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Plain ol' Maple Hollow Form

Vaughn McMillan

Vaughn McMillan

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ABQ NM
This hollow form was finish turned about a month ago, but I haven't had much shop time lately to get it finished and photographed. The wood was a piece of dry maple I got from Chris Wright a few months ago. This one had pretty plain figure, so I decided to do a color fade on it. It had some cracks from the get-go, but I just filled them with black epoxy after turning to finished dimensions. The pics make it look much more splotchy than it is in person. This one's a big one for me...about 8 3/4" tall and 11 1/2" wide. It was a lot of dry maple to cut through. Finished with TransTint, dewaxed shellac, and lacquer. I still need to buff it, but I got tired of waiting to show some work around here.

HF049 - 01 800.jpg HF049 - 02 800.jpg

Comments are welcome as always -
 
Boy you are a hollowformingmachine :D:thumb:

I can see how this would seem plain, and if you left it natural, it might have been plain, but with the treatment you gave it, it is NOT plain at all, got to agree with Mike, it is a beauty :thumb:
 
Vaughn that is a super nice Hollow Form. I like the coloring from light to dark. I've never used Black Epoxy to fill cracks, it's probably simple but would you please explain the procedure.:huh:
thanks
Larry
 
Wonderful piece, Vaughn. Anyone with any sense at all would proud to be its owner. You did a great job with the entire project, turning, sanding, and finish. A big thumbs up for you on this one.
 
Thanks for all the kind comments, guys. I'm pretty happy with how this one came out. I think it looks better in person than the pics might indicate. Hopefully with the big size, it'll help draw people into the booth at shows. I had another HF about this size that sold a couple shows ago, and it was a good for getting peoples' attention.
 
Larry Hibbs said:
Vaughn that is a super nice Hollow Form. I like the coloring from light to dark. I've never used Black Epoxy to fill cracks, it's probably simple but would you please explain the procedure.:huh:
thanks
Larry
Click to expand...
Sorry I missed your question earlier, Larry. I found the black epoxy at the local mini-Borg. It's the kind that comes in a double-barrel syringe. No real trick to using it...I just mix some up and work it into the cracks with a thin, narrow plastic spatula or a toothpick until the crack is overfilled a bit. After it hardens, I just sand it down. For wider cracks I'll often use crushed charcoal and CA glue. I did that on some of the cracks on this piece, but left them filled a bit below flush, then finished them off with epoxy. If there are cracks all the way around a piece (like this one had) I find that it's better to do them a few at a time -- maybe about 1/3 of the way around the piece -- instead of all of them at once. The epoxy stays liquid long enough that it'll run out of the cracks if you turn the piece around to fill cracks on the other side.
 
That's a nice piece, Vaughn and a monster for size.

Personally, I like everything about it...the color, the form, the integral collar...it all "works."
 
Since that one is plain ol'...I'm not gonna post my plain ol'. I'm having Mr. Raffan make one for me that I'm going to post as my cheap knock-off of your plain ol'. He hasn't answered my email yet, but I'm sure it'll be here in a month or two....maybe six. Other than that, it's a monster that should sell in about 3-4 minutes. What caused the cracks? I have a chunck of walnut that was dry as a bone that is showing some fissures. I know about heat from dull tools and so on. This chunk is 7-8 years old and is 4x5. Aside from the fact that yours is the bomb...how do we prevent (stress?) cracks in dry wood?

Merry Christmas All!!! :santa:
 
Jim Burr said:
...What caused the cracks? I have a chunck of walnut that was dry as a bone that is showing some fissures. I know about heat from dull tools and so on. This chunk is 7-8 years old and is 4x5. Aside from the fact that yours is the bomb...how do we prevent (stress?) cracks in dry wood?

Merry Christmas All!!! :santa:
Click to expand...
Jim, this piece of wood was cracked when I got it. I think it had been drying for several years before it was given to me. I think it cracked because the ends were not sealed while the wood was green. If it was ever sealed, it showed no signs of it by the time I got it. The only way I know to avoid this type of cracks is to seal the wood while it's green.

Thanks again everyone for the nice comments. :wave:
 
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