Small Sycamore Dish

 

I tried turning a small live edge dish but the bark wouldn't stay on. Better luck next time. Sycamore is a nice wood for turning; it cuts and finishes nicely, and it has a beautiful delicate grain texture. The dish measures 1.5 inches high and 4.5 inches in diameter.

Oak Letter Opener

 

Here's a letter opener I turned on my lathe. It measures 11.5 inches long by one inch in diameter. It's made from Oak (blade) and the handle is Mahogany over Oak. I tried making a spiral cut on the handle but it didn't come out right. The blade is surprisingly stiff and sharp. I put a orange oil finish on it.

Turned Letter Opener

 This was a test to work out the design and details for a wood turned letter opener. The piece shown here was made from a scrap of Poplar wood measuring 7 inches in length by 7/8 of an inch diameter. Essentially, I turned a knife handle with a long narrow cone where the blade would be. Then took it off the lathe and sanded the cone into the flat blade shape. So now I will turn one out of a better looking, very hard wood. This time I'll make the handle longer with maybe a spiral instead of knurling. I will make the blade longer by a couple of inches.

Small Sycamore Bowl

 This Sycamore wood bowl is 5 inches in diameter and 2.5 inches high. Cracks appeared as I cut into this but I secured them with CA glue, leaving an unsightly stain. This is an end-grain turned bowl from a branch that was not much thicker than the diameter of this bowl. End grain is contrary to the way most bowl turning is done. It is prone to cracks during turning as well as any time after that as it dries. This was polished with it's own shavings and then finished with Orange oil.

Small Oak Box

 Here's an Oak box measuring 2 inches diameter by 3 inches high, finished with Orange oil. Decorated with a Sorby texturing tool with a short spiral pattern on the lid and nicely done knurling on the side of the box. A green glass marble knob tops off the lid. The grain pattern matches up from top to bottom.

Iron Bark Eucalyptus Bowl

 

This is a 5.25 inch diameter by 1.5 inch high Iron Bark Eucalyptus bowl. Finish is Orange oil. Beautiful wood but hard as heck when it's very dry. Finishes nicely. 

Lizard Box #2

 Here's another M.C. Escher lizard pattern inspired box. This one is made from Iron Bark Eucalyptus, with a lid made from Mahogany. The inlays are Oak, Walnut and a stained Mahogany, with burned-in detail lines and gold filled epoxy outlines simulating brass. There's a lacquer finish on the lid and a high-speed polish on the box. The box measures 6 inches diameter by 3 inches in height.

Maple Box #1 with Inlaid Lid

 

Here's a six inch diameter spalted Maple about three inches high. The lid is Mahogany with an M.C. Escher inspired lizard pattern inlay. The lizards are, clockwise from the top, Oak, Walnut, and a stained version of the same Mahogany as the lid. The detail lines on the lizards were made with a woodburning tool. The outlines of the lizards are done with a gold powder filled epoxy, simulating brass. The lid has a lacquer finish. The box finish is oil.