August Contest - Cross grain turnings - Time to VOTE

[Dee2]

One more for the turners. The focus is on spinny things-not spindles. Cross-grain stuff (your turn bowlers).

This contest will end August 24. Voting will run the following week through August 31.

Rules:
-Must be created/completed within the last 24 months - here's a reason to gift/sell the old and build the new
-One submission per creator/artist per category (month)
-Each creator can win a contest no more than once every six months.
-Members vote for winners so your submittal 'marketing' post should reflect quality. Limited to 3 photos and 500 words. One post per submittal.
- Any Q&A regarding a submittal should be handled by separate post, or DM,PM. Expect questions to be deleted. Separate posts do not clutter the contest thread, avoids vote biasing, and everyone can share How's It Made (Resources forum content).
-In case of a tie, a judge panel will make the selection. Judges' decision is final. Judges will remain anonymous.
-Each monthly contest will have two winners, novice and experienced/journeyman/veteran/pro. Novice is defined as <3 years woodworking, cumulative. "Experienced" is all others. Submitters must indicate if they are novice; honor system applies. If you don't declare, you're an experienced woodworker.

 

[Rob in NC]

I'll play here... it's not the prettiest, but this bowl has a cool story. *edited to meet pic requirements, also, I'm just under 3 years. I went back and found a post from October 2022 where I was pondering the first lathe upgrade and I'd had my Nova Comet for less than a year at that point so I'm still in the 'Noob' category.

I wont bore you all with the details, but I had a buddy that I knew back before I went in the Army. He was a little older than me and had just gotten out of the Marine Corps. His job took him to Florida and I went in the Army and this was before Internet so we both lost contact.
30 years later, we reconnected by chance on a knifemakers forum. It just so happened that he and I started in knife making at the same time. There are a lot of other things in common, even down to our chosen profession.
Anyway, he had moved back to NC and we met up and he'd given me some various wood that he had as he learned I was considering dabbling in woodworking.

One such piece was a chunk of Japanese Maple that a beaver had cut down, apparently.

It was old and pretty ugly.... and I stashed it away. Last weekend, I decided to split it and see what I could do with it. When I split it, I found some nice spalting, but much of the wood was very soft. Still, I roughed out a blank and started to work on it and came out with a small bowl, another blank (that I worked on this weekend, but with the many cracks, I've filled with CA and letting that cure good before I get a chunk thrown at me again), and with a small piece of scrap, I knocked out a small bottle stopper.

A couple years ago, his job took him again to Florida and so we meet up in Santee Cooper a couple times a year for fishing, BS'ing and to catch up.

I'll bring him this to take home to his wife next month when we meet.
Doing another edit... replacing middle pic with a pic of the original along with the other one that I finished out just a few hours ago. I didnt get the CA down far enough to seal all the cracks, but I'd used thin and thick so enough got in to keep it from coming apart. I didnt tempt fate by going any thinner on turning. I used a Waterlox finish on this one and I'm not sure I like how it changed the natural color of the wood.

 

[Mike Davis]

I'm working on a series of animal bowls. This is the second one, but first done on the lathe. It is inspired by ancient Egyptian stone carvings that I found on a museum website. Hard maple turned, cut out on my bandsaw, then carved. My usual organic flaxseed oil for the finish. Now on display in the Bryand Gallery in Wilmington.

 

[Dee2]

Bump. Entries close 8/24!

 

[teesquare]

Walnut crotch. First picture shows why I named it " Triple Playte" It is a tongue in cheek pun on a 3-in-1 illusion of a fancy place setting in an expensive formal restaurant. The charger, the diner plate then the salad plate. Odie's Oil finish. ***EDIT*** Turning for 6 years. Whatever that qualifies as....

 

[hchammond64]

I'll give it a shot. Experienced maybe? I don't have three years in hours on the lathe but messed around enough to start learning what I don't know. But who's counting shavings, right?

I was at a job site in the woods and saw this giant burl in a red oak. The tree trunk was no bigger than 12" in diameter, but the burl easily measured 32" to 40" around. How could you miss it? Permission was granted to cut it, and I went after it. Chainsaw was too small, so that gave me the excuse to up my chainsaw game to something more akin to a hot knife through butter. The poison ivy was held to a minimum considering it was winter. Yet I was afflicted anyway. I managed to get about 6 decent blanks from it before the other half of the burl turned too soft. This little guy managed to stay together very well. CA was used along the way to reinforce areas of concern. This was my first real shot at scraping the interior away at that angle. Steady as she goes. Shown here getting a boiled walnut oil bath.

 

[Dee2]

FYI, "Novice is defined as <3 years woodworking, cumulative"

 

[Dee2]

Contest closes at midnight today. Get those entries posted!

 

[rcarmac]

Thanks for the reminder. I will throw in an entry.

 

[JRedding]

I meant to submit a different piece that I finished a couple weeks ago, but we’re out of town for the weekend and I’m going to post what I have. This is a sugar maple burl that is about 14” in diameter and 3 inches deep. The tree used to be in a neighbor’s yard back in California and they gave me a few pieces. I finished this one in January 2024. Enjoy!

 

[Mike R]

I've been turning about three years.
This is one of my favorite pieces I've turned.

I turned this small dish last summer. It was actually some scraps left over from another project. I hate to see wood go to waist.

 

[Dee2]

Time to vote for your favorite cross grain turning. Select your 'fav' and cast your vote at the top of the page.

Rob, Post #2, was the only Novice entry. Congrats. Look for a DM from me.

 

[Dee2]

T-square for the Experienced level win. Congrats

Check for a DM from me.