Post-Oak Stool Legs

Below are some photographs from the process of the rough-shaping and bending (green) of post-oak, which is a variety of white oak, for use as legs in a pair of 3-legged stools -hopefully.

First the log was cut and split.  This one has quite a of twist, which I am hoping to integrate into the design of the stools.

Next the halves are split into quarters and then into eighths with froe at the brake (no photos), then the eighths were trimmed with the hatchet.

After trimming the pieces are shaped down with drawknife at the horse.

After this rough shaping each piece was place in a form and bent using clamps, the clamps were removed after a few days and were replaced with wire.  The legs will remain in the forms until they are dry and I am ready to shape them to final size.

For deep information on working with green wood please see Peter Follansbee’s blog.

Moses in the Rock Update

The most recent work on this painting of Moses in the Cleft of Rock involves the completion of the rocks and the beginning of the turf around Moses.  Sections of turf remain to be painted as does Moses himself.  Once those elements are completed other details to the composition will be introduced.

…and a few details…

Finished Hope Chest

Here is the finished hope chest.  The primary case, and lid frame are cherry, the drawer case and lid panels are black walnut, the trim is hard maple, the secondary wood for the drawers, till, and interior structural is white oak, the floor of the chest is eastern red cedar, and the drawer pulls are ebonized black walnut.  The finish is 4 coats of danish oil.

Ebonized black walnut pulls.

The white oak till.

Hammered copper brackets for the lid support.

Show Bowls

A few bowl turning pictures as I have been producing for a part in a few shows this fall.

Below is a stack including walnut, persimmon, ash, cypress and two elm species.

A few more added from above on the workbench, the same species as above with the addition of a few crab-apple.

Hollowing a large cypress bowl on the lathe using a 1/2 bowl gouge.

A few blow-ups from experimenting with the grind on a smaller bowl gouge.

Moses In the Cleft of Rock, Painting Update

Fall is approaching, and work on painting is resuming as well.

Below are some pictures of the small painting of Moses in a cleft of rock when the Glory of God is passing by.  The under-painting or under-drawing arguably, is egg tempera, the subsequent layers are oil.  The most recent work is taking place in the rocks above Moses in the upper right of the painting.

Milling Lumber

We milled a large quantity of black walnut, red cedar, and green ash with a neighbor and his band-saw mill earlier this summer.  Below are a few photos of our operation.

Some of the logs piled in the field.

Slabbing off a decent quality and sized black walnut log…

some of the boards 25″ wide…

some lead slugs from deep in one of the 100 plus year old red-cedars…

the slugs, still in the tree…

A hay loft full of lumber, almost everything was plain-sawn into boards and slabs from 4/4 up to a few 6″ slabs, all with natural edges remaining.