well it’s autumn

I have been collecting many project ideas from friends, magazines, various art shows, and of course special requests from family and friends. Some of the things I like to make are wooden bowls, walking sticks, cutting boards, cabinets, and basically anything that gets my creativity flowing.

I have been making canes for family and friends; these are very elaborate works, I always said it; “If you have to use a cane, you should be proud of it.”

I will use any type of wood that is strong enough and has character. Diamond Willow is a good choice, strong and easy to work with. I spiral cut the length of the Cain to give it some character and after sanding and trimming to a personal length I added a brass handle and a brass and rubber tip. I like to use a cooked stick for the cane, the middle one can be bent and twisted, but the ends should be aligned so that when you push the handle down, the point is directly below and not off to the side.

Cutting a spiral out of a straight piece of wood is relatively easy. Cutting a spiral into a crooked piece is more difficult, the difficulty being in balancing the spirals so that they flow around and along the crooked body of the Caine.

Other projects include spinning bowls with a natural rim; most of the time I just use heavily carved wood. These types of bowls are best turned while still green and I have built an oven to dry the green bowls. Always be sure to leave extra thickness in the container to correct for warping that will occur. Generally allow at least 1 to 1 ¼ inches thick. This will result in a finished thickness of ½ to ¾ inch finished thickness. My favorite woodturning tool for this type of work is a 5/8 bowl gouge with a 60 degree grind and I always cut my bowl blanks with a band saw.

Segmented bowls have been my favorite. The different patterns and shapes are only limited by your imagination. I like to use exotic woods with different colors like Purple Heart, Padauk, Wenge, Yellow Heart, Hard White Maple and many other species. Using this type of creates a very distinctive art that is very attractive when displayed.

There are always the usual ones for cutting boards, shelves, cabinets and broken furniture repairs.

This type of work keeps me busy during the fall and winter months. Now that it’s almost spring, it’s time to prune fruit trees and roses, prepare the soil for the garden and flowers.