ticklingmedusa
19th March 2012, 03:20 PM
Link to a series of 10 photos
Tickling Medusa - Woodturning by John Lopez (http://ticklingmedusa.com/#/content/2012/)
This series of hollow forms are made from local urban timber.
In 2007 what was most likely a massive Banksia or Grevillia came down in my neighborhood.
My best estimate of the age of the tree would be 80 to 100 years.
I spoke to the homeowner and he was happy to be rid of some of it.
If I had known what I would find inside I would have taken more.
1. Bigger natural edge hollow form, At about 9 o'clock there is a vein of magenta ...
when it was freshly machined it was much brighter. It's faded some after a year.
2 & 3. This one was a bandsaw cutoff that I tried after prepping &
roughing out the others and seeing the potential in this timber.
I did not hollow to a particularly thin wall on any of them.
When I have wood this special I begin to not trust my skills and steady hand.
It took me a few years to do this series because I'd pause often and think about
my next move.
(Of course I was doing other projects on the side.)
Laid on it's side this one transforms into a birdhouse.
4. A smaller hollow form from the same nugget of timber.
5 & 6. In spite of the damage on the top of this one the bottom had enough
going for it that I thought the contrast between the surfaces might be interesting.
I used a Kirsten Kone to finish turn the bottom on this one and the birdhouse.
I've turned mandrel type jigs to finish turn bottoms and they work .
A Kone makes the process nearly foolproof , which compensates nicely
when my impaired hand function is added into the mix.
The latest version has more adjustable capacity so I tried one.
The scrawl on the bottom was done with a Dremel engraver.
I'm not real happy & may fork out money for a burner.
Even wearing a leather glove I seem to end up with blisters.
7, 8, 9. Another old Eucalyptus this one was a windfall at Balboa Park in San Diego,
California. A homeless man ran up and helped my brother throw the log into the truck.
Most of you may know a little about eucalyptus and how it came to be here in California
This link might be interesting to some.
http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/70fall/eucalyptus.htm
10. ET takes his girlfriend to the movies.
Not really, just checking.
Thanks for taking a look.
John
Tickling Medusa - Woodturning by John Lopez (http://ticklingmedusa.com/#/content/2012/)
This series of hollow forms are made from local urban timber.
In 2007 what was most likely a massive Banksia or Grevillia came down in my neighborhood.
My best estimate of the age of the tree would be 80 to 100 years.
I spoke to the homeowner and he was happy to be rid of some of it.
If I had known what I would find inside I would have taken more.
1. Bigger natural edge hollow form, At about 9 o'clock there is a vein of magenta ...
when it was freshly machined it was much brighter. It's faded some after a year.
2 & 3. This one was a bandsaw cutoff that I tried after prepping &
roughing out the others and seeing the potential in this timber.
I did not hollow to a particularly thin wall on any of them.
When I have wood this special I begin to not trust my skills and steady hand.
It took me a few years to do this series because I'd pause often and think about
my next move.
(Of course I was doing other projects on the side.)
Laid on it's side this one transforms into a birdhouse.
4. A smaller hollow form from the same nugget of timber.
5 & 6. In spite of the damage on the top of this one the bottom had enough
going for it that I thought the contrast between the surfaces might be interesting.
I used a Kirsten Kone to finish turn the bottom on this one and the birdhouse.
I've turned mandrel type jigs to finish turn bottoms and they work .
A Kone makes the process nearly foolproof , which compensates nicely
when my impaired hand function is added into the mix.
The latest version has more adjustable capacity so I tried one.
The scrawl on the bottom was done with a Dremel engraver.
I'm not real happy & may fork out money for a burner.
Even wearing a leather glove I seem to end up with blisters.
7, 8, 9. Another old Eucalyptus this one was a windfall at Balboa Park in San Diego,
California. A homeless man ran up and helped my brother throw the log into the truck.
Most of you may know a little about eucalyptus and how it came to be here in California
This link might be interesting to some.
http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/70fall/eucalyptus.htm
10. ET takes his girlfriend to the movies.
Not really, just checking.
Thanks for taking a look.
John