Beginning early in January 2023, I started teaching myself the craft of woodturning.
I am specifically focusing on what's called "treenware", i.e. eating utensils made from wood (as opposed to "silverware").
Here are a few of the things I've made so far.
My first shotglass
A shotglass. The first usable piece of treenware I've ever made. This is pine stained with black ink.Another angle on the wooden shotglass.
My first goblet
A goblet. This is tupelo, unstained. I found out after the fact that tupelo is not ideal for wood turning, as its softness makes it very prone to end-grain tearout.
My first bowl
A snack bowl. This is pine, stained with a red ink. Not pictured here is the attempt I made at sealing the wood with epoxy resin, which ended poorly as I didn't use enough epoxy.
My second goblet
Another goblet. This is maple and rosewood. As-yet unfinished.To make the pattern in the bowl of the goblet, I clad a maple post with other maple as well as rosewood. The goop on the top is epoxy resin that I dammed up with hot glue to try to fill in the glue gaps created by my janky sawing skills.Detail on the bowl.Detail on the pedestal.
My third goblet
Yet another goblet. Again, maple and rosewood. Finished with a beeswax/linseed oil paste. Managed to get the proportions right this time. I didn't try to do a segmented pattern this time. Just stuck with straight rosewood for the bowl and foot. I think it looks a lot better.Detail on the bowl interior.Detail on the bowl exterior.
My fourth goblet
Yet another goblet. This one was made from a solid block of marblewood. Finished with a beeswax/linseed oil paste. I intended to make a stem for this one, but my lathe mounting shattered and I had to sacrifice wood from what would have been the stem to make a new one.
A claret cup
This is a kind of small wineglass, usually used for desert wines. As I was turning, I discovered a large whole in the middle of the wood. I tried mixing some iridescent ink with epoxy to fill it. While the shininess of the ink didn't come through too well, the overall piece is quite pleasing. I'm getting better at these. This one only took me about an hour.
A snack bowl
A snack bowl I made for my 7-year-old son. The top is maple. It was a little green when I turned it, so it did warp and crack a little, but I managed to keep it together. I accidentally tore a hole through the bottom while parting it, but that was serendipitous because I found this amazing board of poplar at Home Depot of all places. It's got purples and greens and all kinds of swirls. Painted his initial in the bottom before sealing with polyurethane.Detail of side.Detail of bottom.
