Purple Heart for Valentine's Day

It's almost Valentine's Day, and a couple of "Wish Boxes" from purple heart and camphor seemed like a good idea.

Time to Cleanup!

When I get a load of fresh turning stock it's best to take care of it right away to avoid checks and cracks.  When that time happens it produces a lot more than a few rough turned bowls.

Mulch for the Garden Paths

Box Elder Bowl

Box elder, a type of maple with little or no commercial value, often has some spectacular red coloring that most associate with the tree's response to injury from the box elder beetle.  What you need to know if you collect work made from box elder is that the spectacular red color is photo reactive and will fade in ultraviolet light.

You can read more in the documents on my website.  RickUrbanWoodturner.com

This is a recently finished textured bowl about 8" in diameter with a bit of turquoise filling a natural void.  It is available for sale.

Manzanita Burl Mini Winged Bowl

Remember those manzanita root burls?  Here's the first mini installment.

Mini winged bowl 6" x 5" x 1"

I told you they would yield something pretty good.  I hope you agree. 

Sweetgum from the Woodturning Archives

From the 2010 archives this vessel was turned from spalted sweetgum from north Georgia.  It's approximately 11" in diameter and  is turned cross grain (with the log chunk spinning end over end).  Natural cracks were filled with black tinted epoxy and the rim was textured before finishing with lacquer.

Springtime Sunrise

It's a bit rainy today, so an earlier springtime sunrise seemed like a good idea.

Manzanita Root Burls

Here's what's coming from  Rick Urban in Flagler Beach...

When the fires were ravaging southern California these were some of the victims: manzanita root burls.  I don't like to think about what they cost (including shipping) or the trouble involved in turning them, but they will yield something absolutely spectacular!  Stay tuned.