vase/hollow form in spalted beech

[cornucopia]

hello all, heres a breif step by step guide to a vase/hollow form i did today, this paticular piece took me about 2 hours but i would suggest that everyone always work safely and at their own pace.

heres the blank between centres, the blank measured about 20" long by 9/10" square ish. i cut these blanks from a much larger log, next time i need to cut some more i will try to remember my camera and show how i cut the log up and why i choose to do it that way.
the white ends are because i cut the wood to use- then i didnt get chance to turn for a few days so to save splitting i painted the end grain with some old oil based paint until i had chance to turn them.

here it is knocked into the round

a view of the end grain, i decided to use this tailstock end as the top because teh spalting looked much better on this end.

i've taken it from between centres now and attached a 6" faceplate using square headed sheet metal screws which give excellent grip into end grain- these screws are a mix of 3" and 2 1/4" in length

right here is the shape roughed out, the blank is a bit too long but i will find a use for the extra bit later.

here is the shape refined a bit more, i'm trying to get a nice flowing curve.
i leave an area near the base (far left of teh photo)extra thick to support the hollowing process.

top view of the neck and start of the hollowing, i make a hole down to the bottom the same daimeter as the neck first and then starting from the top down hollow it out to my final wall thickness.

this ones slightly blurred, but it shows where i hollowed down to marked in pencil

here is the outside shape finished, igo back inside now and hollow the final bit from the base.

here it is sanded to 320 and oiled with lemon oil

close up of the neck

a bowl from the extra wood/ waste block

here it is hollowed out and sanded, i've got it on my vacum faceplate so i can clean up the base

heres anothere slightly blurred!! photo of the days work, a burr elm hollow form, a bangle and both spalted beech bits.

and heres the mess i've made!! you can also see my holloing tools in the background

 

[The Shark]

Excellent looking work. I am sure I would be able to make the same mess, but not the quality of work yet. One day, maybe.

Malc :roll:

 

[PowerTool]

Excellent guide,great pictures - thanks for taking the time

Andrew

 

[Paul.J]

Very nice again C
Is the Beech spalted by yourself :?:

 

[cornucopia]

thank you chaps
heres a link to the splated beech thread paul

 

[Paul.J]

Thanks for the link C
Cornucopia wrote

you dont want direct sun and lots of air flow.

Just to clear this up.Is plenty of air needed or not :?
I have just started putting my logs under a tarpaulin outdoors,and on top of bark chippings.Run out of room in doors :roll:
But i have wrapped the tarp over them,mainly Cherry,Laburnum,Sycamore.Is this a good i dea or not.
I know that Sycamore spalts which i wouldn't mind but what about the other timbers :?:

 

[cornucopia]

it depends what your trying to acheive paul
i dont want my logs to dry as i prefer to turn with wet wood so i restrict airflow and no direct sun.
I would avoid tarpaulins as they do not allow rain to soak through and so will dry out your logs too rapidly.
sycamore will spalt but tends to go too soft too soon.
chery and laburum will not spalt.

 

[Paul.J]

Thanks C
Cornucopia wrote

it depends what your trying to acheive paul

What i was trying to achieve was to get some more storage room for the never ending accumilation of logs i seem to be getting,but when i saw your link on spalting it just gave me another idea of what to do.Unfortunately i don't have any Beech :roll:
Must get some turning done :roll: