Black walnut vase-finishing and final photos

Hi Everyone,

I spent yesterday evening looking at the vase to see if there is anything else that needed to be done to it. I took one last look this morning and decided that it was finished and so down to the work shop I went to finish it off.

Here are the photos:

 I re-attached it to the lathe and buffed it for a couple of minutes to see how the finish held up and I must say it even prettier than it was. The Tried and True varnish oil worked really well for this project. Time to part it off the waste wood on the bottom:

There are a number of ways to cut a project off of the waste wood-this is called parting off. I used a parting tool that looks like a spear and is very sharp and has a diamond shape to. Here is a photo of it:

I've turned on the lathe pushed the tip of the parting tool into the wood right at the groove in the bottom of the vase (see the first photo). As the wood spins, the tip of the tool cuts into the bottom until the two pieces separate. Here is a photo of the bottom after it's been cut off. You can see that it's rough and it's very slightly rounded. The bottom needs to be smoothed and flattened next:

To smooth and flatten it I'm going to use my bench sander for this. This is one of the handiest tools a wood turner can own. It spins about 800 rpm and will smooth something in about a second or two!

 The bottom is now sanded smooth and flat and the vase sits firmly on my work bench. Time to take it inside and do a couple of photographs:

Assessment
I'm very pleased with this piece of work. The finish could not be better and it's non-toxic too, which is good for the person who is going to receive it and for me too. I love the fact that the colors of the wood are visible and that the oil didn't darken it to a dark brown, which oils can sometimes do. I'm very happy with the shape of the vase. It doesn't look like a bottle. It is heavy and it won't tip over. And it's wonderful just to pick it up and hold on to it.

There is something wonderfully soothing about turned wood. I love to pick up a turned item and just hold it and turn it over and over in my hands. I find that it cements the image and the production process in my mind. And I think it lowers my blood pressure too!

Ok, time to stick a fork in it and call it done!

As I mentioned previously this is going to go to a family member of mine who is ill at the moment. I am going to make her a couple of coffee cup covers from some scrap wood as well and for those of you who turn wood and are always wondering what to do with small pieces, this is a good project. They make really great stocking stuffers and they do keep tea and coffee warm in your cup. I have several other things to do today and so I'll get to the coffee cup warmers in the next post.

As always, thanks for dropping by the wood shop. Amazingly this blog has had almost 11, 000 viewers and I'm always grateful that people take time to sit down and see what I'm up to.

We have more adventures ahead! See you soon!
VW