'The Watcher' was an exploration in the world of old and rotting wood stabilized with clear epoxy.  Since making this piece, I have made a second one and have a third ready to go on the lathe.  Each time I tackle one of these I learn something more. This piece started as a very old oak tree from an island in the Pointe au Baril area of Georgian Bay in Ontario.   I was able to get a piece from one of the main stems of this tree.  The tree was dying and threatening a cottage which necessitated its removal.  These trees grow under duress in a challenging climate.  Thus they gro ..read more

I wanted to add a short blog about the finishing process that I went through on the bottom of this piece.  If you are not into finishing and related techniques, this would be a good place to stop. ​It took me several tries to get the finish right on this piece.  It is very different than finishing a salad bowl such as the one below in many respects but is similar in other ways. ​For the preparation for the 5th coat, I buffed the slab with 0000 steel wool while it was spinning on the lathe.  With the piece stationary I gave some extra buffing to a couple of sectio ..read more

I am taking a little break from the past to cover a piece that I am currently working on.  Part of the reason is to remember what I have done and to help my thinking moving forward to the completion of this turning.  The rest is to give me a break from writing about the wood and epoxy pieces.  The next piece in that series is a highly complex turning that went through a roller coaster ride of processes but ended up being very successful. In the late fall of 2017 a client brought in the slab of pine at the right.  At its widest point is was 32" in diameter.  I have trouble say ..read more

My goal with this piece was to retain the shape but not necessarily the texture of the outer edge. The first order of business was to fill the split that had developed while the wood was drying.  To do this I created a dam out of waste wood.  Before securing it to the pine I coated the dam with 5 layers of mold wax.  This would allow the dam to come away when the epoxy hardened.  The dam was held in place and thoroughly sealed using a hot glue gun. In order to keep the epoxy bubble free on the one hand and from cracking on the other, the gap was filled in a series of pours ..read more

This piece was similar to the birch in that to cut it lengthwise would have produced too much waste and possibly not enough to make a decent turning. ​This wood was also taken to the sawmill and cut cross grain. Like the first piece of birch the first slab of pine was put in a mold and both filled and surrounded with epoxy.  It was then put on the lathe and turned. In the image on the right you can see the tear out that occurred.  To make the wood harder for final turning and sanding, a wash coat of epoxy was applied. The finished platter was called ..read more

I have talked a lot about epoxy in the previous posts without giving much information about it.  I hope to rectify that here. Where I get my epoxy and what I buy First of all, I buy most of my epoxy from Noah's Marine.  Info on Noah's can be found here (scroll down).  Specific info on the resin can be found here.  I use the medium hardener.  I also use the pigments that Noah's provide.  They can provide measuring accessories as accuracy is essential. There are many epoxies ​I have tried other epoxies but for the most part they have specific uses and are not applicable to my situations.  Some ..read more

This piece had to be stabilized in a similar manner to the previous turning.  However there were significant differences in how I went about this.  I didn't use a mold this time. I had to pour epoxy into the areas where the bark had separated from the wood.  This had to be done in several stages to avoid trapping bubbles inside the gaps. When this was completed both sides of the piece where coated excessively with a wash coat of epoxy.  The bark area around the perimeter of the piece was also generously coated. The top of the bowl had to be trued and then turned in se ..read more

With the problems in the bottom of the piece cleared up, the piece was reversed on the chuck and the top was turned. In much the same way as the bottom, the top was turned.  It took two sessions with a wash coat of epoxy between the them. After the first turning and the first wash coat of epoxy. After the second wash coat of epoxy but before sanding. After the second coat of epoxy the piece was returned to the lathe for sanding.  Starting at grit 60 and proceeding through ten grits ending with 1000 the piece was carefully sanded. Three coats of finish were applied ..read more

The bark on white birch is waterproof.  Hence, while the bark stays in tact, the inside rots away. Normally, I would take a piece like this to the sawmill and slice it lengthwise to get a number of pieces about 1 1/2" thick from which I would make a platter or bowl.  If I had done that the entire chunk of wood would have fallen apart. So instead I had it cut crosswise.  With careful handling it held together fairly well. Below is what the top of the blank looked like before turning. And this is what the back side looked like after the first turning ..read more

For the first time in 40 years I had to drive to work in the morning.  This was something new.  As I said before, I lost the early mornings, late evenings and some stolen time on the weekends in the studio. But in looking back this was the beginning of the period where I would be doing some of my best work. ​Once in the studio I could focus and be without interruptions.  This was something new and I came to embrace it. The second bowl The wood on the right is what I had to been given to create pieces for some very special people.  These were to be ready for Jun ..read more