Walnut Twist

[Richard Madden]

Sometimes I wish I'd never seen pictures of Stuart Mortimer's work. I seem to be possessed trying to do these twisted spiral things. On Mr. Mortimer's web gallery he shows a group shot of spiral HFs in Yew with sapwood showing all around. This is my attempt to do something similar. The walnut was on a CL add for free. (not far from Mr. Bolen) It seemed a likely candidate for one of these. 4-3/4" in dia. 6-3/4" tall. The tree was cut over Thanksgiving weekend and I picked some up this past Tues. 12 bines, or twists, and one soaking in DO, so far. I guess now I will have to make a finial (twisted, of course). I took these pics before it started cracking and splitting all over the place.
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[Steve Schlumpf]

Very impressive Richard! You seem to have a knack for these twisted forms! Nicely done!

[Gary Conklin]

Vey nice, I like very much how you use the sapwood in this piece!

[Baxter Smith]

Impressive as always. Haven't been to that website and don't know if I would want to if its that addictive!

[Ron Stadler]

Wow, just beautiful.

[Michael James]

Unbelievably beautiful! Thanks for posting.

[John Keeton]

Richard, this one sure is striking!! I hate that you are having movement/cracking issues with it, as it is a beautifully done piece. Love the color contrast!

[Scott Hackler]

Very nice looking piece, Richard. The contrast in the wood is awesome. I wonder what a twist finial going the opposite direction would look like...

[Richard Madden]

Very nice looking piece, Richard. The contrast in the wood is awesome. I wonder what a twist finial going the opposite direction would look like...

That's a thought Scott, I may have to try it. Do you think the pitch of twist should be the same (or at least close) as the form?

[Scott Hackler]

Yes, in a perfect world I would say you should keep the pitch the same.... just in the other direction! Maybe even a piece of Holly to mimic the sap wood below.

[Richard Madden]

Richard, this one sure is striking!! I hate that you are having movement/cracking issues with it, as it is a beautifully done piece. Love the color contrast!

John, It's not cracking yet (knock on wood) and I hope it doesn't, but leaving the pith has been risky for me, to say the least. I soaked the pith with thin CA, but the thickness of the bottom concerns me, even with the CA. As far as movement, I guess time will tell. Who knows, if it does move a lot it could be interesting...maybe.

[David Reed]

Very cool. the contrasting colors as well as the expertly executed hand shaping are stunning. Good luck with the drying.

[David E Keller]

It's a very striking piece. I love the spiraling, but the form seems a little straight sided... That may be an illusion due to the spiraling. You've really done a nice job with the spirals you've posted.

[bob svoboda]

Holy Smokes that's cool

[Paul Douglass]

Really a beautiful piece of work. I got to say I can't understand the addiction. I made one candle holder with the spirals and that was enough sanding to last me a long long time.