A Sexy Post

I decided that before I jump more into the world of 3D that I wanted to explore how the material itself reacts.  I still had some extra wood left over from my last wood turning assignment so I turned that, and let it sit in the back of my mind until I could think of a design.

Inspiration/ideas:
Champagne flutes, dainty, curves, turning knots, the color of cedar after oiled, working the wood-grain

Too long for a chuck only unfortunately.  But I don't know how to use the bowl gouge anyway.

 The rough areas that I wanted to alter.

 Decided to go with more sweeping curves to really get some bend in the wood grain

Shaping the top.  Was imagining a flower bud, tulip or rose.

Finally form while spinning right before sanding.

I applied two coats of cutting board oil I had laying in my kitchen cabinet when I used to cook all the time, once upon a time.  It really brought out the red of the wood.  I don't think I'll apply wax over this.

Troubles and learning points:

The longer the piece of wood the more measures need to go into securing it.  My wood shifted while on the chuck so I had to re-round it a few times.  The upside to that, is that it probably changed the angle of attack on the wood grain.  Which if you look how the knot was warped in the photos, It kind of looks like the wild storm on Jupiter.  I fell in love with that portion.  Next step, driftwood from outer space!

I wanted to try and hollow out the top but without the experience and the shape/size of the wood I quickly scrapped the idea.

This type of wood, i'm still thinking it's cedar until I'm proved wrong, chips easy especially getting to thinner curves.  I started sharpening the tools more often and increasing the speed which helped a lot.  Especially when carving through the knots.

I also wish I turned the base more before I took it off the lathe.  But when you've lost yourself to the lathe for 6-8 hours (who knows what time it was) it was done.  I have already re-rounded it 3 times.

Could I have done this on the 4-axis?  Sure, but I wanted to gain more of the familiarity with working with the wood and creating these shapes by hand.  I did, and after using more of the lathe chisels I'm exploring which ones I like and can use to achieve the visions I have.

And finally here is my video blooper: