MIND OF A BLACK WOODWORKER IN ARIZONA

Mesquite Burl hollow vessel  and it's life. Here is a general synopsis of hollow vessel work from the beginning to the end, almost end. More pewter fill Starting pewter fill The base is glued and mortised in place Can you image the difficulty in melting metal? See Mortise and tenon The reason I added mounting blank and pored pewter  Now I can begin the fill The view Blocked view Malikite, Pewter, Ironite and more... The unfinished view  I rigged my first attempt at vacuum chucking. Shrink wrap to cover leakage  I use parts from a new Hold Fast system I never could get to work Replaced the shrink wrap with scotch tape over one beetle hole. Vacuum gauge at 15-18 and holding.  Here the is vacuum motor, on it's first run. It was recommended by to turning sites, here's one. http://www.jtturningtools.com/vacuumpumps-kits I had to dial it down, and it held all three...

Here is the finished walnut vessel. Wall thickness is good for this piece. I really didn't have any problems. This piece is 6" tall and 3.5, with a ring, perforated wall thickness of 1/16, stained with dye, black. Olive wood inlay, with turquoise inlay on the inlay ;)... This piece matches, similar to an earlier piece, my first successful attempt at perforation. Oh what fun it is.

Pistachio Burl vessel Inlays; Pewter, Turquoise, Oxidized Iron ore, & minerals.  The base is Burmese Blackwood Can be turned over and use as an open bowl. Just because...

Pistachio burl with inlays of stone. The base is Burmese Blackwood. Close to completion  This piece has been most difficult. let me tell you some of the difficulties. The first was at the beginning, when I first mounted it on the lathe. It was so dry, "how dry was it" you say. It was so dry, as it was turning, and I was attempting to chisel away. Instead of streams of chips, flying through the air, all I got was dust, choking me in every way. I put it aside until, I thought I would add a mixer of shellac and alcohol. This worked well. I then had the shape I was after.  I decided to added some color and minerals in a resin base. Well here is problem #2, the resin never harden, the hardener was out dated. Who knew. What a mess. Problem #3, how to remove sticky mess.  With out inlays Sticky mess, I tried soaking in alcohol, (oh I need more alcohol), That really helped, but as you can imagine, the resin filled with copper dust, malachite, turquoise, and much ...