Well I turned my first hollow form today out of box elder. Last night I brought in a number of blanks from the shed and this was one of them. I had a number of pieces in my arms and didn't think much of it. But today when I went to move them, this piece felt so light I thought it was hollow. I know it wasn't because I cut this blank back in October.
But that gave me an idea that it was time I tried to turn a hollow form so I set it up and started. The blank had a little burl on the outside which ended up on the bottom. And what is the top, there was some of the box elder red in it so I thought it would look good on top. Well the red came off in the first 1/4" but then the curl started to show up and the more I turned it and cut, the more the curl came out.
It is 7-1/4" x 4" and is 1/4" thick though most of it. Got chicken and stopped before I blew up my first try. The top is cherry but I haven't glued it in yet because as noted this blank was just cut last October and the tree came down in September so it is a bit wet and I will see how it moves before I glue the top on. It is buffed with all 3 wheels and I used sanding sealer to coat everything inside hoping to slow down the drying that's left. This is light as a feather so it is pretty dry already. The chips coming off felt dry, We will see.
Now that stuff is coming out a little better the next thing I need to work on is the lighting and taking better pictures. These were taken with the same camera on the same table with the same light.
Anyway thanks for looking and I am very happy with my first attempt at hollow form turning. Mickey loves it and has a place for it picked out already.