A piece with character?

[Chipman]

Up until recently, this piece of wood (yellow box) would have been used for firewood. It was cut from a tree that was lying on the ground for something like 50 years. Termites and borers have been enjoying it and it is riddled with cracks.

I decided to give my self the challenge of turning it into a bowl. The outside was reasonably straight forward, but when it was remounted to hollow the inside, it soon became obvious that the cracks were quite significant as seen in the photos, especially the one showing the underneath. As I was hollowing it, you could hear the pieces flexing (Thanks for the tip to listen to the wood as it is being turned). I decided 8mm wall thickness was as far as I was going,
Next it was time to stabilize all the significant cracks with CA (thin first then gel), remount it and sand and finish it with shellawax cream. (I did not attempt to fill any cracks or holes.)

I quite like the end result...the roughness gives it character and it certainly was good practice.

What do you woodturners think? work of art or firewood?????



Cheers,
Chipman

[Ed Reiss]

Nice looking bowl....good work Chipman:2tsup:....definetly not firewood!:no:

[DJ’s Timber]

I like it :2tsup: adds lots of character to it :U

[Sawdust Maker]

Superb bowl - well worth rescuing that bit of yella box! :2tsup:

[orraloon]

Chipman,
Top job there. It pays off to hang in there sometimes.
Soon as someone says character you know they mean it was a bu&&er of a job to do.
Regards
John

[Hardenfast]

Nice work Chippy.

I too have just finished a piece from what I think was an old Yellow Box which had been laying on the ground from some time. It was in an area surrounded by other large Yellow Box and the timber seemed consistent with these, so without further scientific analysis I'm calling it YB.

Man, this stuff is hard, right? And you quite often don't know what you're going to find inside these things until it's past the point of no return. Mine was even worse as it was a burl, with all of the defects, crevasses, instabilities etc that generally go with burls - plus a few extra.

Still, it's worth it in the end. Nice pieces full of character and history.

Wayne

[Gil Jones]

Very well done, Chipman.. :2tsup:
Ample and fine-looking!

[artme]

Well done Chipman! that is also a great discussion piece and a true keeper.:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

[Chipman]

Thanks everyone... I appreciate the comments.

Yes, yellow box is hard but sometimes this old timber is a bit softer.... main thing is you must always have very sharp tools.

Up until this year, I had done a bit of turning but more a "butcher". but used the wrong tools and techniques but usually ended up with a reasonable result.

I am so grateful for all the help and advice I have had from the forum members and it has been even better to met many of them in person and watch them in action... it really is the best way to learn. I can now get a better result even faster now.

I am making a bit of progress with my turning now and love the challenge of these peices and in many ways are more attractive than the good quality wood ones IMO

Regards and Happy New year everyone

Chipman

[dai sensei]

Nice work Chipman, those aren't cracks, they are features :U

[joe greiner]

Definitely a keeper. Sometimes, perseverance is its own reward.:2tsup:

Joe