Recent work

[Dave Mount]

Haven't been following this board closely in recent months but enjoyed catching up the last couple days. My perennial lament is that there's not as much posting of people's turnings here as there was years ago, so hoping to prompt some with this. Critiques are welcome, but the main reason for the post is to spur others to put some work up. I really enjoy seeing what other people are up to.

Those that know me know that my happy spot is just displaying pretty wood; my turnings are not technically challenging or involved, whether that's for lack of skill or just what interests me.

Set of nesting bowls -- small to large, bocote, black palm, and morado. The fisheye from the camera lens makes the side profiles look different, but they were pretty well matched. Was a little mad at myself for not realizing in time that the bocote blank was a little thicker than the others.

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Walnut cross grain box with black ash burl lid.

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Finial for a spiral staircase (4" steel pipe up the center). Old growth Doug fir, construction salvage, 5.25" diameter. There are 175 years of growth across the sphere.

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Maple bowl a little better than 12" from some ratty firewood. Voids filled with epoxy mixed with ground coffee, bark inclusions solidified with thin CA.

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Cross grain box from QS sycamore.

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OK I did my part, now the rest of you post something!

Best,

Dave

[John Kananis]

Dave, thanks for sharing those - I'm enjoying them and nice choice of material. I too wish folks would post more pics. I'll do so myself although my work will be developing as I'm newer at this.

[Thomas Wilson80]

I always appreciate your posts Dave. These are all beautiful.- I,especially love the black palm. Where do you get your wood?
Thanks for sharing.
Tom

[Brian Brown]

Beautiful work. They may no be technically challenging or involved, but they are well done. The first thing that stood out to me is the fine finishing job. Excellent sanding quality and finish. What do you use for a finish? As for posting new work, I have tried the same thing to spur others to do same, and I have mostly run dry on stuff to post. I guess I better get out to the shop and get something done.

[Rich Aldrich]

Nice work. I like the form on the bowls. I haven't turned much over the last few years due to other projects like building kitchen cabinets etc. By this fall, most of that work will be done and I can get back to turning.

[Edward Weber]

Very nice all around.
Turning simple but well executed forms is a skill not many have. Nothing to be hidden by unnecessary embellishments.
Well done

[alan weinberg]

516728516729516730Like you, I’m just a bowl maker. No piercing, carving, embellishing, segmenting. Here are a few done recently.

[Dave Mount]

Thanks all for the overly generous words.

Alan, thanks for posting your work, love them all. The shapes are not something I've ever done but I find them very attractive, curves are beautifully fair. They're the kind of inspiration that is the reason I wish people would post more work. What are the first two woods, they look a little tropical(?). Is the third mulberry or osage orange? I've very fond of both of those, but they don't grow up here in the north woods.

Re: sources of woods, I find stuff everywhere, firewood (mostly maple up here in northern MN), construction salvage, you name it. I have some old growth redwood 6x6's that were demo waste that I rescued from a contractor's truck on their way to the landfill. There are 230 years of growth across their 5.5" width. This is a sphere made from that (the dark line is a weathering check):

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The exotics are mostly from eBay -- it's a little bit of a sport for me to bottom feed on eBay auctions, putting in lowball bids that I probably only win once in twenty auctions. I also watch a number of sites for good prices/sales. I started out using only local trees and it took me a while to get used to the idea of actually paying for wood, just a little bit cheap. But I've gotten to appreciate the great variety of woods that are out there and will pay for some. I try to avoid woods that are on some of the threatened lists, the Wood Database has good info on that. I also ask suppliers about their sources and use ones that have paperwork on their non-domestic wood. It doesn't guarantee that it was sustainably forested (that's a different kind of certification) but it at least says it was *legally* harvested. www.turningblanks.net (http://www.turningblanks.net) has a great selection of woods and unlike most sources, much of their stock is dry (and those that aren't are clearly marked as such). Their quality is uniformly excellent, though prices have risen a fair amount in the last couple years. Worth keeping an eye on their bargain bin, which is not "cracked and split" it's more overstock material at reduced prices. They often sell squares instead of rounds and knock a few bucks off. Another source I like is Steve Wall lumber. They have a 10 bf minimum, but will custom pick boards and the prices are at the low end of retail. Because you're buying planks and not individual blanks, this is only for woods you're doing to use a lot, and for which 4/4 to 8/4 is thick enough. I love bocote so I bought 10 bf of 8/4.

Re: finishes -- I confess that finishing is a tremendous weak point of mine because I lack the patience for it. The nesting bowls are just one application of Danish oil, let dry, then buff with tripoli, white diamond, carnuba. The sphere was Dr. Watson's walnut oil-based friction polish applied on the lathe. I've found with spheres that even though you can't cover the whole piece at once, if you apply several coats holding the sphere in different positions that the coats will blend together. The shine is very attractive on spheres and it's quick and easy. The maple bowl was Myland's wood finishing oil. I like it for a thicker and more durable finish because it builds fast and, as I mentioned, I don't have the patience I should. But it's hard to get a blemish free finish, you'll see several imperfections in the finish if you look closely. As far as looks, my preference is just the Danish oil and buff -- it can develop quite a shine without having the look of having been "coated". Sanding to a fairly fine grit (usu 600 or 800 for me) is required because most of the shine is coming from the actual surface of the wood not from the finish, which mostly just enhances color and depth. But, it doesn't hold up that well to time and handling -- rebuffing is needed for maintenance, and for pieces residing elsewhere, that isn't practical. Like all turners, always on the hunt for that "perfect" finish, which I believe is a myth -- just different sets of pros and cons for each.

Best,

Dave

[alan weinberg]

Thanks all for the overly generous words.

What are the first two woods, they look a little tropical(?). Is the third mulberry or osage orange?
Very informative post. First two are walnut, the middle one figured claro walnut. Final one is indeed mulberry.

i was using tung oil but it takes too long between coats so I now use polymerized tung oil (PTO) and can often do two coats a day. I have the 3 step Beall system. I am not impressed but I’m a novice at using it. I’ll get 6-10 bowls lined up and do assembly line finishing with PTO.

[Tim Elett]

516790516791516792516793516794516795Firewood rescue bowls, the maple one is a first turn . Others are red oak

[Jim Morgan]

About a year and a half ago, inspired by Dave Mount's fine series of tutorials on turning spheres (May-June, 2021, https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?291690-Turning-spheres-part-1-Preface), I tried my hand at a couple of acrylic and burl spheres.

Thanks, Dave!

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[Dave Mount]

Hey Tim -- nice work. Getting firewood cut up has become a much longer chore when you count all the time spent evaluating each log's turning potential. I burn mostly maple and there's a fair incidence of curl and birdseye, particularly in the red maple. Hard to spot without cutting into it, though if you chip some bark off you can see evidence of birdseye. Anyway, for every turning size log, now I cut one length off then cut it into two down through the pith to see if there's figure, before I cut up the rest. Too many times I don't know what I have (or have ruined) until I later split it, by which time it's often discolored.

Jim -- beautiful spheres -- I particularly like the burl one, it's like a lens into a deep ocean trench. I've not yet worked with resin (other than for minor fills) but it's on my list, and pushed higher on that list by your sphere.

Best,

Dave