Photo credits:
Images "IMGxxxx.jpg" - Ken Turner
Images "DSCNxxx.jpg" - Dennis Laidler
DSCN2525.jpg
Spalted big leaf maple burl and African blackwood
160mm x 100mm
This is made from a blank that Andi Wolfe brought me on one of her trips
As with most spalted wood it was quite punky and needed a very deft touch with a very sharp gouge
This piece went to the home of a happy collector earlier this week
I have enjoyed turning hollow forms through narrow openings since I first got past the basic bowl turning stage. Topping off such vessels with a lid and finial in the style popularised by Cindy Drozda has lifted my efforts to a new level.
DSCN2528.jpg
Pink ivory and African blackwood
approx 170mm x 110mm
Pink vory is very hard and fine grained. It cracks easily if eposed to excessive heat so the hollowing must be done gently and abrasive must be sharp and used gently to avoid surface checks
DSCN2530.jpg
Pink ivory and African blackwood
approx 170mm x 110mm
The finial on this one is a definite improvement on the first one above
DSCN3032.jpg
Norfolk Island Pine
280mm x 230mm
Variants of this classic vase shape are one of my favourite forms to turn from Norfolk Island Pine
The key to the success of these pieces is that the curve must flow, unbroken, from the neck to the base
The curvature can change along its length but must never be inturrupted by hint of a flat section
IMG_6411.jpg
Norfolk Island Pine
280mm x 230mm
A beautiful pic of the same vessel as above
You can clearly see the difference that a professional lighting setup makes. Compare this picture with the one above which was taken using my rather amaturish lighting setup at home
The main problem is that at home I just don't have the space to set up all the backdrops, lights and filters without rearranging all the furniture in the lounge!
Thanks Ken for assisting with these quality images
DSCN3042.jpg
Norfolk Island Pine
approx 290mm x 230mm
If one centres the log on the lathe, measuring from the bottom of the pits below each branch, one can often turn windows all the way around the vessel below each 'branch'
I usually judge the wall thickness of these bowls when turning them using the same backlighting technique as Merete Larsen shows in the book of the late Tony Boase, "Bowl turning techniques masterclass"
IMG_6400.jpg
Ironwood
approx 300mm x 250mm
It was really hard to part with this wonderful character piece
It was sold recently and is now in transit to a collector in New York
IMG_6401.jpg
Ironwood
approx 300mm x 250mm
Here is another view of the same piece
I retrieved this from the labourer's firewood pile at a forest reserve who's manager allows me to scratch around there occassionally. Its a few hours drive from Cape Town so I don't get there frequently.
The centre of this log was totally rotten and I mounted it on the lathe with a sense of resignation. I knew that it would turn out either a wonderful piece or 'turn into' a complete disaster. As it transpired I turned one of my favourite pieces of all time. This for me is is one of the joys of turning. Although one starts out with an idea in ones head the material often plays the final card, especially if one is turning near the limits of ones skill. As I've become more technically skillfull I'm focusing far more on the aesthetics of the work. Even a relatively straight forward natural edge bowl becomes an exercise in refining the profile of the piece, ballancing the wall thickness and foot size with the overall diameter. These aspects become more important than all the tools and techniques.
I've also discovered the joy of not turning everything as thin as possible! Bigger pieces with inclusions of natural bark and veld fire burned and other interesting natural textures demand 'mass' in the final product. As my good friend Dave Stevenson once described to me, holding a refined but massive thick walled character piece in his hands, "This is what I call a value for money bowl!"
I also find that my mood on the day determines which log or bowl blank I choose to mount on the lathe. The range of pieces illustrated in this post clearly illustrates this. Working as I do in environmental governance, one's stressed out work days are usually spent desperately trying to influence the crass, behaviour of developers, polluters, undisciplined consumers, the environmentally ill-informed and often the plain self-centered and greedy of our world. Just ocassionally one begins the weekend elated by some minor victory.
That's how it is when I enter the workshop, either ready to attack some great big whirling lump of wood on a Stubby 1000 with a huge sharp gouge or gently set up on the little Jet mini and intently tackle a fine finial to top off the latest small hollow vessel. In whatever mood I start the turning weekend, eventually all the sharp corners are knocked off and the whole process, big or small, becomes a more gentle reaxing process as one ends up spending a couple of hours with deft touches of tool on wood, drawing out the beauty of ones latest creation with fine abrasives and coats of special finish.
"Ja well no fine", as we say here in South Africa. It all really comes down to having good clean creative fun and sharing ones passion with other fortunate souls who share the same wacky passion. I have met some wonderful people, locally and worldwide, through my hobby.
With a group of seven other passionate local turners under the guiding hand of Izak Cronjee, one of the revered grandfathers of turning in South Africa, I am lucky enough to be part of Waterfront Woodturners. This is a group of turners who share a single outlet at the Red Shed Craft Workshop at the Cape Town Waterfront. This is the restored area around the harbour much frequented by visitors to our wonderful city.
IMG_6416.jpg
Brazilian pepper (driftwood base, unknown)
300mm x 270mm
A fun sculptural piece that I turned recently
The colouring and burning technique was introduced to me by Carol Rix, a visiting turner from Nambour, outside Brisbane, Australia
IMG_6420.jpg
Pink ivory and African blackwood
175mm x 145mm
Clearly inspired by the work of Cindy Drozda
This type of fine work is in total contrast to the big natural edge bowls that I am also so fond of turning
It's great for honing ones finer turning skills, particularly the finial
Pink ivory is very hard and fine grained. It cracks easily if exposed to excessive heat so the hollowing must be done gently and abrasive must be sharp and used gently to avoid surface checks
IMG_6423.jpg
Walnut and African blackwood
185mm x 110mm
This piece is waiting to go to its new home in Columbus, Ohio
I exchanged it for a piece of equipment that Andi Wolfe brought over for me on her last trip from the USA
It wasn't quite finished before she left so I managed to enjoy it for an extra couple of months before sending it off to her
The walnut for this piece and the piece below were turned from the core of a veneer log that was imported into South Africa by a Cape Town timber merchant about 25 years ago. It was purchased by my brother-in-law many years ago who never did use it for the sculpture project he was planning and who subsequently passed it on to me. One can clearly see the impessions from the drive dogs on the veneer core in the photographs in an earlier post.
I have used an image of this piece on the front of my new private business cardOn the back of the card is an image of the big ironwood natural edge bowl pictured earlier in this post
I'm really impressed by the work of Jo (Yolande) Glover of The Worx Promotions who designed the card for me
She is the daughter of Thys Carstens one of the other partners at Waterfront Woodturners
I can't wait for them to be delivered!
IMG_6429.jpg
Walnut
75mm x 135mm
I love the natural burn on this vessel
The walnut was extremely hard, dry and brittle and required great care when hollowing
I really wanted to avoid straining my back picking up lots of little pieces of walnut from the workshop floor!
IMG_6432.jpg
Camphor
230mm x 230mm
What a wonderful aroma in the workshop
This piece has been one of my first forays into carving on turning and I learned an enormous amount on this first attempt
I've done some other smaller pieces in similar style and am keen to do more
IMG_6440.jpg
Camphor
230mm x 230mm
A slightly different view of the same piece
Everyone who visits Waterfront Woodturners just loves to fondle this piece and deeply inhale the camphor aroma inside
I've learned not to finish the inside of camphor pieces with more than a single coat of finish in order not to seal away the aroma of this wonderful wood
IMG_6450.jpg
Walnut
68mm x 85mm
A small piece that still needs a lid - not finished yet - Carl please ignore this picture on the CD
Click on the four pictures below to upload the full size images - hopefully suitable for publication.
IMG_6506.jpg
Cork oak
160mm x 320mm
This piece is the smallest of three cork oak bowls that I have turned recently
Cork oak grows well in our mediterranean climate here in the Western Cape and is fairly readily available from local 'tree fellas'
The log was the remains of a large tree bole that had been left standing after the rest of the tree had been removed. Ken Turner, another partner in Waterfront Woodturners, a retired photographer, and photographer of most of the pictures on this post kindly donated the log to me rather than cut it up to fit his smaller lathe. Wonderful people these turners.
The whole log was well spalted and rather punky. One turns the cork natural edge just like any other natural edge but very sharp tools and a deft cut are an absolute must. I lightly sharpened my gouge before each cut of the natural edge to keep use of abrasives to a minimum. However judicious power sanding definitely improved the inner and outer surface of the cork bark. I also used a substantial volume of CA to stabilise the bark and its contact with the wood proper. I can't wait to finish the two larger bowls from this log and then tackle the remaining bowl blanks.
Here is a link to an earlier post showing this bowl and the middle size bole in preparation
and another post showing the biggest one being turned. The big cork oak bowl is a 650mm diameter monster that I'm looking forward to finishing in the near future.
IMG_6512.jpg
Norfolk Island Pine
265mm x 195mm
I love the pits under each branch even if they can't be developed into windows
Norfolk Island Pine when fresh is very pale (white/cream) and bland. I leave the logs standing outdoors in the rain and weather for a couple of months before using them to allow the spalting that results in the wonderful figuring shown in the piece opposite
IMG_6521.jpg
Avocado
165mm x 505mm
This large natural edge bowl was turned from a georgeous big avocado log also given to me by my good friend Ken Turner
Avocado is wonderful soft, fine grained wood with a pink colour that darkens with exposure. It is easy to work, cutting very cleanly with minimum tear out, but does move substantially as it dries. Its really not a problem if natural edge bowls move somewhat after turning, especially if the movement is symetrical. One must however re-turn the foot, so the piece stands firmly, and blend the curves to the outside of the bowl if there has been movement. However when turning a 'conventional' bowl it is very important to completely re-turn the thick walled partly turned bowl once it is totally dry and stable in order to end up with a pleasing product
You can see the big avocado log being processed into bowl blanks here, and the 'twin bowl blank' to the one from which this bowl was turned, being turned into a large conventional bowl here
IMG_6524.jpg
European oak
103mm x 235mm
I was inspired to try turning oak after reading a book on the work of Jim Partridge
I love his simple black polished or sandblasted oak turnings, benches and outdoor sculptures and constructions
Being really attracted to the natural characteristics of wood itself I am very reluctant to artificially colour my turnings. However as with the sculptural piece pictured earlier in this post I do occasionally experiment. I must be brave when next I get my hands on a piece of oak and blacken it. On this theme, I also really admire the work of Liam Flynn. Those little red highlights he has applied to some of his recent black pieces really do it for me. (And now that I try to find such an image showing the red highlight - all gone!)
