Truffuls.Com :: Hot Off The Lathe

Pump up your business card with caffeine!

Warning to all you other woodworkers out there... this design is copyrighted. Do not steal the design from me or I'll have to introduce you to Mr. Chainsaw. KThnxbai

I owe my thanks to my son and his wicked sense of humor (that he got from me, BTW ). He jokingly said that I should make a giant coffee bean cause I love my coffee so much.

I borrowed my husband's math brain and we worked out the design on a prototype. You'd be amazed at how math phobic I am, really, it is embarrassing! Even more embarrassing is that I aced 6 semesters of Calculus!

These first runs are made from Walnut (Thanks Don!)

It is kinda impossible to make something half round on a lathe so these are made in pairs.

After turning they are carved and textured, hand sanded, finished and buffed. I was really impressed by how closely I came to matching real coffee beans with these.

Hop over to the gallery to check out all the shots. I have 2 in stock right now. As soon as I locate some more Walnut I'll be cranking out more.

This actually encouraged me to get business cards printed. They are racing along in that happy brown UPS truck as I write this.

I'll try to sneak this into my entries to the AAW Symposium as my card holder, don't know if it will fly or not.

Mulberry is such a happy wood!

My little Mulberry bowl sold so fast I had to replace it with some more. I love love love working with this wood.

If any of you locals have a Mulberry tree you want removed, please notify me before you let your landscaper grind it up! I will cart away as much as I can move! (It is also a sure bet that you'll get one or two pieces out of the deal )

This sweet little pot is 4" wide, 3.75" tall and a mere 1/16" thick.

Please jump over to the Gallery (click on picture @ left) to see the rest of the images. Light easily shines through this baby.

I turned this wet log in one session all the way down to 1/16", sanded and left it a bag of saw dust for 2 days. It is sanded all the way up to 12,000 micro grit.

The finish is 3 coats of hand rubbed shellac and buffed with carnuba wax.

She is light as a feather and the color is so buttery.

I have returned!

UPDATE Wow, that was fast. My little Mulberry bowl has already sold and is, in fact, on its way to its new owner as I blog this.

Fear not, I do have more of this wood and plan on making some more Mulberry pieces soon.

But, you knew I would, right? I mean, how far could I really go?

I have FIVE new pieces up in the Gallery so please do head over and take a look.

This first piece is an end grain vase from a large Mulberry branch. It is paper thin and a flashlight easily shines through it.

I left the rim natural and turned it very wet hoping the rim would warp and give a flower-like ruffle to the edges.

The next piece is what was left on the chuck after I parted off the vase.

It was far too pretty to waste so I turned it into a bowl.

I really like how branch wood keeps the pith from the center of the branch. The way branches grow, the bottom of the branch has larger rings and less tension. The top of the branch has much smaller grown rings and very high tension. After all, it has to hold that branch in place all the time!

Think of the bottom of the branch as the saggy part under your arm. OK, so under MY arm. I know you all have very firm upper arms!

Next we have a return visit of the Box Elder vase I blogged about before.

Now it is finished and ready for its debut.

I have lots more of this wood. Not sure if Box Elder or spalted Crabapple will be my next piece, still debating about it.

This has a uniform thickness of 1/8" and is quite light. Not quite as airy as the mulberry pieces above, but still light for its size.

These next two pieces will be on display at the American Association of Woodturners Symposium in Richmond, VA this June.

If this wood looks familiar then you've no doubt seen my Dogwood Bowl and Bow Wow. I call this piece "On the Brink" because the wood was almost too far gone to use. But, it was just too pretty to let Mother Nature reclaim it.

Brink is also quite thin, somewhere between 1/16 - 1/8" depending on where you measure. As with the mulberry above, a flashlight easily shines through the thin walls.

The nooks and crannies were filled with a turquoise holographic powder. You can't appreciated the subtle sparkle in the images, but it really adds to the piece.

I love how the piece warped into an oval shape. I'm supposed to tell you that you need a very specialized lathe to turn ovals. Actually, I knew it would warp as the wood was wet and the way I situated the bowl in the trunk I new it would go oval, just not how much or if it would survive.

Finally, I believe this next piece is my finest yet.

You can read the story of how I acquired this piece in the gallery. That will explain why I call this "Neighbors".

Needless to say, when I cut the cap off this large Maple burl both my husband and I just stood there admiring the amazing grain and color. The blue areas have small streaks in them that look like blue pen ink. If I didn't know this was Maple, I would have guessed at Cherry or Apple because of the pinkish hues.

So, there you have it. See, I really wasn't being stagnant. I had all these projects in one stage or another. The ornaments can be finished and photographed on the same day. These latest pieces though require a great deal of hand sanding, finishing and buffing, all requiring patience and time to cure in between processes.

I have one more piece to make for the Symposium, but I'm not sure what that will be. Time in the shop will tell.