Woodturners Resource

Celestial Globe

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 01:17:15 +0000

by: John Shortell

Description}: While walking the dog in the woods I found a big old red oak that had been laying on the ground for years. Went back with the chainsaw and cut some turning blanks. It was in pretty bad shape. I had to remove several inches from the outsides because it was so punky. Because of wood's condition, tear out of the end grain was impossible to get rid of so I filled everything with body filler. Either you love it or you hate it. Finished with many, many coats of poly (it soaked it up like a sponge). Sanded and buffed to a glass ball. About 8" in diameter. Carved maple base and top. Reminds me of an 18th century celestial globe.

3 comments

Oak Barrel

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 01:00:25 +0000

by: John Shortell

Description}: While walking the dog in the woods I found a big old red oak that had been laying on the ground for years. Went back with the chainsaw and cut some turning blanks. It was in pretty bad shape. I had to remove several inches from the outsides because it was so punky. This is a copy of the old barrel in my kitchen that we use as a garbage can. All one piece of wood. Top is turned from end grain to match the bottom. Bung plug acts as handle to remove the top. Finished in oil. The bands are carved and painted with oil paint to keep them from blending in. Staves are carved. I made little attempt to sand or smooth the wood so it looks old and crusty like the old barrel in my kitchen. It is 10" tall and 7" at the widest point. Exact .42 scale model of the original.

8 comments

Vase, Unknown wood.

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:44:53 +0000

by: John Shortell

Description}: Found a couple of large logs on the side of the road. I have driven past them for about a year and finally stopped to pick them up. I don't know what kind of wood it is. Any ideas? Judging by the location of the tree I'm guessing poplar or maybe sassafras. This is close to 10" tall. Finished with oil and wax and buffed.

2 comments

Spaulted Birch Honey / Money Pot

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:32:32 +0000

by: John Shortell

Description}: Spaulted birch, about 8" high and wide. Finished with wipe on poly.

1 comment

Birch ball

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 01:42:55 +0000

by: John Shortell

Description}: Took a drive up Mt. Washington in June. Kept noticing fallen trees that had been cut and cleared from the road. At about 2000 feet I found a turn off and followed it to the spring cleaning crew's tree grave yard. I grabbed some nice spaulted birch logs. This is about a 5" sphere. Lots of poly, buffing and shine. A couple worm holes too. Spault lines make it look like a globe. Should have done top and bottom in white to look like ice caps.

1 comment

Forgotten firewood.

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 01:37:59 +0000

by: John Shortell

Description}: Bought a couple of cords of firewood about 10 years ago. Put it in the basement. Just used it for occasional fires in the fireplace. This is from a piece that didn't get used. Don't know what the wood is. Too far gone on the outside to tell. Very pretty on the inside and solid too.

2 comments

Birch Vessel

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 01:31:18 +0000

by: John Shortell

Description}: Took a drive up Mt. Washington in June. Kept noticing fallen trees that had been cut and cleared from the road. At about 2000 feet I found a turn off and followed it to the spring cleaning crew's tree grave yard. I grabbed some nice spaulted birch logs. This piece shows off that wood nicely. Filler is good ole american bondo with blue hardner. Many coats of poly buffed to a Mercedes finish. About 6" tall and wide.

3 comments

Carved Vessel

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 01:15:20 +0000

by: John Shortell

Description}: 10" tall, turned from figured maple and carved. Finished in 15 coats of lacquer and buffed to a glass finish, including the volutes. I wish I could get the photos to show the finish.

4 comments

Cookie Jar or Vessel

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 01:07:37 +0000

by: John Shortell

Description}: Can be used with the cover as a cookie jar, or without as a vase. 10" tall figured maple with bowling ball finish.

3 comments

Maple Vase

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 01:03:08 +0000

by: John Shortell

Description}: 9" tall, turned very thin, textured and painted.

1 comment

Maple Canteen

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 01:01:24 +0000

by: John Shortell

Description}: Civil war canteens inspired this piece. About 5" around. Poly with a flat finish.

3 comments

Yellow wood burl box

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 01:04:27 +0000

by: John Shortell

Description}: Someone gave me a piece of burl they said was from a yellow wood tree. I had never heard of it. It's beautiful wood. I wish I could get more of it. This piece is very small, about 2" in diameter. The little handle or pull or whatever you want to call it is made from black lip mother of pearl. Finished in oil.

Spaulted maple platter

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:59:48 +0000

by: John Shortell

Description}: Beautiful piece of wood. About 7" in diameter. Finished in oil. From a huge maple tree I cut down in my yard.

1 comment

Cherry Burl Miracle

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:55:44 +0000

by: John Shortell

Description}: Rotting and critter infested Cherry burl about 6" diameter with ebony and ivory "bandaids" holding it together. A miracle because it should not have stayed together. Finished in oil.

3 comments

Apple

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:50:31 +0000

by: John Shortell

Description}: Apple turned from apple wood. Ivory leaves and ebony stem

Carved Maple Bowl

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:50:11 +0000

by: John Shortell

Description}: Turned, carved, dyed, then turned again and sanded until carving was almost gone. Then burnished high spots on the lath to darken them. Finished in lacquer with a bowling ball gloss with flat black accent. About 8" tall. When holding it you can clearly see the carved ridges but can barely feel them. Creates sort of an optical illusion, especially when people assume it is the low spots or the valleys that are dark when it's really the ridges. Doesn't make sense to their intuition.

1 comment

Maple Bottle

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:40:12 +0000

by: John Shortell

Description}: I collect old bottles. Had a cutoff with a lot of character so I copied one of the bottles in my collection. About 7" tall. Finished in lacquer to satin.

2 comments

Mt. Washington Loving Cup

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:37:44 +0000

by: John Shortell

Description}: Took a drive up Mt. Washington in June. Kept noticing fallen trees that had been cut and cleared from the road. At about 2000 feet I found a turn off and followed it to the spring cleaning crew's tree grave yard. I grabbed some nice spaulted birch logs. This piece is about 7" tall. Can't get the handles the way I want them. Tried three times. They keep getting worse. Almost threw it away but the wife likes it. Finished in poly almost dead flat.

5 comments

Small cup from apple

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:29:13 +0000

by: John Shortell

Description}: A small, about 2.5 inches high, cup made from a dead apple tree I cut down. Extremely thin. Less than 1/16" sides and about 1/8" on bottom. Applied handle. Finished in oil and functional.

2 comments

Mini Cherry burl

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 04:03:06 +0000

by: John Shortell

Description}: Walking the dog one day spotted small burl on the side of tree near the ground. Gave it a kick and it fell off like a ball. Had to evict some tiny critters before turning. About 4" high finished in oil.

2 comments

Pine root vase.

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 03:57:44 +0000

by: John Shortell

Description}: I tripped over this rotten old root for about a year while walking my dog in the woods. I finally picked it up one day and brought it home. When I cut one end square, bright red wood was revealed, along with the smell of pine sap. After six months this piece is still sticky and smells of sap. About 8" tall and finished with lacquer that the pine sap keeps melting away.

2 comments

Carved Pot

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 03:51:30 +0000

by: John Shortell

Description}: Turned, carved, textured and painted maple pot. Not sure what you call it. Water colors and flattened lacquer finish. About 6" tall and wide.

Tankard

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 03:46:15 +0000

by: John Shortell

Description}: Tankard turned and carved of figured maple. About 6" tall. Lacquer with a satin finish. I recently cut down a huge, dying maple tree. Turns out most of it is figured and/or spaulted. A lifetime supply.

6 comments

Mahogany Pineapple

Sat, 22 Aug 2009 01:09:32 +0000

by: John Shortell

Description}: Pineapple turned and carved from mahogany. About 10" tall. Sorry about the old photo.

Coffee Pot

Sat, 22 Aug 2009 01:06:15 +0000

by: John Shortell

Description}: This is a copy of an 18th century silver coffee pot turned and carved from figured maple. I love the form of colonial silver hollow ware and have copied several pieces. Sorry about the photo. It's a few years old.

5 comments

Spaulted maple candle holder

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 03:34:08 +0000

by: John Shortell

Description}: Turned and carved. I know, the piece gets lost in the background. About 4" tall.

3 comments

Spaulted maple Christmas Ornament

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 03:27:26 +0000

by: John Shortell

Description}: About 4" tall. Turned and carved. Experimental piece to see how thin I could get the spindles. They ended up at about 3/16" wide and 1/8" thick. Finish is funky looking because the piece got too fragile to sand any more. It actually compressed like a spring.

2 comments