# More turnings from Duncan



## duncanh (4 Mar 2009)

I thought it was about time I started another thread (continuing from here) for my turnings, so here it is...




18cm widest diameter
Turned from US Red Oak cut during wildlife trust work to remove non-native species. 
This was turned within 48 hours of felling and has warped so the base is no longer flat. Ordinarily I'd sand this flat, but it's so uniform that there are 2 high spots opposite each other that allow the bowl to rock smoothly.




16cm tall
From the same tree as the previous one.
When this was freshly turned it didn't lean, but has moved somewhat on drying




15cm diameter, 14cm high
From a laburnum branch. I wanted to achieve this effect with the pale sapwood around the rim and the branch wasn't very large, so i took a chance and turned it with the pith running through the centre. It required a little filling with CA but turned out ok. When finishing off the base I noticed there was a 3 strand copper wire embedded in the wood - it's still there!


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## Vulthoom (4 Mar 2009)

*Duncan,
*
Very nice!

Especially like the leaning vase.


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## Jenx (4 Mar 2009)

Beautiful as always, Duncan ... pic's of your work are always worth the wait :wink: 8) 
How far 'off the plumb' has he 'drifted' ? ... It gives it 'character' somehow, and it adds to it !  

Great work as always 8) 8) 8)


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## Paul.J (4 Mar 2009)

More stunning pieces *Duncan*  
Love the fleck in the Oak,especially on the vase piece,and like the sapwood touch on the top of the Laburum piece.
Very nice.


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## mikec (4 Mar 2009)

Great *Duncan*,

Lots of character  

Mike C


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## Lightweeder (4 Mar 2009)

Duncan - I love the bowl. I assume you wouldn't be able to hollow this out much.


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## Doug B (4 Mar 2009)

I like them all *Duncan*
But the first one really floats my boat, very good effort.
Cheers.
Doug.


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## johnny.t. (4 Mar 2009)

The laburnum vase is spectacular Duncan  . The sapwood rim sets it off a treat and those horizontal marks in the grain add something to it too,like the grain is smudged  . Good bit of turning there.

JT


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## Bodrighy (4 Mar 2009)

More excellent work Duncan you don't post work often but it's worth the wait.

Pete


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## CHJ (4 Mar 2009)

Really like the Laburnum piece Duncan, one of my favourite woods for in-built character.


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## TEP (4 Mar 2009)

All been said *Duncan*, I got along too late as usual.

Top work. =D> =D> =D>


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## PowerTool (4 Mar 2009)

Very nice,as usual - I like all three,but like the laburnum just a _little_ bit more..  

Andrew


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## boysie39 (4 Mar 2009)

Lovely work Duncan, always something a little different. all pieces are super Thank you for Piccys. REgards Boysie


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## duncanh (5 Mar 2009)

Thanks for the comments everyone.

I don't post much because I can't use computers for too long without worsening the headaches which I tend to suffer from. I also tend to wait until I have several things to photograph at once. Even then it takes me a while to process the photos.
This is the reason I don't often get involved in other threads.

Lightweeder- if you're assuming about hollowing out the laburnum - it's hollowed throughout to between 5m and 7mm. I'll certainly try more of the same design.

Jenx - the vase is about 10degrees off vertical

I took the oak ones (these 2 + 1 from previous post) in to the wildlife trust today and they went down well. I'll certainly be getting orders for some and may be able to get a stall at trust events. I love the idea of producing and selling items made from local timber (especially that I've cleared myself).

Duncan


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## Lightweeder (6 Mar 2009)

I'm amazed you managed to hollow the laburnum. May I ask what you used?

I see you're from Newcastle. I'm new to this, but there doesn't seem to be much doing in our area (I'm in Prudhoe). I go down to the Harrogate show, but are you aware of much else up here ?


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## duncanh (6 Mar 2009)

I can't remember for sure what I used to hollow, but it was probably a combination of the Munro tool and some home made hollowing bars with HSS cutters made from planer blades.

As for things in this area - there's a Northumberland club that meets near Blythe every month. Check out our website at http://www.northumbrianwoodturners.com
We have guest demonstrators more or less every other month. The meeting next week is (I think) a hands on session with a couple of sharpening and a few different tools to try.
Once you join (£10 per year I think) there's a library of books, videos and dvds to borrow from and a lot of experienced turners to give advice.

I think there's also a small club in Blythe and there's a Sunderland club that meets in Washington. I've never been to either but may try the Sunderland one as the magazine lists them as having a demo by Tony Wilson on March 28th

Duncan


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## Soulfly (6 Mar 2009)

Duncs work is streets ahead of everyone else on the forum. Nice elegant style and not too squeeky clean and rarified and still retainining the spirit of the tree. Very saleable and commercial stuff also the photos are really superb. Following in the footsteps of some fine turners from the north east.


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## Lightweeder (7 Mar 2009)

Duncan - thanks for the info. I had heard of the Blythe club and thought it was a bit far, but it's certainly my best option.

Many thanks again and the best of luck to you.


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## duncanh (1 May 2009)

I've finally got round to taking some more photos - a lot of natural edge work and experiments in round bottoms...

(all images clickable for larger version)




25cm diameter spalted beech turned wet-ish




32cm wide spalted, slightly rippled holly




29cm wide bleached spalted holly with pyrography burnt edges




22cm beech with pyrography pattern in the style of David Nittmann. The filled sections are made up of small burnt dots.




24cm diameter chunky elm bowl




27cm diameter spalted beech. Cored with the Kelton set.

More natural edge stuff to follow...

Duncan


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## Jenx (1 May 2009)

Duncan, these are absolutely gorgeous 8) 8) 8) 
Impossible to pick a favourite, every one of them is simply superb.

The pyrographed piece looks incredibly complex ... how did you go about planning it out ? was it drawn out first ? .. its stunning.

I really like the shape of the spalted beech hollow form, there's something very appealing about that 'squat' look ... it may sound odd, but this shape always reminds me of a curling-stone, its again, another absolute stunner.
I would love to try something like that in the future... its very attractive.
Probably a very long way off, if ever ! :lol: 

There's nothing to dislike in any of those... every one stands on its own as a work of art.
Thanks for sharing these pieces.. they deserve to be seen by as wide an audience as possible... I hope you get to show these in a gallery or somewhere befitting of the marvellous work that each one truly is.

Between your work, Mark's, George's etc.. we can certainly never claim to be short of inspiration ! 
Wonderful. 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)


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## TEP (1 May 2009)

As always your work is well worth the wait *Duncan*. Very nice eye candy!

Can you tell me, what size Kelton are you using? Have decided to treat myself, but I still have some doubts as most of the work I get offered these days seems to be spindle turning. (For other folks). Yet I still want to do more hollow/bowl work for myself.


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## Paul.J (1 May 2009)

:shock: :shock: :shock: 
Beautiful looking pieces Duncan,as always  
How do you hold those flat pieces on the lathe :?:


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## Bodrighy (1 May 2009)

Something to emulate methinks . I especially like the flatter pieces. I do hope you are going to enter the competition in the expert category or none of us stand a chance :lol: 

Pete


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## Lightweeder (1 May 2009)

The chunky one's my favourite. It's a belter :!:


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## duncanh (1 May 2009)

Thanks for the kind comments everyone  

Jenx - the pyrography was designed on paper after I printed out some circular grids. It then took many hours sat in front of the tv to complete (luckily I live on my own so can get away with this  ). I had to stop regularly to give my hands and eyes a rest.

TEP -I have the standard Kelton coring set. I've only once hit it's upper limit once, but that was also the upper limit of the lathe as well so I doubt I'll hit it again. I've only felt the need to go smaller a couple of times, but I have one of the older sets and it can't take the smallest cutters. Unfortunately I don't use the corer that often so have never felt completely confident with not going through the bottom. I now have the laser guide, which helps a lot.

Paul - the flat pieces aren't actually flat, but gently curved. It was hard to get the profile and the overall shape in the same shot so I just went for the shape. 
I can't remember exactly, but I probably ...

1) held them to start with on a screw chuck (or maybe on expanding pin jaws) and turned a slightly oversize contracting dovetail on the base. 
2) reversed and held by dovetail on the base. Turned a dovetail on the top where the screw chuck/hole had been holding. At this point I took off material from the top to establish the approximate top surface.
3) reversed again, (resized the dovetail on the base if it had gone off-centre),
4) turned as you normally would - shape the base etc.

Each was turned from a slab through a crotch and I prefer not to turn the bottom completely on the screw chuck because the wood was very unbalanced and the dovetail is more secure.


Pete - I'm planning to enter the comp., and probably in expert. I just need to choose something to make.


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## greggy (1 May 2009)

duncan, simply stunning. all of em. well done.


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## Doug B (1 May 2009)

Can`t really add anything that hasn`t already been said Duncan, excellent work, very well turned.


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## duncanh (3 May 2009)

A few experimental items made from parts of a cherry tree from my sister's garden. All turned wet...




19cm long





19cm wide. Turned slightly off centre in an attempt to get it to lean. Not off centre enough





21cm long. Turned off centre (quite a propeller!). I think this is my favourite from my recent work





21cm longest length. I changed my mind halfway through this and decided to make it a reversible bowl type thing which could be used wither way up. There was probably a reason for it, but I can't remember now. I think it would have been better as just a plain bowl/platter.





19cm widest. This was reasonably flat on top but the small branch has warped downwards quite a bit. The pattern in the exposed heartwood on the base has given ideas for more projects.





18cm diameter





18 cm diameter. I can't remember what the initial plan was for this, but I remember changing plan part way through.


That's all for now

Duncan


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## Lightweeder (3 May 2009)

Wow :wink:


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## Bodrighy (3 May 2009)

Not only is the quality of your work excellent but the design (even if you do change plans 1/2 way through :lol: ) is always something different. I like the combination of natural wood with the turned areas and all of these pieces have that look of being made fromn a natural piece of wood if that makes sense. Individual and beautiful.

Pete


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## Paul.J (3 May 2009)

*Duncan*.
Are you trying to scare the opposition off by showing these stunning pieces.I think it might work :lol: :lol: 
I can't wait to see what the advanced cat shows up.Looking forward to it


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## hog&amp;bodge (3 May 2009)

Stunning shapes and forms..takes turning to whole new level.
Thanks for posting the pics..


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## duncanh (16 May 2009)

Something completely different for me, and a real challenge.





These were turned for a friend to replace the mallets from an old Victorian set that had finally broken beyond repair.

The heads are hard maple and the handles are ash. Total length is 94cm. 
When I ordered the timber the supplier actually had some wood that had been ordered in to make croquet mallet heads. For the handles I just request straight grained ash (as I'd read somewhere that it was fairly flexible and well suited). What I got was some beautiful grain and some really attractive figuring. One of them is olive ash and has rippling through the widest part, one has an area of small knots and some rippling near the top of the handle, and the other 2 have nice, clean grain with a little rippling.

The heads have some rippling and some lines of colour, and are pretty tough.


The hardest part of making them was the handles - the narrow part is only 22mm and even with a home made centre steady I was getting quite a bit of vibration. Luckily I had plenty of 80 grit to remove the resulting undulations.
The heads are fastened on using a contrasting wedge into a split in the handles.
Finished with danish oil because it'll be easy to buy when the finish needs topping up.

I don't have any croquet balls for testing them (or the space in my garden!) but they have each had several good whacks against some random lumps of wood in the garden.

Weather permitting, we'll be testing them next week.

Duncan


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## CHJ (16 May 2009)

duncanh":1f2s4oxa said:


> ....Weather permitting, we'll be testing them next week.
> 
> Duncan



You should have a ball getting the feel for the weight and reaction of those *Duncan*.

Certainly more of a challenge than the simple shape would suggest, the lack of embellishments means that the subject is prone to show any imperfections.

Should bring pleasure to the users for years to come.


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## Bodrighy (16 May 2009)

They look really good. I can only imagne how difficult it was to get 4 things that long all the same. Guess they'll have you making some spare balls next. Good game, haven't played for a few years. 

Pete


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## Paul.J (16 May 2009)

Nice looking set of mallets Duncan  
The timber does look gorgeous.


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## Jenx (20 May 2009)

Wow ! .... fabulous !
I imagine that wasn't the easiest task in the world to accomplish ! 

Suberb, beautiful work Duncan.

The people getting these mallets will surely be absolutely over the moon.


8) 8) 8)


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## duncanh (10 Jun 2009)

Finally got round to uploading a shot of the mallets in use.





This was taken at a 10 day juggling convention/festival which takes place in a farmer's meadow - this year he prepared a separate mowed area to play in. The buttercups and grass round the outside made for some fun tactical play and the uneven surface made things interesting. I even made it to the final 


My lathe is currently out of action, but here's something I made recently...




The box compartment is 8cm long. Unknown brown wood with ebonised sycamore. Wall thickness is 2mm.

It was made for the box/container competition at our club last month. I don't make many boxes and I wanted to try something different that other members maybe wouldn't think of making. I've been experimenting recently with bowls that have round bases that allow them to rock and that may what led me to this design.

Constructing the body and base was done by turning a box body as normal but without a base - this was mainly done with large saw-tooth bits (starting smaller and working up so as not to stress the wood too much). Once most of it was finished I swapped the end held in the chuck and finished inside the second end (holding was done in my long nose jaws but with the wood held inside a plastic sleeve so as not to mark it).
Once the tubes were turned they were split on the bandsaw.
The hole in the base for the box to rest on was created by putting the thin half tube back in the chuck but mounted crossgrain and protruding out so I could turn it (carefully!).

The black ends were pretty straightforward to turn but I wish that I'd done them in ebony or some other dark exotic as the ebonising didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped (I hardly do it though, so I guess I should have expected that!).

The top round knob has a small shaft on the end to help lock it and the inside rib into place - the rib is there to strengthen the lid.

The finish is acrylic lacquer.

As its the first one of these I'm kind of pleased with the result but think I can do better, especially with the finishing.

It generated some interest at the club but only came 7th (out of 19th - all entries can be seen here) 

Duncan


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## Paul.J (10 Jun 2009)

Excellent looking box Duncan  
Good to see the mallets been put to good use


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## johnny.t. (10 Jun 2009)

What a fantastic design Duncan 8) I really like that. You produce some really fine work, thanks for sharing it.

JT


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## Lightweeder (11 Jun 2009)

Bet that kept the Blyth lot quiet for a bit Duncan :lol: :lol:


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## Bodrighy (11 Jun 2009)

Pity (or perhaps fortunate for you) you live so far away, Cornwall - Northumberland is just too far, I'd be round there picking yopur brains and skills all the time. 

Pete


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## duncanh (10 Nov 2009)

Once again it's been way longer than I thought since I posted anything, but then I've not been turning as much recently anyway.
Here's the first of my recent photos (_all clickable for larger versions_)...




265mm x 40mm
Some sort of Mahogany I think.





265mm longest x 50mm high
Some sort of brown exotic! Can't be any more exact than that as, like all my exotics, it came from a previous turner's shed and was unlabeled.
The various directions of the leaf tips were done using Terry Scot's technique as described in an issue of the Woodturning magazine. (basically turn them to a wedge shape with the thickest section at the tips and then carve the waste away with an Arbortech). I used 3 different heights this time but if I make another I'd mix them up a bit to accentuate the difference.




230mm x 130mm
Spalted beech from a log that had been left out in a field margin for years. Unfortunately it was a little far gone but I managed to salvage this. The splits are filled with brass powder and superglue.




220mm x 50mm
Elm (wych I think given the dark greenish streak in there)
This was one of the ideas I had thought of for the competition but ran out of time finishing. There was quite a bit involved in putting it all together and, to be honest, I can't quite remember the sequence! It involved turning the shape as normal, cutting v grooves using a router held horizontally in a home-made sled, texturing the grooves with a round brass brush in a drill, turning out the centre and sanding.

More to come when I sort out my camera...

Duncan


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## CHJ (10 Nov 2009)

Admire the display of patience in a couple of those creations Duncan, in strong contrast to the speed of progress whilst spinning the bit of wood. 

2 & 4 would be good to go for one of my shelves.


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## stevebuk (10 Nov 2009)

wow, what can i say, the leaf is awesome but they are all good.


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## johnny.t. (11 Nov 2009)

Really nice work Duncan 8) That leaf bowl is hugely impressive made even more so when you read the bit about the size,from the pic alone I thought it would be about 3" across!! :shock: 

The Elm piece is by far my favorite out of this posting though, absolutely beautiful  I love the design of it and the texturing makes it look so soft(no mean feat for a piece of wood)

I would love to see a pic of this router arrangement Duncan.

You may not post often but its always a pleasure to see your work when you do 8) 

JT


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## Lightweeder (11 Nov 2009)

Lovely pieces Duncan. 

LW


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## duncanh (11 Nov 2009)

Thanks for the comments.
I forgot to say about the leaf - I sawed it to shape on the bandsaw before I did any turning on it as I figured it would be safer than sawing it afterwards. It also makes it easier to get consistent wall thickness. The edges are done with a coiled wire in a pyrography machine.
Also forgot - the leaf idea came from a Tony Wilson at the Sunderland club. He didn't do the carved tips though


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## Paul.J (11 Nov 2009)

All beautiful pieces Duncan yet again  
I like the rings on the mahogany piece.Takes the plainess away from the wood.
The leaf looks great,though would it have been possible to have made it thinner at the edges :?: 
Terry's site is great i love the black twirly piece  
The spalted Beech is a very nice form,and the Elm reminds me of a loaf of bread just taken out the oven.Very nicely done  
Keep em coming Duncan,but more often


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## hog&amp;bodge (11 Nov 2009)

It has to be the Spalted beech, l love the grain and shape would give
it shelf room in my house..
Also drawn to the Textured Elm it reminds me of the sea and shells,
not bread..
Thanks for sharing your designs with us..


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## duncanh (25 Nov 2009)

This is another item I had thought of finishing for the competition. 




_click for larger_

24cm long with lid
8.5cm widest diameter

Hollowed to about 3mm most of the way, with some weight left in the tail.

The yew body had been sitting on a shelf waiting for me to to think of a way to complete it. I wanted a lid but hadn't planned ahead when I first hollowed and the yew neck wasn't shaped to a right angle so wouldn't form a good lid join. 
After making a vacuum chuck system I was able to remount the body, glue on the ebony neck and make a better junction.

I was hoping that the form would sit of it's own but the lid makes it slightly top heavy so it won't sit with it's tail on the ground. I considered putting a small weight inside but decided a stand would work better. The ebony one is dished on top and has a bad attempt at chatter work underneath.

Unfortunately I had to rush the spray lacquer finish for an inter-club competition so the underside of the lid isn't perfect and affects the fit slightly.

For anyone wondering, the hollowing was done with the Sorby multi-tip hollowing tool.


Duncan


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## loz (25 Nov 2009)

Very nice, and unusual.


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## Bodrighy (25 Nov 2009)

Lovely work aa we expect from you Duncan. Not too sure of the overall shape but that's a taste thing. 

Pete


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## Lightweeder (25 Nov 2009)

The photo' doesn't do it justice Duncan.

LW


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## CHJ (25 Nov 2009)

Duncan, if you had not revealed your work arounds for in process developments we would never have known, it looks like a well balanced and thought out piece.


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## Harlequin (25 Nov 2009)

nice yew form Duncan.
are the black bits ebonised wood? 
the lid has a smaller diameter(maybe just the pic) -was this intentional?


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## duncanh (25 Nov 2009)

Thanks for the comments everyone.

Harlequin - the black parts are all ebony, or at least some dense black wood that's similar to ebony. The slightly smaller diameter on the lid wasn't intentional, it was turned on a separate jam chuck and I think I sanded it a little too much!


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## johnny.t. (25 Nov 2009)

Like this Duncan, it looks like a pheasant to me, were you tinking along those lines with the design?

JT


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## richburrow (25 Nov 2009)

Different and very nice as well.
The contrast works well!!


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## duncanh (25 Nov 2009)

JT- I was thinking more about seed pods and flowers, but you're not the first person to mention birds.

I've played with the idea before:-

these were my first efforts




and this was my first box:-




Both from 2006. Just shows how slow I am at working through my ideas!


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## philb88 (26 Nov 2009)

Very nice,

Especially like the flat work and that beech hollow form?

Are you turn these wet, letting them dry then returning? Or just turn wet and let nature take its course of twisting and turning? As the flat work looks too precise to be left to twist!

PHIL


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## hog&amp;bodge (26 Nov 2009)

Without the base yes they look like seed pods
but have to say it looks like a cool turned bird with the base &
stopper.
Like the look of the laburnum pod in the back of the pile.
Bunched together in their natural state they look impressive
& would look good in a turned bowl.
Have you sold any of the pods yet...?


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## duncanh (26 Nov 2009)

Phil - having looked through this thread again, most of the turnings are from wet wood, either freshly fallen or fallen within 12 months and left in log form with sealed ends.
Some were turned from dry blanks and the flatter, regular shapes were definitely from dry blanks.

I do very little turning where I part turn, dry and then return to the lathe to get the final shape. Having said that, I have a few part turned bowls in the shed slowly drying and some more large logs waiting to be cored.

h&b - I've sold very little of my work (and I really should do something to rectify that!). The laburnum pod was a birthday present to a friend and I still have all the others,


I was thinking about making some sort of stand with legs that would display the shape vertically, but I think they work better led down.


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## duncanh (29 Nov 2009)

Here are some more. All pyrographed whilst camping for a week in a lovely field in Suffolk in May.










19cm x 15cm
The close up shows the alternating burns I made. I used a coil of wire in the pyrography tool and applied it edge on like a brand.
Once it was all burnt I lightly sanded and this revealed a little of the background, which wasn't intentional but is an effect I like.








18cm square.
I'm not great at pyrography and don't want to practice making consistent lines, so I made up the lines from lots of dots. The wood must have quite a bit of resin in it as it sizzled out when burnt.








25cm diameter.
The pattern on the rim isn't continuous. This wasn't my original plan, but I'd forgotten to mark out with my indexing at home so had to do it by eye with a not very good compass. I actually like the effect though, as it breaks tha pattern up nicely.


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## Santos (29 Nov 2009)

Wow duncanh, that’s some brilliant work in my opinion. Really love the texture you’ve produced on that first square bowl, very unique.


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## duncanh (29 Nov 2009)

Thanks Santos. The texture isn't an original idea to me. I've seen it used in several places but I can't remember who by


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## Paul.J (29 Nov 2009)

Absolutely lovely looking pieces Duncan  
You must have plenty of patience :shock:


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## hog&amp;bodge (29 Nov 2009)

Stunning work again duncanh I like the way you have continued the 
decoration of the Celtic not on the back...very nice touch.. 
The free hand bowl design works well as well....As it has been said you must have a lot patience...
Thanks for showing your work...
Think we all have a pyrography kit and never thought we would use it :lol: 
Mine only got opened to look at  
alex


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## CHJ (29 Nov 2009)

Admire your patience and control of design *Duncan*, very attractive pieces.


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## Bodrighy (29 Nov 2009)

Every time I see work like this i think "Must have a go" but never got round to it...no excuses just not sure I could achieve your standard. Nor have the patience and skill needed. Especially like the celtic work

pete


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## Jenx (30 Nov 2009)

Gorgeous Work Duncan...
They're stunning. 8)


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## loz (30 Nov 2009)

Very nice !

Love the square with Celtic knot work the best.
Brill !

Loz


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