Desert Ironwood SHF

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472
Location
Goodyear AZ
Bet your wondering what SHF is, why, it's semi-hollow form:). Didn't think this rated the more exclusive HF designation. Anyhow, about 8"wide by 6" high, The design was driven by my desire to expose the most heartwood while still keeping the sapwood and a natural lip. It came out with a kind of organic look...like an onion. I had the blank laying around for quite a while, but had been putting off dealing with it's nasty dust till now. More worm holes in the sapwood than I expected, but I guess it kind of adds to it's organicness,..that's a word isn't it?:eek:
 

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Dang Barry, you're cranking out some nice stuff lately. This one's no exception. Great wood, great form, great use of the blank, and a great finish. :clap:
 
Hey thanks for the strokes everyone!:) Larry, the main stem of these trees get pretty big, there is one in the patch, where I had my permit to get ironwood, that was a couple feet diameter for several feet. Didn't try and tackle it, just too big and heavy and hard on gear, plus we determined from some cutoff limbs, that the wood was very dark (less desirable). Here's a couple of images I pulled off the web. Here is a link to some general info as well.
and another picture I found from a couple of years ago with some sizable ironwood chunks.

http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/desert_ironwood.htm
 

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Barry,
My wife would call that an Indian pot design... I've done a couple in the local red oak close to that shape... mine don't shine like yours and red oak doesn't have the great color contrast you have.... definitely a fine art piece...
 
Gorgeous wood sample Barry, I take it that it's somewhat of a challenge to turn. It's a wood I've only rarely seen and then it was at a price that did not compute on the pocket money scale.

The open vessel form to me has somewhat of a tribal feel but with the distinction of having a superb finish.

The rich colour contrast of the piece reminds me of all those Horse Chestnuts (Conkers in UK parlance) that little boys collect by the ton with not a clue as to what they are going to do with them. (at least I did in 40lb apple boxes. :rofl:)
 
I take it that it's somewhat of a challenge to turn

Chas, It's not really that difficult, it reminds me a bit of African Blackwood I once turned. It takes very fine detail. The biggest drawback to it is getting it from the desert to your lathe. It is hard on chainsaw blades and bandsaws cause of the high silica content and the grit and dirt usually found in it's cracks and voids. It also produces a very fine dust (think portland cement) that makes me sneeze and smells like a dead animal.
 
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