Jay Scott and Paul Schroeder have submissions for today.
From Jay.
Early in my wood acquisition days, Mike Hosaluk had baseball bat blanks, by the truckload. I bought a vanload. They do not have a lot of figure or interest, which you don’t want for a bat. However, they are great beginner stock and take dye, well.
First, this chess pawn recreation for a friend. Very thirsty poplar, dyed with 2 parts Keda brown, 1 part red. I felt great about the size, form and colour recreation, however, spraying a gloss clear coat took over a dozen coats to build a shine. Past experience told me sealing with something applied by hand like shellac would change the colour and pattern, so I chose spray clear coat. I hope the creative wide angle photo doesn’t make you think it wasn’t identical in size, because it was right on.
A gift for a farewell. Approximately 125mm x 65mm, this maple bat blank was turned, sanded to 320 grit, dyed and sanded with 400 grit until I liked the combination. Sealing with shellac, applied by hand, caused the colours to blur, further. Sanding paste, polishing paste and wax finished this vase.
Another farewell gift, of nearly identical method, except for colour choices.
I was not exaggerating, these three projects are very similar. I was working to fully understand the Keda dyes, how they mix, don’t mix and behave. This vase had a red dyed interior. I still need to coat the inside with resin to make it waterproof.
From Paul
I’ve seen a few examples of deer antler button mini bowls. Being a hunter and a deer shed collector, I had a few antlers to choose from. The base of antler is hard and polishes well. The toonie is for size reference. If you are turning antler please wear a good face mask, and run some dust collection.
Paul Schroeder
