Woodturners Resource

Leaf Me Alone

Sun, 04 Nov 2007 01:09:02 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: 5h x 7w paper bark birch. Beaded underside and carved leaves highlighted and textured with pyrographry.

5 comments

Plain Old Poplar

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 18:06:51 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: 9.25h x 13.25w spalted poplar. The spiral flutes are hand carved. I left them somewhat rough to give the piece an organic look. The wood is has the most amazing shades of red and eggplant. This chunk of wood has been sitting in my workshop for about a year. I had no idea how beautiful it would be until I cut into it. It has a simple danish oil finish. I havent been able to turn much lately because of work. I was glad to have to opportunity to do this piece.

8 comments

Spiral Fluted Birch

Sun, 05 Aug 2007 16:50:31 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: 6.5 x 7 hand carved spiral fluted paper bark birch with ebonized walnut collar.

7 comments

Spalted Hackberry

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 11:44:07 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: 1.75 x 14.25 spalted hackberry shallow bowl. The rim and upper inside has two different texture and burn treatments.

1 comment

Spalted Hackberry Detail

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 11:42:46 +0000

by: jprosise

Fluted Walnut

Thu, 21 Jun 2007 23:26:19 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: 7 x 5.25 walnut vessel. Spiral fluted heartwood. Textured and burned spalted sapwood.

3 comments

Legacy Drum (long story)

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 18:22:11 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: 6.5 x 14.5 ambrosia maple snare drum. Out of the blue I was contacted by a person that said he was a custom drum maker and he had visited my website. He educated me in that most quality durms were steam bent Maple with some sort of sparkly overlay on top. He asked if I had a better idea for a top end drum that would still sound good without using a veneer for a more of an "artsy" look. My suggestion was to create a solid wood drum created from glueing precisly cut staves. If maple was the standard for sound quality, so be it. Lets at least choose a maple that looks good without having to cover it up with veneer, thus I chose ambrosia Maple. When he asked my price, I made him aware that I had a 17 year old son that was seriously into percussion instruments and was seeking a college schoarshp in music education. I made a deal with him that I would turn two drums. One for him and one for my son. We would split the cost of the wood and hardware, I would do the turning, and he would assemble the hardware. It was a challenge especially from a chucking standpoint since both ends are open and the measurements and edge bevel angles had to be 100% precise. The bottom line is that he sold his drum for $800 and I gave mine to Billy for graduation. He wept openly when he saw it. By the way, he recieved a four year scholarshp to play in the Pride of the Southland band at the University of Tennessee starting next year. Sometimes we take for granted this talent we call woodturning. This was a lesson that it is truely a gift from God as this is a treasure (made by his Dad) that will be apart of my legacy for many generations to come.

9 comments

Multi-Color Birch

Sun, 10 Jun 2007 13:12:03 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: 8 x 6.75 dyed figured birch with wenge collar. This was a rather uninteresing piece of wood until the color was added.

4 comments

Something Funky

Tue, 05 Jun 2007 03:13:26 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: 5.26 x 6.0 turned, burned, textured and carved elm. In this exercise, my goal was to push my limits and comfort zone to create something totally unusual (for me anyway). This was turned on three axis and hollowed from two of them. It was really interesting to turn. I will be expecially eager to hear comments and critiques on this "out of the box" vessel.

4 comments

Something Funky Detail

Tue, 05 Jun 2007 03:12:24 +0000

by: jprosise

1 comment

Walnut Vessel

Sun, 03 Jun 2007 21:16:25 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: 6.0 x 11.5 carved and textured Walnut Vessel.

6 comments

Walnut Vessel Detail

Sun, 03 Jun 2007 21:14:21 +0000

by: jprosise

Opposition

Fri, 25 May 2007 01:00:10 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: Two elm pieces 5.25 x 7.75 and 7.75 x 5.25. One end grain and the other side grain. One has the sapwood textured and burned and the other has the heartwood textured and burned. Yes they came from the same log.

5 comments

Elm Texture Detail

Fri, 25 May 2007 00:58:53 +0000

by: jprosise

1 comment

Green Apple Bown

Thu, 10 May 2007 23:41:43 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: 4 x 14 dyed poplar bowl. Although several colors are represented in this bowl, overall it reminded me of the color of a Granny Smith green apple. Sorry the photo is a bit out of focus.

1 comment

Rim Detail on Green Apple Bowl

Thu, 10 May 2007 23:39:33 +0000

by: jprosise

2 comments

Walnut Natural Edge Bowl

Wed, 09 May 2007 22:52:54 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: 5.5 x 10.5 walnut natural edge bowl. I was lucky to keep the bark on...with the help of ca glue.

4 comments

Mahogany Platter

Sun, 06 May 2007 13:17:01 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: 20" Mohagany platter with textured and dyed rim. The same process was used for this rim as the Jatoba platter, but dyed instead of burned.

3 comments

Mahogany Platter Rim Detail

Sun, 06 May 2007 13:14:32 +0000

by: jprosise

Jatoba Platter

Sun, 06 May 2007 00:17:22 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: 7/8 x 18 Jatoba (Brazilian Cherry) platter made for a Christmas gift. The rim was textured with the Sorby texturing tool and then groves were cut on each side to outline the texturing. I then burned the high spots of the texturing with the spoon tip of my detail master pyrograpy tool. Please forgive the picture as this platter was pushing the limits of my photo tent and I did not have many options.

7 comments

Jatoba Platter Detail

Sun, 06 May 2007 00:12:56 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: Rim Detail of Jatoba platter.

1 comment

Sapwood Flame

Thu, 03 May 2007 21:13:28 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: .75 x 5.5 and 6.25 x 5.5 mineral stained poplar. The little bit of sapwood left reminds me of a flame. The picture doesnt really show it but the color is a deep eggplant. Mother nature at her best. I am not really happy with the form on either of these pieces.

7 comments

Spalted Hackberry Vase

Thu, 03 May 2007 21:06:02 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: 11.5 x 7.5 Spalted hackberry vase. Around here, hackberry is considered to be a trash tree and not many woodturners will work with it. I find that it spalts well and is a good wood to turn. It is finished with satin wipe on poly. .

1 comment

Dyed and Spalted Hackberry Vase

Mon, 30 Apr 2007 21:52:20 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: 9.5h x 7w dyed spalted hackberry. This was a commissioned piece where the customer requested an "orangy, redish rust color". I am not crazy about the piece itself, but I was proud to have achieved the color based upon her discription. I was quite surprised when this piece made the cover of WOW a while back.

3 comments

Walnut Bowl

Tue, 24 Apr 2007 23:31:11 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: 4 x 13.75 Walnut Bowl with undercut textured and burned rim.

5 comments

Rim Detail on Walnut Bowl

Tue, 24 Apr 2007 23:30:02 +0000

by: jprosise

4 comments

Cherry Vessel

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 12:38:52 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: 6.5 x 5 Cherry hollow form. Yes it IS wood. This was originally a piece that I used to demonstrate a texturing technique to my local club. I then decided to singe the high spots with a spoon point tip of my woodburner. I think the effect came out pretty well.

4 comments

Spalted Maple Box

Thu, 19 Apr 2007 21:27:10 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: 5 x 4.5 spalted maple box with ebonized walnut finial. Still experimenting. This box came from the same chunk of wood as the previous post. I am not crazy about the finial on this one. Your thoughts are appreciated.

2 comments

Spalted Maple Box

Thu, 19 Apr 2007 21:18:10 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: 7.5h x 4.5w spalted maple box with ebonized walnut finial. I have been experimenting with different forms for boxes. This box recieved a lot of varied critiuqes from the WOW website. I will be interested to see what this group thinks.

2 comments

Pod

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 00:18:54 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: 9.25 x 6.5 spalted ash pod. This technique was explained in the recent American Woodturner magazine. It was really interesting to turn.

9 comments

Fluted Vessel

Sun, 15 Apr 2007 12:44:19 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: 6 x 8 american elm textured and hand fluted hollow form. I recently attended a 3 day workshop at Trent Bosch's workshop in Colorado. One of my goals was to "find my own voice". I have never attempted any sort of carving so this is a new technique for me. The fluted bottom has a hammered texture. The top sapwood portion is smooth and provides additional contrast to the darker color of the textured flutes.

6 comments

Multi Color Hollow Form

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 23:41:17 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: 6.5 x 6 spalted maple hollow form with padauk collar. Multiple colors of dye with a waterlox finish.

8 comments

Whimsical Bird House

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 23:32:05 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: 8.75 x 3. Technique learned from Frank Penta at last falls Tennessee Association of Woodturners symposium. The off center "roof" and base are cherry. The birdhouse is simply a hollowed maple branch. I wish I could say that I turned the bird but it was purchased. I used my regular Nova chuck to do the multi-axis work.

5 comments

Sycamore Vessell

Sun, 08 Apr 2007 13:52:02 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: 10.5 x 10.5 Sycamore vessel with pyrography. This was my first attempt at pyrography. This piece also took second place in the "people's choice" catagory at the Tennessee Association of Woodturners annual symposium last fall.

6 comments

Wenge Boxes

Fri, 06 Apr 2007 22:19:29 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: This pair of wenge boxes are each about 3.5 inches wide. I haven't turned many boxes and these were experments in design and form.

7 comments

Big Leaf Maple Vase

Fri, 06 Apr 2007 11:35:44 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: 11h x 5.5w big leaf maple vase with a bit of burl and a bit of spalting. This one was a lot of fun to turn. It has a coat of waterlox followed by a good Beall buffing. Any comments or critiques are very welcome.

9 comments

Ice Cream Sundae

Fri, 06 Apr 2007 11:28:05 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: 10.5 x 5.75 big leaf maple burl double natural edge lidded box with padauk finial and base. This chunk of big leaf has been sitting around in my shop for over a year just waiting for me to have the right inspiration to create something from it. It was actually two fairly small burls that made a small connection at the base which disallowed any sort of bowl or hollow form. Finally it hit me...an ice cream sundae! The lid sits on a small "shelf" inside the main body of the box. The lid flares to a dome shape as it moves towards the seat. The padauk finial reminds me of strawberry syrup dripping onto partially melted ice cream with a splash created by the natural edge of the lid. This was a fun piece to creat. All comments and critiques are welcome and appreciated.

13 comments

Spalted Maple Vase

Tue, 18 Apr 2006 22:07:28 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: 8.5h x 5.75w spalted maple vase with natural voids in rim and body. Finished with two coats of satin wipe on poly. Critiques are always welcome as they help me to get better.

7 comments

Lesson Vessel

Tue, 18 Apr 2006 22:02:52 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: 8h x 10.5w maple pot that has been bleached, dyed and textured...several times. I named it the Lesson Vessel for a very good reason. Here is the story: First, I felt that this rather unimpressive piece of maple needed some help. So, first I bleached it with the intent to sandblast it later. Then I dyed the inside black. LESSON ONE: Never dye a side grain vessel on the inside unless you plan to dye the outside as well. It had black sploches all over the end grain where the dye soaked through. Not only did I now have to deal with the soak through, I completely wasted my time and materials spent bleaching the piece. It gets better. Next, I dyed the outside a dark red color mixed with black so that it would blend with the sploches mentioned above. It looked OK but a bit bland, so I decided to ad a hammered texture. It took about 6 hours total of texturing work. Afterwards, I really wasn't happy with the color, so I added a bit of blue dye to give it a purple cast. LESSON TWO: Never add water based anything, including dye, to anything that has been given a hammered texture. You see, the dye made the texturing pop right back out. Now I really had what I considered to be an ugly duckling. Not willing to give up, I spent another six hours retextureing and finished the piece with satin wipe on poly. It is a fairly large piece that my wife says looks like a big purple rock. Anyway, it is what it is and although it may not be one of my best works, I am glad that I stuck with it and learned these valuable lessons. Comments and critiques are welcome.

3 comments

Textured Spalted Beech Vessel

Tue, 07 Mar 2006 20:35:59 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: 7h x 8w spalted beech with hammered texture. I have been experimenting with different surface treatments and the methods to obtain such. This piece of beech was so beautiful that I hated to experiment with texturing on it. I took a deep breath and began the process. About 4 hours later, this is what I ended up with. See the other photo for a more detailed view of the surface texture. It is finished with satin wipe on poly. Critiques are appreciated as they always help me get better.

1 comment

Detail of Spalted Beech Texture

Tue, 07 Mar 2006 20:34:37 +0000

by: jprosise

2 comments

Conflicted

Tue, 07 Mar 2006 20:32:10 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: 10.5 x 8. Another experiment (for me anyway) in surface enhancement. The vessel is sandblasted and bleached ash. The top is ebonized walnut and the finial is redwood. My goal was to provide contrast in color, texture and form. The color contrast is self explanatory (although I?m not sure I like the redwood finial). Obviously the contrast in texture is clear between the top and the main vessel. The contrast in form exists between the relatively squat main vessel body and the long slender finial. I don?t know if this idea worked or not. The vessel is finished with one coat of Krylon matte finish and the lid is finished with satin wipe on poly. I really have mixed feelings about this piece. Critiques are appreciated as they always help me get better.

11 comments

Rock Elm Vase

Tue, 07 Mar 2006 20:28:56 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: 8.5h x 7w Dyed and ebonized rock elm crotch. Before finishing, I set this piece on the lathe for a few minuets and the iron in the ways completely turned the bottom black so I went ahead and ebonized the entire piece with vinegar and rust solution. It looked pretty bad as the sapwood obviously did not ebonize like the heartwood did. I decided to dye the entire piece with black and red dye combined. It is finished with Waterlox. Critiques are appreciated as they always help me get better.

Design Opportunity

Fri, 17 Feb 2006 14:11:15 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: 10h x 6.5w spalted sugar maple and ebonized walnut. This one started life as a long neck vase. I got too thin right where the ebonized walnut starts and you know the rest. Standard proceedure for me would have been to through it against the wall but I decided to try and salvage this piece. I had never attempted a finial before and I had a scrap piece of walnut laying around. What you see is the result. Critiques are appreciated as they always help me get better.

5 comments

Winged Box

Wed, 15 Feb 2006 13:44:28 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: What a challenge! This was not only my first turning that featured a square; it was also my first turned box. Finished size is 4.25? h x 3.75? wide. It started out as a 4 x 5 block. It includes purple heart, padauk, and I think the lighter wood may be maple. The good news is that it looks OK. The bad news is that although when I pulled this off of the lathe, it had a nice suction fit, the next day it had a loose fitting lid. I guess the blank was not as dry as I believed. Oh well, it still works. I think the lid is a bit heavy and I had a hard time with tool marks on the upper side of the upturned wings. I hope you like it Nappen. Please email your address. This was really fun and I look forward to the next challenge!

12 comments

Challenge Piece with Lid Removed

Wed, 15 Feb 2006 13:43:35 +0000

by: jprosise

1 comment

Cedar Flower Profile

Tue, 14 Feb 2006 17:23:42 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: Profile of the previous post.

4 comments

Cedar Flower

Tue, 14 Feb 2006 17:22:27 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: 11.75 x 7 cedar. Kind of a different experiment for me. My daughter says that it smells like where hampsters poop. After that critique, any comments are certainly welcome.

10 comments

Natural Edge Cherry Bowl

Fri, 20 Jan 2006 14:44:37 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: 5.5 x 9.5 Cherry bowl. I don't do many bowls these days, however, last weekend I did this after "blowing up" two hollow vessels in a row. Got about 3/4 of the way down in both of them and got too thin...you know the rest. I figured I could give up for the day or attempt something else. I decided that turning a bowl would give me a better chance of not getting strike three for the day. Since I dont do many bowls, I would be most interested in comments regarding this piece.

6 comments

Cedar Collar

Wed, 18 Jan 2006 14:22:49 +0000

by: jprosise

Description}: 5.5 x 6 spalted maple with a cedar collar. In my opinion, the collar on this one is too dominant. As I continue to experiment with collars, I am finding out that most of the time less is better. Comments (good or bad) appreciated.

9 comments