Christopher Robin and I

I took my kids to see Winnie, The Pooh at the theater a couple of weeks ago, and the strangest thing inspired me. A friend had given me a piece of Walnut, and here we are. It is about 8" high. The center band is bleached, and then the whole thing is finished with orange tinted shellac. I then gilded the top with Dutch Metal (imitation gold leaf) for the honey. Not an exact replica, and I need to re-take the photo without so much glare, but the kids love it.

A new market?

I have been working with pool balls a little bit. I have done some peppermills and small boxes, and working on a few other designs. Yesterday, my mom2 (long story) called and said she met someone through her work that was interested in my stuff. He owns a billiard's store, and is interested in having putting some of my stuff on consignment.

I think this not only opens up a new avenue for me, but has inspired me to try a few new things, and hopefully a new niche. I love it when I get motivated.

Wood haul, and changing times

I've had my some of my work in a shop in downtown Glendale for awhile now. A few things have sold, nothing spectacular, but I was beginning to wonder if it was the right venue. It was more of a curio shop than anything else, and they had some of my pricier items. I went in there yesterday to have some engraving done, and they informed me that they were changing the format of the store. They were going to get rid of all their consignment stuff and concentrate on their cookie business. Well...problem solved, they want my stuff out after Christmas.

Well, OK, I can handle that. I wasn't sure it was the right fit anyway, it was just a start. I walked into another shop a few doors down, and immediately formed a new relationship. It is more of a "mens" curio shop, with unique gifts for men. They are interested in seeing many of my items, and I will be making an appointment next week to show them some shaving sets, etc. Keep your fingers crossed.

I also spent the day chasing down wood. I got some Sissoo and Acacia from a friend in East Mesa, and ended up getting some Alligator Juniper from my uncle who was down from the eastern part of the state.  That species of Juniper is named for it's bark, which resembles Alligator hide. It is a very soft wood, and as such, is actually hard to turn and get a good finish. Most turners don't like such soft wood, and I admit, I really don't either. However, between the smell when I am turning it, and the finished product, which I think is beautiful, it wins. At Right is a pic of a previous Alligator project I did.

Time is not on my side

I don't know about other artists, or even other turners, but my creativity runs in spurts. I feel like I really need to capitalize on it when it comes, because it will be gone soon. I have even resorted to carrying around a small notepad that I can jot ideas down on as they come, because I know they will be long gone by the time I get home. Even then, sometimes the sketch does not translate to what my brain really wants to do.

Lately, I have been experimenting on a few pieces of Walnut a friend gave me. I also have several different peppermill designs down that I need to beta test before I demonstrate them for my club in September. I also  have been kicking around an idea I got from Stephen Hatcher, a turner who does a lot of design with crushed mineral inlay and combining that with some of my own ideas.

Here is one of the experiments. It didn't turn out exactly like I had expected, but close enough to spark some new ideas and give me a different direction to go in. It is hollowed so it is very light, and has copper pipe and Turquoise Inlace (an imitation turquoise- epoxy type material) inlaid at 8 places around the base.

Finally, a new post

OK, so to say it's been awhile since I have posted in this blog would be an understatement. Truly, I don't really have an excuse. That's not to say I haven't been busy turning, because I have. There has just been a lot going on at home and at work, and I got lazy.

My turning hours are pretty restricted right now. I get up at about 5am and go out in the studio (translation: garage) and work on my turnings for a few hours. By about 8 or 9, it is just too hot to be out there. It averages about 110 degrees here right now, and it heats up fast in the morning. I never thought I would be grateful to be in Arizona in the summer, but at least our high humidity days are nothing like those in other parts of the country. If it hits 30-40% humidity here, I think we are under water. I wouldn't want to deal with 100 degrees and 90% humidity. I'll take my hot garage.

Anyway, I have been playing with a few things here. the first picture is a pool ball that has been hollowed out to make a small box. It is not at original idea, but they are kind of fun to make, and really fun to get people's reactions. The only down side is that they are actually very time consuming to make. It is actually really easy to shatter the material. You wouldn't think so in a pool ball, but when you are spinning it at 2000 rpm and sticking a piece of sharp steel in the side of it, it reacts very differently than hitting it with a que stick.

The next piece is turned from Desert Olive that blew down near downtown Phoenix last year in a monsoon storm. it had a large bark inclusion that I could have done several things with, including turning it away and leaving a hole in the side, or filling it with one of many materials. Instead, I chose to leave it as it was, and use some of my grandmother's clay sculpture pieces to fill it in and use the bark as a sort of backdrop. At this point, I think the turned piece almost becomes secondary to the sculpture pieces.

My first demo

Last Saturday was my first live demo. I did it with another turner at a function his church sponsored. The biggest lesson learned was that I took just way too much stuff. I have another demo this week and I think I have most of the bugs worked out.

Another issue I had is with the lathe itself. I am very grateful to the man who let me borrow his small lathe while he was gone for the summer, but it is quite an adjustment. I am used to turning on a large lathe in my shop that weighs about 800 pounds and runs on 220 volts. For the demo, I use a small lathe with a 10" capacity that only has a 1/2 hp motor and weighs about 50 pounds, if that. You can't turn large things or things that are too far out of balance. You also can't take large cuts like I am used to doing during the initial stages of turning. The trade off is the portability. There is no way to transport or power my large lathe when I am at these things. I think the best option is just to remember to turn small things.

I haven't done much turing in the last week or so. I have been busy with related things, though. I made a card on casters for the mini lathe. I have been getting requests for live demos, and had no way to do them because the lathe in my shop isn't portable. I was able to borrow the mini lathe and build the cart from plywood I had around the shop.

My grinder is portable, so I put a shelf to be able to take it with me so I could sharpen my tools on the go. The metal uprights are EMT conduit that will receive a plexi-glass front for safety, just in case something flies.

It's not exactly heirloom quality. My wife said she knows now why I am a turner and not a cabinet maker. She is right. However, it is sturdy, portable, and only cost about $6 for the casters and $9 for the plexiglass. Everything else I had around the shop.

I have a demo coming up this weekend, and another on April 2. Hopefully, I can work the bugs out. I'd really like to scale down. I always seem to over pack, but I guess that is better than getting caught short.

I also sat on my first board meeting for the Arizona Woodturners. The club is buying a new lathe, and has some other decisions to make. I'm glad to be a part of it.