First Hollow Form in Tochi-no-ki Wood

Stuart Ablett

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Tokyo Japan
As I was showing doing the bottom of this hollow form in this thread, here is the actual piece almost done..........

I put the top cap on using a centering jig I just made up.

I turned a MT#2 on the piece of wood, then cut a recess in it the same basic shape as the cap for the hollow form, using this, with the tail stock, to line everything up while gluing.......

hohnoki_hf_centering1.JPG hohnoki_hf_centering2.JPG
worked rather well, it was only off just a smidgen, but won't matter once the piece is all finished, all I have to do on the cap is a little sanding.

here is the finished piece.........

hohnoki_hf_done1.JPG hohnoki_hf_done2.JPG
The wood is Tochi-no-ki, and has a really nice wave or strip to it, as well as some spalting just to make it even more interesting :rolleyes:

This wood is softer than the Hard Maple I've been turning, and I had to really work hard at it to get a nice tear-out free cut.

hohnoki_hf_done3.JPG
A close up of the wood.

now it will get a few coats of rattle can lacquer, then a buff and wax.

I have a bunch more of this stuff :thumb:

The form is about 4" wide by maybe 3" tall, the bottom is maybe 1/4" thick, the rest of it is real thin, maybe 1/16", yeah, could see light shining through it :eek:

This one will be a Christmas present for my Mom.

Cheers!
 
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Stu, I agree with Steve, unique form and I like it a lot. I hope my mom doesn't see this...I was planning on a little twig pot for her.:doh:

PS What is the cap/top made from? Walnut?
 
Yeah, Walnut, forgot to mention that.

Thanks guys, I really like this one, too, with some lacquer and a buffing it should look even better.

I really like the simple forms when the wood is doing so much already.

Cheers! :wave:
 
Nice piece there Stu. I believe what you have there is Hinoki wood, which is actually from the Cypress family. Hinoki Cypress has been used for 100's of years in Japan. I believe it was considered somewhat sacred, and used for temples and shrines. I have worked Hinoki cypress in small amounts, and it always had a sweet, citrus type odor. I think there is a medicinal use for Hinoki Oil in Japan too. Did it turn well? It sure appears it did........nice stuff!
 
Thanks Vaughn, and Kevin.

I thought it was Hinoki as well, but the guy I bought it from told me different, or at least I "Think" he did :huh:

I'll have to e-mail him and ask him.....

I got me a NICE big chunk of this stuff, so I hope to get some more done.

Cheers!
 
I was just checking honoki. It is Tulip wood. From the magnolia family. BTY Stu I have a good book I recommend for us woodworkers living in Japan. It is called 原色インテリア木材ブック. ISBN 4-87460-491-9. It is a handy little paperback reference for wood types and classification. It is in Japanese but all species are listed in the index by their Japanese known name in hiragana and each entry has the English name. I pick it up frequently as in the case of honoki.
 
This is the piece I got at the Yume Kobo meeting from Nagata san.

I got to send him another e-mail and ask him again, if the wood is Hinoki or Hohnoki :huh:

Cheers!
 
OK, I just heard back from Nagata san, the guy I got the wood from, it is "Tochi-no-ki" or Japanese Horse Chestnut.

Nice to know what it is.

Cheers!
 
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