Blue House bowl continued and other bowls in progress

Hi All,
Well, I went downstairs and beginning at 6:30 this morning and until 10:30 I worked on various bowls. Ill talk about them one at a time:
Ive thinned out the Blue House bowl quite a bit:

and I think it still needs more hollowing out.  It does look much better than last night and Im happy with the inside slope of the bowl. But a little more would be better. Im going to bring the bowl inside and let the wood fibers settle down for a few days and Ill re-turn it next week. So far so good on the bowl.
Next, I took a look at the other two bowls in the drying box. The sycamore bowl from last week dried but is some what misshapen and has a crack. So I put it on the lathe and hollowed it out to almost its ultimate shape and here it is:

As you can see this bowl has some really wild, irregular grain patterns and this plus all the water and tree sap in it has probably contributed to this crack. I am going to keep the bowl and place it back in drying box for a week and see how it does. Im going to keep working on it despite the crack.
I also took a look at a cherry wood bowl that Ive been working on and as this is a gift, Im not going to post those pictures right now. But it is drying nicely and Ill get up super early on Monday and hollow that out. Its a lovely shade of apricot pink.
I also ordered and received several bowl blanks this week.

The above two blanks are both 10 inches in diameter and 3 inches thick and will make lovely bowls. The top one is hickory and the bottom one is red elm. Even covered in wax and in a rough state, you can see the beauty of the grain in the wood.
I also received 3 smaller blanks that are 8 inches wide and 3 inches deep:

From left to right they are honey locust, sassafras, and beech. These are hard dense woods that will turn well.
I decided to turn the hickory blank above and so Ive started on it today:

Ive reached my limit of photos for this blog posting so Im going to stop and Ill post more photos later today of this bowl.
Ive got a busy autumn here in the SWW workshop and well see how to deal with the sycamore bowl and youll also see the Blue House Bowl when its finished. So we have more adventures ahead us and as always, thanks for stopping by.
Time for some coffee,
VW

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COOKIES AND CREAM numbered chest

 

Im working on several new furniture pieces for the upcoming Christmas Craft & Gift show,

and this numbered chest is one of them.

 

I have nicknamed it the COOKIES & CREAM CHEST because of the colors used.

 

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The dark top and trim is a rich chocolate color.

and the hardware is painted to match.?

 

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sharing with

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Wood working and a video you must see

Kamis, 12 Mei 2016

Hi Everyone,
Well, I went out and bought a couple of small short pieces of white oak and maple for the tea boxes this morning. I also purchased a thick, very aeromatic piece of pine. It is about 2 inches thick and probably full of pitch. I can hardly wait to turn this! Im going to save the shavings and make a sachet for my closet out of it.
I also have a link on my FB page to the Heritage Craft Association in the UK and they feature all sorts of information about craft making in Britain. A really first rate group of people. They had this video today and I just finished watching it and I want to share it with you. This is exquisite hand crafting.
http://www.finewoodworking.com/item/42136/adrian-mccurdy-furniture-riven-from-the-log
More later,
LaV.

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LETS BE EFFICIENT AND DE CLUTTER

Rabu, 11 Mei 2016

 

 

 

When we de-clutter the things we really love get center stage!

 

January always brings new energy to me to re-invent and offer some changes around the house. This

is also the time of year that we are all trying to de-clutter as we put our Christmas decorations away.

 

http://blogspot.ca/2013/12/a-storage-box-spring-review.html

 

 I need to be efficient and storing my junk better is important. If you have been out shopping you

 have seen the selection of baskets and storage boxes has multiplied and many are on sale. I might

have even got sucked in and bought some new ones for the white room. No photos yet but if you need

a refresher of the white room or you have never seen it before check here:

http://blogspot.ca/2012/05/youve-come-along-way-baby-dressing-room.htmlIf you can add to the efficiency of your own home by re-organizing and de-cluttering
with new storage option this is the time to get er done.

 

 

Speaking of storage and de-cluttering, this cute nightstand offers lots of bedside storage with 3 drawers.

 

 

This Cute Girls Bedside Cabinet is listed on the SHOWROOM page with price and dimensions

 

 

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OIL AND WATER AND PAINT

 

Another beautiful summer weekend gone, but enjoyed immensely.

I finished a few projects and started many more over the last few days.

Summer days are so darn long I can work for hours.

 

 

One of the finished items is this Seaside bookshelf.

I painted it in a beachy aqua then in a vintage white. I also added the sea shell motif to the base.

 

 

George helped me with photos for an upcoming spray tutorial on these next chairs.

He is great at some things but not so great behind the camera so far.

We are going to work together to teach this old dog some new tricks and maybe youll start

to see Georges photography featured here.

 

 

I bought six of these solid maple chairs and painted them aqua.

While painting I started to get some really great cracking in the finish on each of the chairs.

 

 

Crackling usually happens when there is some oil on the surface under the paint.

Not so much the paint wont stick but trace amounts, enough for it to reach with.

In this case most of it is on the upper back rest, front and back.

This oil is probably from hands grabbing and moving the chairs over the course of the last 40 years.

 

 

I do prefer to go over my projects with soapy water before painting but sometimes think ahead about

 the finish you want, the older it is the more likely you can expect some paint reaction on the surface. 

 

 

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GENEROSITY HARD WORK and PROVENCE

Sabtu, 07 Mei 2016

 

You hear the stories of ppl donating time or money to a good cause and the perception is they will get

 it back two fold. Pay it forward is what we call it these days, and this is my story of paying it

forward and my perception of getting it back.

 

 

One day while out picking I came across a voucher in my wallet for money off at a popular clothing

 store. I had forgotten all about it and it was due to expire that day!!! I didnt have the time to go

 shopping for clothes so I did the next best thing. I found the store, waited a moment in the parking

 lot until the next customer approached, handed it off to her, then I was off.

 

At my very next stop I found this beautiful French solid wood dresser. In these parts I cant afford to

 buy a dresser like this to repaint and sell, they are just too expensive. Well this one was priced low

 enough for me to get really excited about and for me to afford. So I paid the man and got it loaded in

 the van. I didnt put 2 and 2 together about the free money I had just given away and the great deal I

had just found until later when I was happily painting away. It made me smile.

 

 

I worked very thoughtfully to achieve an amazing color combination for the finished piece, but

 this photo shoot needed some very hard work. This piece was so big for my little showroom most of

 the other furniture had to be moved out of the room. I stacked 4 tables in front of the bathtub, the

hallway had less than a foot for me to shimmy down one side when I had to get the camera, and the

 front door couldnt be opened for the stack of furniture I piled there.

 

 

The color is ASCP Provence with a brown 4 layered color distressing on top.

 

 

UPDATE: 

For those wanting to learn more about how to achieve this look:

http://blogspot.ca/2013/12/mixing-brown-paint-painting-hardware.html

 

*********************************

 

 

Stop in to see whats new in shabby chic white hardware available at firstfinds.

 

There are over 1000 pieces of used hardware to choose from

Etsy Shop.

 

 

 

  

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RICH ESPRESSO FINISH black and white paris dresser

Senin, 02 Mei 2016

 

Richer than black, warmer than ebony, its ESPRESSO!

and Im not talking about coffee ladies.

 

 

I painted the top of this Paris rue dresser with one coat of ASCP Graphite over a medium colored

wood finish. Graphite is a dark charcoal color but is too flat on its own.

 

 

Once the paint dried I applied a liberal layer or 2 of ASCP dark wax.

 

 

Above you can see the upper edge has dark wax on it and the lower edges is just raw graphite paint.

I took a dozen photos to show you this and its still iffy whether you can see the difference perfectly.

 

 

The dark wax takes a long time to dry if you want it to be rich and heavy. I let it dry for several days,

 buffing occasionally then adding a coat of clear wax to give it a nice shine.

 

These handles are done the same way as the Etsy hardware.

 

I added some well placed graphics to the drawers.

*Well placed* is an interesting term considering I tried several different ideas,

in several different locations, sanding away the mistakes in between attempts.

 

These graphics were drawn and filled in with black paint pens. 

 

 

 

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New equipment and an owie

Minggu, 01 Mei 2016

Hi Everyone,
Well, I got an anniversary present today--a new disc sander. This is a heavy duty critter that will be bolted down to a work bench that is in the planning stages. It spins very fast, has an adjustable table in front of it and I can do a lot of finish sanding on it.
In my elation to use it, I accidently caught my fingers on the surface of the spinning disc and Ive partially sanded the tips of several fingers of my left hand. So Im upstairs, smarting a bit from that.
And my back is hurting a bit this afternoon. Im going to take the rest of the evening off. And possibly tomorrow, too.
VW

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3 ROOSTERS A TIGER AND AN EGG vintage grain cabinet

Selasa, 26 April 2016

I have fallen in love again with another finished project,

and so has its potential new owner.

 

  

The base cabinet I used for this kitchen unit is made of Tiger Oak.

Im sure many of you have read an online furniture ad mentioning Quarter Sawn or Tiger Oak,

this is what it looks like.

For those wondering exactly what that means or how its done: 

The log is first cut longitudinally into wedge-shaped quarters. Then the quarters are cut along each plane of the wedge, with the cuts running radially toward the center of the log. The cuts are made alternately on each face of the wedge, producing narrower and narrower boards as the wood is cut away. Because the grain of quarter-sawn wood is straighter than that of flat-sawn lumber, the quarter-sawn wood is significantly more stable.

This french grain graphic I used can be found at the Graphics Fairy.

The top portion I bought at a yard sale over a year ago and its been waiting for the right companion.

Its a solid maple Vilas piece.

 You can find a side by side before and after pic of this vintage grain cabinet here.

This FARMERS MARKET sign with rooster accent

and 2 lucky Portuguese Roosters are available on Georges Etsy shop

FIRST FINDS

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