Buckeye burl & blackwood

just a fun little lidded form, buckeye burl body with some nice bluing. Blackwood lid with some sapwood showing. 2 1/4" x 2 1/4" friction polish finish.
My "good karma" box. Wink

Photo Details

Chris Wright

Registered: November 2004
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 1,684

0

Date: Mon June 19, 2006
Views: 1,281
Keywords: buckeye burl amp blackwood

Comments

Ugly Duck

Lee Goehring

Chris,
Cute little creation.
Is this the same "Buckeye" that's a member of the chestnut family?

#1 Mon June 19, 2006 3:01am

Gil

Adorable, and very cool curves.

#2 Mon June 19, 2006 3:15am

Rev. Doug Miller

Rev. Doug Miller

Love the form. Am I missing something with the finial? It just looks too bulky to me. Could be that I just don't know what to look for. I did read the Droza article, which was greek to me. Just seems like the curve of the hollow form is interupted instead of being continued up the finial. Then again, it may just be my warped eye and the piece may have already sold, showing you what little I know. Loving the wood too. 8)

#3 Mon June 19, 2006 4:14am

Chris Wright

Actually Rev, I was just trying something new. The photo does distort the perspective a bit though, the finial is actually just a wee-little knob on the top. I wasn't sure I liked it enough to keep it until the current "one" said she liked it. Wink

Lee, not sure if buckeye is a relative of chestnut but it's up there as one of my favorite woods, very easy to turn, great color and polishes nicely. It's also very light so when turned thin it weighs nothing. This piece is probably less than 2 oz. with the walls being 3/32" thick.

#4 Mon June 19, 2006 7:46am

Big_Mike

Buckeye burl is such pretty wood and displayed like this it is just wonderful. Chris, have you ever used it for a box?

#5 Mon June 19, 2006 10:09am

Chris Wright

Thanks Mike, yes I have used it and Pam Reilly has used it to create a few of her very thin boxes. Turns like butter, sands nicely but you have to use a very sharp tool otherwise it can chip when you do details.

#6 Mon June 19, 2006 4:07pm

TomTunget

Tom Tunget

Pretty box. The finial is a tad stout for me. But what the heck do I know. Smile

Now I did notice the grain is askew. Is that a combination end/face grain orientation? It gives a nice effect of the growth rings swooping up the top.

#7 Mon June 19, 2006 5:57pm

Chris Wright

Thanks Tom, I did orient the grain on a slight diagonal to take advantage of the bluing. That combined with the slight burl/flame figure running acorss one side put the grain at a nice angle/curve.

#8 Mon June 19, 2006 8:12pm

Ugly Duck

Lee Goehring

My mistake, Chris. They don't seem to be related according to my "North American Trees" book. One of the Buckeye species is known as "Horsechestnut", so I guess I just extended that a little further than I should have.
Regardless, it's beautiful wood.

#9 Tue June 20, 2006 3:07am

Chris Wright

Good to know Lee. From what I know of it, it mainly and almost exclusively grows in Central California. Buckeye itself is a very bland yellow wood with boring grain. The coveted part is burl, which can get some of the most amazing figure on a good piece. Add to that the fact that it spalts a gorgeous gun metal blue and you have a piece that can naturally look like Van Gogh's painting "Starry Night". Here's an example from my album of some gorgeous buckeye burl: http://www.turnwood.net/Photopost/data/500/2BuckeyeBurlHollowForm-med.jpg

#10 Tue June 20, 2006 4:44am

Ugly Duck

Lee Goehring

Again referring to my book, there are 7 different varieties ID'd in it, including what must be yours called "California Buckeye" for some odd reason.

#11 Tue June 20, 2006 11:35am

Chris Wright

Ah, ok...probably for the same reason there's a California Pepper...funny thing is many of the "California" trees are ugly on the outside by comparison to say the big leafy trees of the East coast, but the wood inside is equally as nice.

#12 Tue June 20, 2006 3:18pm