Last winter we had new siding put on the house. The shrubs were here when we moved in and were over 50 years old. They were pretty ragged looking so we decided to remove them. I like to make something lasting from things we have removed so I salvaged a bases of one of the shrubs- the one at the corner of the house-

 

After trimming it up, I had -

 

 

 

Mounting it on a face plate for initial turning-

 

 

Then on to the lathe-

 

Next, shape it-

 

Typically, I create a recess in the bottom of a turning which will later become part of the foot. The blank was pretty small so I went with a tenon-

 

Once I was satisfied with the outside shape, I removed the face plate and mounted the chuck and added the blank.

 

 

I always wanted to experiment with a turning that was not "whole". The dark area was definitely deep enough that it was going to open up as I hollowed the piece.

 

Next, I set the depth for the inside hollow-

 

Hogging out the inside of the turning-

 

As we all know, the best laid plans of mice etc. etc.- an emergency! (Well not really but when the Mrs. calls). It was obvious I wasn't going to get back to this turning today. Because the blank was fresh cut and quite wet, I was afraid it would split/warp before I could get back to it. I packed the turning in shavings and encapsulated the entire thing in a plastic bag.

 

Three days later.

 

Opened the bag and removed the shavings-

 

I felt pretty good as the blank had not warped or split. Finished the inside. Checking the wall thickness as I went.

 

As expected, the side of the turning opened up. However, light touches and sharp tools allowed for turning without incident.

 

 

A little final shaping and on to the sanding. The outside was sanded using the Woodcraft 3" wavy system-

 

I sanded it thru 4000 grit-

 

The inside sanding started with a sanding ball made using instructions from Mr. David Reed Smith's site. 

 

Then finished up thru the grits by hand.

 

The final step was to remove the chuck tenon.

 

I used my shop made Longworth chuck to hold the turning-

 

Then turned away the majority of the tenon leaving only a small nub

 

The "extension" on the tail stock live center provides more working room and reduces the likelihood of the tools hitting the metal center point.

 

Finally, turn off the little nub and sand-

 

This is what I found hiding inside the piece of shrub

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The turning is about 5" tall and 6" in diameter at the top. The wall thickness is a little more than I usually make it- slightly less than 1/4" but i wasn't too sure how thin I could go with the side being partially open. Thought about several different possible finishes. Ended up using a couple of layers of Johnson's paste wax.

 

Thanks for looking!

 

Edited July 14, 20169 yr by lew

I'm going out tonight and kill my shrubs. BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!

This was a great success Lew. Thanks so much for the pictorial tutorial. We never know what jewels lurk nearby without having to go to the lumber store right!

In all those beautiful images, one of the most fascinating ones I loved was those big calipers. That is really cool how you can see the thickness on the other side of the calipers. I will be making me some of those bad boys!

WOW, Lew. Whoda thunk such a gorgeous vessel was lurking in that gnarly hunk of wood. You are an artist.

And that pictorial essay was excellent. I'm not a turner, nevertheless that essay grabbed and held my attention. Thanks for sharing your talents with us.

Thanks, guys, for the very kind words. They are truly appreciated.

 

Ron- Better check with the Mrs. before doing anything drastic 

 

John- Those shop made calipers make quick checks easy. I'd really like to have a digital device- maybe when the old money ship comes in!

 

Gene- I need to perfect my photo skills. The actual colors are much more vivid and have a wider range of hues.