fall.

i managed to get some shelves built in the loft today for all of my and my buddy nate's stock. credit where credit is totally due: the shelves with all my dried turning blanks on is a piece my pops made in high school shop class, it's nothing fancy, but he built it, and im happy to have it. nate has a ton of cherry and some birds eye maple; i just bought a whole bunch of cocobolo, zircote and imbuia...i spent way too much on wood this weekend! i also organized part of the loft; the beginnings of a project that should give us room to store our stock, an area to finish our projects away from the sawdusty environment downstairs, and a place to put all my finished pieces, as i am starting to run out of shelf space in the house.

in other news, a platter i started to dry early this spring is now ready for finish turning. in the photo, the blank is the one of the four that is on the bottom right. it's white ash i got from a fella cutting a tree down across the street while kaylen and i were drinking beers on her porch.

the guy was cool, after he let me load up on wood, he came over, accepted a beer, and cut down a mess of branches and a small tree in kaylen's backyard...now it's the perfect spot to burn things in a firepit, carve pumpkins, and eat bratwurst with way-too-large buns. i know from experience.

Mom

I hadn't yet made anything for my own mother. I am a terrible son. Here is her birthday present for this year, and yes, it is late....

i just sent it out yesterday, and i haven't given her this web addy yet, so she won't find out beforehand. shhh....

i thought this was maple when i grabbed the logs off the side of the street here in town, but it is so dark, im really not so sure anymore. at any rate, this was from where the tree split into two branches...turns out i took most of the cool figuring (wavy grain) off during turning, but im sure she'll like it.

finish via sanding to 320 grit, sanding sealer, and a bunch of coats of tung oil. happy birthday mom.

spalted

spalting happens to wood when some kind, i don't know what kind, of fungus starts to invade a log or tree after it's been cut down. it's the black veiny lines in this piece. i really dig it. this is a maple bowl i did, one of my favorite pieces so far. finish is about 8 coats of tung oil.

i gotta say today was a good day.

ash and maple logs i had collected didnt stand a chance after i bought that poulan...four tanks of gas and a couple of hours and i had a few dozen turning blanks. and some sore arms.

happy birthday.

my pops' birthday was in march and i made him a picture frame...my first one. i dont know what the inner wood is, but the outer is cocobolo, i'll ask nate sometime and see if he remembers. finished with tung oil from what i recall. sized for a 5 x 7 photo. you know this.

kaylen and gromit.

kaylen is a real good friend of mine. she is well versed in the number 7 and likes cheese more than me, or you, or anyone you know...so i made her this cheeseplatter. it is probably my favorite piece so far...with cheese on it im sure it would be. imbuia wood from south america finished with tung oil and then a bunch of coats of food-safe "bees wax and orange oil". 13 inches in diameter. the platter and sauce bowl are all one piece. oh yeah, and she has a dog named Gromit. im not a dog person, but Gromit pretty much rules.

cherry is kind of the way it is.

after several pieces for other people, i decided to make something for me...hence these candleholders with 6 coats of tung oil. i turned the bodies and then remounted them on a glue block off center so the candle actually sits eccentrically. of course, i haven't lit them yet, but i am sure they'll be NICE when i do.

gift

i made this little lidded box for a foster girl living with my bfn last spring. good kid, she is. i hope she is doing alright. spalted maple with clear poly and a handle of some little doohicky from karen's bead collection. word up.

milo

this is me. chris says i look like a pissed off milo.