E's Spring Break visit 2025

 E came home with us from our Savannah family gathering and immediately fixed up her foxhole.  She says she'll saw off her legs or sleep like an egg before she gives up that privacy.  We'll see.  We did a lot in her week here between sleeping, computer/phone stuff, and playing with cats.  E did a great job of letting Sylvester come to her.  He was his usual cautious self but eventually came around to her.

We discovered that she has aged out of Kid to Kid where she used to get bags and bags of clothes on every visit.  We went next door to Cheapskate and didn't find anything worthwhile. 

She made some rings and a pen on the lathe and took a drive in the RTV with Paul, discovered some downed trees and lots of natural pruning for firestarters.

We fixed a few pants and a uniform skort and then got to the real business: a collaged portrait of Paris.  In preparation we neeeeeeded moooooore fabric so we went to Scraps & Skeins and asked the UFO ladies for any scraps they had. Score. 

She needs ears and a background, but that's for another day. We are off to Harrisburg Middletown Airport to fly home as E's last time as an unaccompanied minor and the falderol/paperwork/$$$ that goes along with that.

Tap handles at Boxcar Brew Works

The very light one (far right) is American Holly, second to left is cherry and 3rd to left (far left) of that is red cedar.

Cherry baby rattle

I had a 5 inch long cylinder about 3 inches in diameter left over from the Carving Mallet project so I made a baby rattle with captured rings.  This is Cherry and it should be the correct size to be large enough to avoid a choking hazard.  This is the most rings I have managed to get into a single object.

Another Cherry Bowl

This bowl was turned from a face-grain blank of Black Cherry.  There are nice parallel growth rings in the bottom of the bowl with a section of quilting figure in the center of the bottom.  There is a circular pattern of rings in one side of the bowl.  I burned two bands in the outside of the bowl.  This bowl has a finish of Walnut Oil and wax.  Dimensions:  6 inches diameter, 3 inches tall.  The thickness of the walls is less than 0.25 inches, one of the thinnest bowls I have turned to date.

Cherry Bowl for NBRAN

Friction finish,
5.5" diameter, 2.75 " tall

Black Cherry Bowl

I turned this Black Cherry bowl from a square blank, 6 inches square and 3 inches deep.  This blank was kiln dried, so it was absolutely dry as I turned it.  It took a bit longer to turn as the cuts have to be less aggressive due to the dry wood.  Sanding took a little longer as well, but I was trying to get this bowl very smooth before applying General Bowl Finish.  To make the burn lines, I used a piece of wire with the ends wrapped around some small wooden dowels.  Before applying the wire, I used the parting tool on its side to cut two very shallow "V" grooves in the side of the bowl.  These grooves helped to guide where I put the wire to make the lines.  During the sanding process on the outside of the bowl the lines were partially obscured, so I had to reapply the wire to the lines a couple of times.  In these pictures, the bowl has just the first coat of finish.

	Wire burner

More Black Cherry

This Black Cherry bowl was turned from a Christmas blank, 4 inches in diameter and 2 inches high.  The wood was completely dry and was easy to turn and sand.  I put a small flare to the lip of the bowl and the curve into the bowl is smooth.  I used Walnut Oil for a finish.  The final diameter is just over 3 inches and it is about 1 1/2 inches tall.  It's small but it has nice color and grain patterns.

Not Quite Ebony and Ivory

While these are not Ebony and Ivory, they are Black Walnut and Holly.  These were both turned from small bowl blanks I got for Christmas.
The dark brown, almost black Black Walnut bowl was dry and hard.  The wood species tag was not on this blank, so I asked members of my local Nittany Valley Woodturners club what we had. They identified the wood as Black Walnut, rather than a tropical variety of Ebony, because this blank had obvious growth rings, something that is not particularly prominent in tropical woods.  When I was making the final cuts, the wood chips were more like black grains of sand or black powder.  After sanding, I used Walnut Oil as a finish.  Because the original blank was rather small, I used a Forstner bit to drill a hole so I could use my scroll chuck in its expansion mode.  The Walnut bowl is 3 5/8 inches in diameter and 3 inches tall.
The creamy white Holly bowl was also quite dry but the wood was not as hard as Walnut.  The grain is very hard to see, although there are dark shaded areas of grain in the inside and on the bottom of the bowl.  On close inspection there is some faint grain patterns on the sides of the bowl.  I put a flared rim on this bowl.  The Holly bowl is 5 1/4 inches in diameter and 1 1/2 inches tall.  It sanded nicely but I have not yet applied any finish.

Bowl blanks

These are new wood blanks that I got for Christmas presents from Jennifer and Shannon, et al.  They range in diameter from 3 inches to 10 inches and in height from 2 inches to 4 inches.  Species include Walnut, Holly, Rainbow Poplar, Cherry, Sweet Gum, Honey Locust, and Select Maple.  Most of the blanks are still green, but some of the smaller ones have completely dried out over time.  Since Christmas I have turned bowls out of Walnut, Cherry, and Sweet Gum.

January Bowls

	Cherry, 7.5' diameter and 2.5" tall

The Cherry bowl was turned out of a blank I got at the Nittany Valley Wood Turners club wood auction last week.  It was a supposed to be a blank of end grain wood, and the wood was relatively dry.  The bowl has a gentle curve to the sides and an interesting parallel grain pattern inside the bowl.  This bowl needs a little bit more sanding before applying a finish.

The Sweet Gum bowl was the first one I have turned from that wood.  It turned easily and sanded up very well.  It needs a little more sanding on the bottom before finishing.  The wood is a light brown with some red bands and spot that add some interest.  I tried something different with the bowl rim, attempting to add a flare to it.  This bowl has a slight flare on the rim and I was fairly pleased with the overall shape. This blank came from Jennifer's woodshop in Atlanta. Sweet Gum, 7.5' diameter 1.5" tall

	finished (3/12/15) as a gift for Paul's barber, Debra Noon

Little Walnut Bowl

3 5/8" diameter by 2 5/8" tall

This walnut was a blank from the Hardwick family.  It was sold to them of unknown origin, so I took it to my wood turning club for identification.  It was completely dry and when making final cuts, it produced a black dust.  The wood is dense with an oily character.  When I was sanding it, it seemed to be a very hard wood as imperfections did not sand out easily.  I used Walnut Oil to finish it.

Grand bowls

Red Maple for Jonathan	Red Maple for Jonathan
Red Maple with 2 burnt stripes for Elise	Red Maple with 2 burnt stripes for Elise
Red Maple for Shawn	Red Maple for Shawn
Red Maple for Lilly	Red Maple for Lilly

Had help from Jonathan, Elise, and Shawn while turning the 3 Maple bowls.  Shawn's is the lowest in profile but the largest in diameter in just over 6 inches.  Jonathan's is the tallest bowl and Elise's bowl has two burned lines around its perimeter. I used General Bowl Finish on the Maple bowls.
We signed the Maple bowls; each grandchild (except for Lilly) was included as the participating artist.

Assorted woods and shapes

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Aspen1, Red Elm Chalice, Honey Locust top hat, Red Maple	Aspen1 before polishing
Red Elm, Chalice style	Honey Locust, top hat style
Red Maple	Aspen1
Red Elm chalice	Honey Locust top hat
Red Maple	Paul gave these to the Greyhound Christmas Auction.
Aspen2	Aspen3, spitoon style
Walnut	notes