Table-Top Mobile' : Wood Spindles #2

 

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Here's another table-top lathe-turned wooden spindle mobile'. It's a little over one foot tall. Spindles are roughly 1 - 1 1/2 inches long. The stand is carved Maple. The spindles are Maple, Walnut, Mahogany, Cherry, Oak, Plum and Teak. Steel wire and fishing tackle swivels make up the hardware.

Table-Top Mobile' : Spindles #1

 

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Here's a table top sized mobile' made from tree branches and tiny wood-scrap lathe-turned spindles. This is made from many kinds of woods. The stand and the lightest colored spindles are Maple. The reddish colored wood is Mahogany. The main arm of at the top of the stand is Plum. This mobile' is about 10 inches high. The spindles are mostly about an inch and a half long.

Segmented Multi-Wood Box

 

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Here's a segmented box measuring 6 inches in diameter and 6 inches high. It is made from a stack of 12-segment rings. The wood in these layers are , from top to bottom, Redwood, Spalted Maple, Redwood, in "checkered" ring the lighter wood is Cherry, darker wood is Mahogany, the lightest colored center band is Maple, then another segmented section of Cherry and Mahogany, then Redwood, Spalted Maple, and a Redwood base. This was my most challenging wood turning project so far. This was mineral oil wet sanded up to a 400 grit to a satin-feel surface.

Small Pear Wood Bowl

 

Here's a small Pear wood bowl I turned last week end. It measures 1.5 inches high and 2 inches in diameter. That's a bit of the layer underneath the bark that is left on the side of the bowl. Lovely wood to work with; turns nicely look good, not much grain. This was wet sanded with mineral oil up to a grit of 400. 

A Change Bowl

 

Here is a small "change" bowl I made this week end. It measures 5 inches in diameter and 1.5 inches high. A "change bowl" is kept on a gentleman's bureau to keep the contents of his pockets when emptied at the end of the day; change, keys, etc.. The base is made from White Oak and the side of the bow is a layer of segmented sections; the lighter colored wood is Poplar and the thinner darker wood is Mahogany. What is interesting about this bowl is the treatment of the interior of the bowl: I made a kind of stain which was used in colonial times in the US. It is made by dissolving iron in a vinegar solution. When that is applied to wood which contains a lot of acid, like Oak and Mahogany, it turns the wood very dark; in the case of Oak it goes black. As you can see here, it is very black indeed. It darkened all the wood on the interior. No further finishing was done to this bowl. 

Spalted Maple Bowl w/Eye

 Yet another spalted Maple wood bowl. This one is 8 inches in diameter and 2.75 inches high. I wet sanded it with mineral oil then burnished it with wood shavings. That small knot in the exact center of the bottom of the bowl doesn't come out through the outside of the bottom of the bowl. It wasn't visible until I cut down to the bottom of the bowl on my lathe. From some viewing angles the knot looks like an eye. This block of wood was from near the outside of a large log which had a lot to do with determining the curve of the bowl shape.

Small Sycamore Bowl

Here's a simple Sycamore wood bowl measuring 4 inches in diameter and 2.25 inches high. It's been wet sanded with mineral oil and burnished with its own wood shavings. Sycamore is a nice wood to turn; lovely fine grain. A hard wood but cuts nicely on the lathe. This wood is from a neighbor's tree when it was pruned a couple of years ago. I like the beauty in this simple shape, the quiet dignity of it's humble, unpretentious utility.