice work. Looks like you got a pretty nice cut working with something with substantial decay. Did you treat the wood with anything to stabilize it? I find that spalted maple often has patches that are quite prone to tearout.

Best,

Dave

[John Hart]

Thanks Dave....yup, I was pretty worried about running into a bunch of punky wood when I decided to cut into that crotch piece. It's been sitting in my shop for over 5 years. But to my surprise there wasn't much. Lucked out. Had a couple of tear-out patches but just kept my tools sharp and didn't have to harden it. And of course, the 80 grit helped with the tough spots :)

[John Hart]

I can't imagine turning something like that at that speed,not that experienced yeat.
:) speed is your friend

[Richard Madden]

Great job on a beautiful piece of wood...well done and welcome back!!

[Peter Blair]

Nice wood and shape. Yesterday I mounted a very similar piece on my lathe and have been pondering the best shape to show off the spalt. Hopefully I will get to it today. If I do I'll post a shot here as well so we can compare the beauty of the wood.

[Randy Heinemann]

Great piece! It looks like it must have been a good size blank to start with. It's hard to find larger spalted maple chunks of wood.

[John Hart]

Great job on a beautiful piece of wood...well done and welcome back!!

Thanks Richard!!! Nice to see you :)

[John Hart]

Nice wood and shape. Yesterday I mounted a very similar piece on my lathe and have been pondering the best shape to show off the spalt. Hopefully I will get to it today. If I do I'll post a shot here as well so we can compare the beauty of the wood.

Thanks Pete :) sounds like a great idea. I look forward to seeing your piece!

[John Hart]

Great piece! It looks like it must have been a good size blank to start with. It's hard to find larger spalted maple chunks of wood.
⁷
Thanks Randy....I cut that tree down about 5 years ago and left one big crotch to sit lonely in the shop. Here's me cutting it up with my new toy
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[Peter Blair]

Didn't get it finished yesterday, life got in the way! Here is a shot of it before hollowing.
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[John Hart]

Didn't get it finished yesterday, life got in the way! Here is a shot of it before hollowing.
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Very nice piece of wood, Pete. Looks like the map of the world. Wonderful form you have going there too. Good luck with the hollowing. Can't wait to see how it turns out

[Peter Blair]

John I finally finished the small spalted hollow form.
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[John Hart]

John I finally finished the small spalted hollow form.
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Nicely done Pete! Very nice form and execution. And the colors are awesome. What's the final size?

[Peter Blair]

It is about 8" x 4". I have had it since I started turning seriously about 20 years ago.

[John Hart]

It is about 8" x 4". I have had it since I started turning seriously about 20 years ago.

Well I wouldn't exactly call that a small piece but you sound like me having pieces of wood hanging out for 20 years. Nicely done