These are the first two parts. The closed form with a fine crack and the ivy.
The form with a close up of the crack
The next thing I did was to turn the profile of the form and the inside true with a 1/2" bowl gouge. I use this tool for nearly all of my work.
My gouge has a finger nail profile with the wings ground back. I use a Robert Sorby Universal grinding jig
The out side was than sanded using hook and loop abrasive on a standard 2" arbor.
I then sanded the inside with a cut down 2" hook and loop pad/arbor which is fixed to into a drill extension. This one is 300mm, made by draper and cost around £7. It was used in a standard drill as below
This is a picture of it being used on the lathe to sand the inside. By resting it on the tool rest and lightly covering the rotating shaft with my fingers I can control the sanding. I used a 120 grit at this stage then down through the grits.
Once done I drew my desired design on the form to cover the crack.
For this I use white board marker as if you use permanent it can soak into the wood and stain it. It can be a real pain to get rid of if you do not like the design. A white board marker can easily be sanded out so you can start again.
Once I am happy with the design the nest stage was to turn down the chuck spigot to as small a diameter.
This was done by blending the base curve in around to keep a flowing line by using a 1/4" spindle gouge. But you could use a 1/4 parting tool or even the 1/2" gouge. But my going to a smaller gouge you can get better access. This was then simply cut off with a fine saw.
The remains of the spigot that the saw left behind I then removed with a proxon carver. But a sharp craft knife, chisel can be just as effective. Watch you finger as they are very sharp.
The base was then blended in by hand using 120 grit. This being beech it is quite soft so blends nicely. Then I blend down through the grits to around 320. there is going to be a lot more work done to the piece so no need to go too fine with the finish at this stage.
You can still see the fine lines of the drawn area to be cut out.
This was simply cut out using a Bosch jig saw. By keeping the cutting blade at 90 deg as you move around the form you can cut it out quickly without hitting into the base.
In this picture you can see I have cut it out. You will also notice that the wall thickness is not even. IE it gets thicker towards the base. This is done deliberately. If you turn the wall thickness thin and even when you come to carve it out there will not be much material to blend the edges out.
This will result in a flat form. By leaving the wall thickness thicker at the base you have more carving scope and the light will throw a shadow on the finish piece giving it much more depth and appeal
The edges were then blended back by 1/2- 3/4" using a 120grit abrasive on a hook and loop arbor in a Foredom rotary spindle/carver. You can see now the reason for leaving it thicker at the base. It gives the carved area much more depth and interest before I had one of these I would do it by using chisels, files and abrasive wrapped around file etc.
This was then blended back into the rest of the form by hand and finally the whole piece was finished down to 600 grit.
Next I played around with different ideas using the Ivy for a base.
I liked the one of the form being on it's side with the cut out facing at an angle.
I decided it would need a base so using a left over of a ash plank I placed the ivy and form on top and drew a design that I thought would work. Again mulling over this before cutting.
Once I was happy I cut out the base with a jig saw.
The edges were then roughly blended back with an arbortech carver in an angle grinder. using full face protection as the splinters can really fly. You can't see it in the picture but the base was held down by a clamp to keep my hands out of the way. Then moved as and when
the edges were then refined using my rotary carver with a burr, then a hook and loop arbor with 120 grit on the lathe. Make sure you have suitable air extraction and face protection.
Once the base was sanded down to 600 grit I placed the Ivy with the form on top to see how it was going. I left the Ivy intact at this time so that I had more design options later if I wanted to change it.
the base was then ebonised/stained black with chestnut spirit stain. giving it several good coatings to allow it to soak in.
It was brushed on. make sure you open the doors and have ventilation.
The I played around again to see other design opportunities
Three eggs were then turned on the lathe ( sorry didn't take any pics of this)
these were made of left over anjan.
Originally I scorch the ivy and placed the anjan eggs into the form but there was too much going on.
So I cut back the ivy to natural colour using abrasive and ebonised the eggs so that they would match the base colour.
The base was then buffed with a black wax made by Liberon and buffed by hand.
The ivy was cut to a length I was happy with.
The form and ivy were coated in renaissance wax with four coats and again buffed by hand.
I then set the ivy form and eggs together on the base to make sure I was happy.
The ivy was then cut and fixed onto the base using fine metal nails with the heads removed and glued into place.
The form and eggs were left free so that people can move it around to suit the preference.
With this being the end result.
It is a bit of a rush this morning as I need to get out and do things.
I will post more pictures of the finish piece later from different angles, in larger format.
If there is anything that is not clear or you want to know. Just ask.
take care and I hope it has been of interest.
Mark
