Amazingly Rustic Pecan Serving Bowl

Oh, how this pecan bowl oozes rustic beauty.  The natural colors along with some minor cracks that were filled with clear glue and natural pecan dust make this an extremely attractive bowl.  Use it to serve salad, smashed taters, veggies, or anything else you want to put in it.  You may use it with total confidence as the wood was sealed with food grade walnut oil and then finished with a mixture of walnut oil and shellac.  The finish was mixed heavy on the shellac for more sheen.  This combination gives the bowl a nice hard long lasting natural finish.  The diameter is 9 ¼” with a height of 2 ½” and a depth of 1 ¾”.  The volume measures just over ¼ gallon.  The bowl held water just fine for measuring the volume.  This is without a doubt a lovely piece that anyone would be proud to have sitting on their table.  18Aug17  BLP158  For more info see:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/552000245/amazingly-rustic-pecan-serving-bowl

Winged Osage Orange Spice Box

Osage Orange is a downright beautiful and extremely hard wood.  Also known as bodark, horseapple, and even hedgeapple.  This winged spice box has all kinds of rustic things going for it.  One of the other unique things about this wood is that Mamma Nature turns it to a burnt orange color as part of an oxidation process over time.  Nothing you can do about it, it simply is that way.  There are some decorative lines burned in to lid.  And, you will see the usual stress cracks that are typical with this wood.  They do not affect it’s usage or durability.  Use it with confidence as the wood was first sealed with food grade walnut oil and then finished with a walnut oil/shellac mixture.  Using a combination such as this gives the box a nice hard long lasting natural finish.  I used a mix of coffee grounds and kosher salt as the spice fill for the photos.  I left some on it here and there for the photos to simulate usage.  The length of the box is 6” and the width is 3 ¾”.  The total height is 3 ½” and the vessel height is 1 ¾” with a depth of 1”.  The volume measures at ½ cup.  You gotta love it so don’t pass this up.  16Aug17    BXBA34 For more info see:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/537751308/winged-osage-orange-spice-box

Decorative Spanish Oak Salt/Spice Box

I was going to a potbellied stove shape while turning this nice spice box but did not quite get there.  The way it did turn out I believe is quite good looking.  With some decorative lines burned in on both the body and lid, how can you go wrong?  For most household cooks and even professional chefs this box is perfect in size as it holds right at ½ cup in volume.  Doesn’t sound like much but trust me it is.  Plus when you add the beautiful natural color of this wood it is hard to turn down.  Some may also know this wood probably by it’s more common name red oak.  All the same wood.  The outside diameter is 3 ¼” with an inside lip diameter of 2”.  The total height is 4” with a vessel height of 2 ¾” and a vessel depth of 2”.  The wood was sealed and finished with a walnut oil based friction polish.  Nothing wrong with a long lasting hard natural finish.  14Aug17  BXRO25   For more info see:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/537242298/decorative-spanish-oak-saltspice-box

Awesome Red Oak Candy/Nut Jar

I gotta say from the start that when I started turning this jar, it was intended to be bigger.  As I turned I found a crack that was hidden and kept going until it was a fine and fairly shallow crack that was easily filled with clear glue and natural red oak dust.  The big knot that you see on the bottom of the vessel area was a bit difficult to deal with.  I was unable to hollow out the vessel as much as I normally do because I did not want to take the chance of the knot disintegrating and causing massive problems and ruining the piece.  So on the inside of the vessel there is a bit more wood on the sides than I normally leave.  This wood does have a couple of spots that have burring that would not sand out.  Just adds rustic flavor to the piece.  The outside diameter is 5” with an inside lip diameter of 3 ½”.  The total height is 6” and the vessel depth is 2 ¾”.  The volume measures at 2 cups.  Of course this was not designed with holding liquids in mind.  With the natural coloration of red oak this piece is something that would look really great sitting on your desk or table full of goodies.  The wood was first sealed with food grade walnut oil and then finished with a walnut oil/shellac mix.  This combo gives the jar a nice hard long lasting natural finish.  10Aug17  BXRO24 For more info see: 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/536437012/awesome-red-oak-candynut-jar

8 1/2" Spalted Elm Pedestal Bowl

You just gotta love an elm bowl turned in a pedestal style.  With some natural flaws in the wood left in place this bowl has a great rustic appeal.  Between a slight roughness on the lip to some burring in the wood you just can’t pass this bowl up.  The volume measured at 6 cups of water which it held just fine.  The diameter is 8 ½” with a height of 3 ¾” and a depth of 1 ¾”.  There are a couple of tiny worm holes in the bottom which I filled with clear glue and natural dust.  This would look very good sitting as a centerpiece on your table full of tasty goodies.  Of course you might just decide to fill it with smashed spuds or some other goodie as well.  Use it with confidence as the wood was sealed with food grade walnut oil and then finished with a walnut oil based wax for a low sheen appearance.  This combination gives the bowl a nice hard long lasting natural finish.  4Aug17  BLE55  For more info see:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/535106498/8-12-spalted-elm-pedestal-bowl

Lovely Spalted Elm Pedestal Bowl

This really nice spalted elm bowl has a lot of rustic qualities going for it.  First it was turned as a pedestal bowl which was popular back in the day.  There are some minor worm holes here and there.  I left some of the natural flaws of the wood in place for more appeal.  They will not effect it’s usage as a serving bowl.  The bowl holds liquids just fine and in fact it held 4 cups of water just fine.  With a diameter of 9” and a height of 3 ½” you have a nice bowl that you might use as a centerpiece on your table.  The depth measures 4 cups and that just ain’t bad at all.  On the outside you will find an interesting gap in the wood that I left as it did not go all the way through.  The wood was sealed with food grade walnut oil and then finished with a walnut oil/shellac mix.  This mix gives the bowl a nice hard long lasting natural finish.  One of a kind so don’t pass it up!  4Aug17  BLE54  For more info see:

https://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/product_view/13813044

Running Slow in Shop

Things have been running rather slow in the shop this past few days for several reasons.  First it was downright hot and humid; 102-104 with 70 to 75% humidity.  Dang hard to get any work done that way.  Next I managed to strain the old back some and just now starting to get back to some normalcy though still kinda twingy.  Found out I have three disc levels in lower back that ain't in good shape; 2-3,3-4,4-5.  Probably will end up having surgery but am going to put it off as long as I can.  Also been doing some controlled burning of all the scrap wood that can't be used for anything.  That honestly does take a while for the pile to burn off when you figger in that there is everything from soggy old hackberry to osage orange.  But as we seem to be hitting an unusual rainy spell here, now is the time to get that done.  Now that the burning is done I plan on getting a little wood cut and start turning again tomorrow.  Well, folks.  What can I say?  That's my story and I'm sticking to it!