bog yew vase (boysie39)

[cornucopia]

hello folks here is some of boysie's bog yew which he kindly sent me this week.
on first inspection of the log i thought that it would make a fabulous natural edge vase due to the shape of it- but the i noticed some splits at both ends and a small amount of rot at one end too so i decided against that idea and embarked upon a vase which would have some natural voids.

I mounted it between centers with the softest end at the headstock

I start roughing it out and straight away I find that my gouge is going blunt very quickly- in all during the outside shaping i sharpen my gouge about a dozen times!!

I decide to use a 6" faceplate to avoid the rot but some screws still don't have any bite so i use all 18 holes.

here you can see the best end

a close up of some purple figure

the winter sun was beaming into the workshop and playing havoc with my camera but heres the rough shape beginning to emerge

a close up of the neck area

at this point i am happy with the outside shape but have left extra wood for support whilst I hollow out the top 2/3rds.
i was very aware of not knowing how far in that rot in the base went.
here i apply some lemon oil to the cracks so that i can get some glue in but not stain the wood.

because of the age of the timber and the voids and the fine cracks i have wrapped some "insurance tape" around the piece whilst i hollow.

here i have hollowed down to 2/3rds and revealed some of the holes- i've repositioned the tape to allow shavings to get out of the holes thus making my job easier.

here the outside is sanded to 400 grit but not oiled- i would have liked the base slightly smaller but i was very aware of the strength due to the rot

oiled now- i will eventually get a satin finish on this piece but until it dries it will stay matt.

heres the waste block- you can see that i didn't waste much and what i did waste wasn't fit for much

here is the finished piece

a big thank you to eugene (boysie39) for giving me the chance to turn such magical stuff.

 

[wizer]

Blimey that is lovely. I really like the shape and voids. It would look good with a candle in.

I really find your work inspiring George.

 

[laird]

You b$^&£*(*. Those photo's fill me with the need for a lathe - and I really, really, haven't got room for it. Nice.

 

[TEP]

Well done George. Think I would have preferred to see that in newly felled Yew, the colours would have been phenomenal, but if someone leaves it in the ground for this length of time what do you expect?

What I think is even more startling, is how you managed to save that timber in one piece. Didn't look as if it would want to stay together with those cracks, good save.

Could imagine that sitting on my little corner table.

 

[Jenx]

You're 'some man' George ! 8) ... not only do you turn a truly wonderful piece, - but arrange to have the ENTIRE process photographed, and then produce a 'write-up' to go with it. 8) 8)

'Exceptional' doesn't even cover it. 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

You're up there with the best of the wood-wizards Sir,...

I find that once again, I'm in awe ... truly brilliant


Oh.. and Well done to Boysie too... for entrusting such a treasure into such capable hands. Great gesture Eugene, well done indeed

 

[Paul.J]

Excellent George
Just can't see how that piece held together :shock:
You must have a special touch.
Great piccys again.
Nice one Eugene

 

[loz]

Stunning Piece, cant wait to see it with a finish.

We never see your tools George, could you outline what you use on a form like this ? esp your hollowing tools ? rings /scrapers ?

Thanks for showing

( still dont know why these articles of your arn't in "Woodturning" - I hope Mark Baker sees this ! )


Laurence

 

[mikec]

Just brilliant George

I also would love to see some photos of the tools you use.

Mike C

 

[The Shark]

Nice job, George.
A bit more of a challenge with the rot and stuff?
As always, appreciate the time you take with the photos and thread.

Malc

 

[CHJ]

It may be Bog Standard for you George, but I don't think I would have had the nerve to tackle that in one piece, well rescued. I bet it played a good tune along the way.

 

[stevebuk]

wow stunning george, just stunning. I hope that in the future i can turn something half as good as that, well done. :lol:

 

[maltrout512]

Great work George as usual.

 

[miles_hot]

out of interest why did you have the soft (most rot) end towards the headstock? I would have thought that if the solid end was at the torquey end of the process you'd have had more confidence in it now flying off and would have been able to turn away the rot (if desired) at the other end.

Many thanks

Miles

 

[duncanh]

Thanks for the series of photos showing the steps involved.
I like the end result

I noticed your comment about the final finish being satin, and I agree that this would improve the look. I look forward to seeing the final finish

Duncan

 

[Oakbear]

Gorgeous work!

I've never even seen bog yew before!

 

[wizer]

George, what where the speeds at various points? I'm guessing very slow to begin with?

 

[colin macdiarmid]

excellent work,

 

[boysie39]

Thanks George, that is one hell of a piese of turning, and the blow by blow account with the pictures is an added bonus. It cant have been easy but i hope you got as much pleasure fro the turning as I got from seeing the result. I spen much of my time flitting from gallery to gallery and I aint seen anything that would make me go anywhere else to have a piece turned for me if I wanted one. The standered on this forum is second to none, and because of this ,through pictures and descriptions of how to do it , the standered of turning has come on by leaps and bounds.
Without nameing names there are quite a few people here who could exhibit anywhere without fear and that includes Penmakers and rustic turners as some are called. This is why I want that BADGE in years to come people will be nudging one another and saying , Jeezzzeee He is in that U K woodturners group and I will just smile and nod and sign their autograph book ,Cornucopia, Tep , Chas, Bodrighy. B S M ,Stevebuck. Greggy Maltrout Jenxz Paul which covers a lot Loz Dave L, and John which covers more.Blister Wizer,and if I have left anyone out dont worry I sign everything with an X :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Thanks again George, and Keep on Turning everyone. REgards Boysie
















jen








bodrighy

 

[cornucopia]

thank you to everyone for all of the nice comments.

loz: i will get some pics done today of my hollowing tools- i have offered these type of articles to the woodturning magazine and to british woodworking neither have taken me up on the offer- maybe a few emails to their respected editors pointing out how much you'd like to see them might help-

miles: i put the soft area headstock end so that my big 4 prong drive sank in to the soft wood and this was going to be my faceplate end. a piece will rarely come of if its in well between centers.

wizzer-tom: i stopped looking at speed a few years ago, i found it put me off - i can just tell when its right for me- at a guess it was somewhere between 700-900.

 

[Bodrighy]

Don't know if George would agree but doing things with voids at slow speed is harder than going that bit faster. Unbalanced wood can be turned slow at first but speeded up as it balances out. With voids and waney edged wood, the slower it is running the more likely the chances of a catch.

Pete