Thread: Christmas ornaments...

I don't consider myself a 'turner' but have the occasional burst at the lathe making things other than table legs & tool handles.

LOML saw some interesting ornament & decided she would like some small ones for the Christmas tree. They are very simple things, but a great opportunity to use up some of those scraps of precious & interesting wood that keep on accumulating (got bored with making pens many years ago!). So a dozen minatures were whipped up & duly hung on the tree. They are about 30mm high, & along the lines of these two (pic 1):

Turning a bunch of cones & balls wasn't very taxing, so as I was doing it, I got to thinking how I might vary the shapes & the way I used the wood, to make them look like a recognisable bird. So with some bigger scraps of wattle that had plenty of sapwood, I made a pair of penguins (pic 2). The rot set in, & I discovered a pair of ducks in some she-oak, Olive & conkerberry (for the bills). (pic 3). Then I got too ambitious & tried to make a Grebe from Brigalow, using the thick sapwood to give the colour shading. (pic 4). I need to work on this design a bit - the neck doesn't flow as I hoped. Maybe next year.

My other half is highly amused at how easily distracted I can be, but I have to admit it was fun, and the weekend just disappeared. Now back to the serious stuff.........