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Project Feasibility

George Pagliarulo

George Pagliarulo

Joined
Apr 1, 2020
Messages
52
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37
Location
Hudson, NH
I haven’t turned for a long time but I always knew I’d get back to it and never stopped accumulating interesting pieces.
This piece has been sitting in my shop for about 15 years. I forget what species it is. I know it came from a big bush that I had taken out.
The vision has always been to turn a vase, leaving the top branch stubs to be carved into leaves. The hole in the bottom is a little over an inch deep but is solid hardwood below it, I’ll cut that section off.
My turning skills have to improve a lot before I would tackle this and I’ve never carved so I need to develop those leaf carving skills. I plan to join an AAW branch to hook up with a mentor that ca help guide me.
So, this is a project for the future but I’m curious. What do you guys think of the feasibility of this project, once I have the proper skills. Aside from breaking fingers from those branch stubs spinning around when hollowing, what issues do you see?

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It looks like cedar. Is it dry? If it is then go for it! Just keep in mind the grain will go all sorts of directions with how many branch stubs there are. Also use a big lathe with plenty of horsepower, and sharp tools!
 
After 15 years in my shop, yeah, it’s dry. I’m surprised there are no cracks anywhere. The bottom shows great color.
I’ve got a Nova 1624-44 lathe.
 
I would use a faceplate on it rather than a tenon but it's totally doable. Pick up a piece of basswood, sycamore, tupelo etc and practice your carving on those pieces to refine your method and build your skills. Make your mistakes on something you can throw away.
 
Ditto on the face plate. A blank like this needs all the support it can get, so you might also consider a pseudo face plate (plywood) on the branch end to give the tailstock live center something to push against when you get started. It can also be screwed into the parts of the branches that will be cut away
 
I would be quite concerned with structural integrity

With the rotten center, I would be concerned about the structural integrity. Which way does the rot go?
Is there a larger cavity that a long screw driver probe could find or miss.
Also you have as many as 8 potential bark inclusions to check out for structural integrity.
There appears to be “bark stitching” which means a high likelihood of bark inclusions
 
Out here, that would be called Rocky Mountain Juniper, but in your neck of the woods, I believe it's the very similar Eastern Red Cedar. In my limited experience with it, the wood is quite stable and obviously durable. Al's comments about safety are spot on, as always, but with cedar, you are more likely to have a safe piece than with some other woods. Cedar is moderately soft and turns easily, and also smells terrific.

You didn't mention how big this chunk is, so we're making assumptions in replying to your questions.

A couple more things to consider before attempting it:
You will be turning wood-air-wood-air, which is trickier than solid wood. I would recommend having some experience with that on simpler pieces first. Maybe some natural edge bowls, maybe making round bowls from square blanks.​
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You will be hollowing end grain. IMHO, understanding grain orientation is one of the most important, under-appreciated considerations in turning. This is not just like turning a bowl. Having plenty of experience with end grain hollowing and it's different techniques, making boxes or goblets or such, would be essential before taking on such a challenging project. For me, a Hunter tool is excellent for this kind of work. I use the Hunter Badger.​
 
About the blank, it is 17” tall, should be about 14” finished. The bottom will be about 7” once rounded. The top spread is 11” x 8”. The hole in the bottom is about 1-1/2” deep. I have probed it with a screwdriver and an awl. There are no soft spots or holes and it doesn’t go any deeper.

I was thinking about how I’d mount this. A faceplate is definitely the way to go. For the live center side, the branch tops are pretty even. I will get them to be completely flat and attach a plywood plate.

Good point about the bark inclusions, I didn’t think about that. I need to learn more about that.

This is really going to 2/3 turning and 1/3 power carving. My plan is to:
  • Turn it round up to where the branches start.
  • Hollow it using a steady rest to support it. When hollowing the branch ends won’t be cut back too much..I think. It depends on what needs to be left for carving the leaves.
  • After hollowing, I will power carve the upper part of the outside, to clean out between the branches and carve the leaves. None of which I know how to do at this point. The good thing is I have plenty of time to start learning as I recover from rot. cuff surgery. I can’t tun yet but I can handle a Dremel. I’ll start with learning to relief carve leaves and then move to carving full leaves. I’ve got plenty of branches in the woodpile to practice on.
This project will not be done for quite a while. I’m asking about it now because as I gain more experience turning I can get an idea of the skills I need to develop. All the responses are great information. I’m really looking forward to turning what I see in my mind’s eye into a real form, if not firewood.
Thanks to you all
 
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