Vase Comission Delivered

In the last post I gave you a teaser photo of 1 of 3 vases that a couple who are great friends ask me to make and deliver before Thanksgiving. I delivered them this past Wednesday, just under the deadline. All three are oak brought down in a wind storm locally at Wakonda Club. The husband of this couple is in charge of the grounds at the club so him getting the oak back is all the more special.

The tallest and smallest vases are 2 pieces turned seperately and then epoxied to the bases. The tallest vase is 22" tall and the small one is about 14". Due to time constraints and not yet having a good steady for longer pieces, these are not hollowed completely. Instead they have a 2.5" cylinder cut out with a forstner bit. This allows a space to add dried flowers or something similar. They are very happy with them and I am very happy to have had the opportunity to make them.

Some Vases For Friends

A few weeks ago a good friend asked me to make 3 large vases to display on a shelf in their family room. "Can you do something about 2 feet tall?", she asked. I said I'd give it a go to see just how big a vase I could turn. Her husband had given me a huge amount of burr oak just over year ago from storm damage. I have the first and largest vase almost ready for final finish. It is right at 22" tall with the cap and she loved the pictures I showed her this weekend. The other 2 are 75% done, just need to turn the caps for them as well. I will show pics of them ones complete. That will be soon as they must be delivered before Thanksgiving as my friends will be hosting 27 family members for dinner.

Oak Commission

A few months ago I was asked to make 2-4 pieces from an old oak tree that was taken down due to disease. I finished them last week and met with the customer showing her 8 pieces to choose from. She couldn't decide which ones she liked the most so she bought them all! Below are a few pics of the pieces.

Some Free Wood And A Commission

Last nightI picked up some oak logs from a friend of my sister in law. I had met Anne (I think there is an "e" at the end) and her husband Steve at the opening of the Wandering Gallery Auciton and she had mentioned a big oak in her front lawn would be coming down soon. She got in touch and I picked up some nice crotch pieces and a couple of straight logs that were just over 2ft long. (see pic 1)

It turns out that Anne's neighbor across the street, Kathy, had a large oak taken down the day before. Anne had mentioned to her that I turn logs into bowls, vases and such. Anne gave me Kathy's number and we finally got together last night. The wood from her tree has knots, knobs and burl all over it. (see pic 2) She mentioned when her family first moved into the house, 15 years ago, they had taken breaks from tearing out carpet resting on the front steps with her husband and kids, and watched squirrels climb all over the bumps on the tree. I will try and create something that includes the bumps as well as some simple form bowls. They will become Christmas gifts for her kids who are now in college. I'll take pics along the way to document the process as well. I'm looking forward to see how it will turn out.