This particular wood has just  a little bit of history.  It was a reclaimed wood project used by an acquaintance of mine.   These large beams were brought in for some accent beams in a large cabin he was constructing.  The original building that was torn down to make them available was out of Canada, and purported to be about 150 years old.  It would make the wood itself about 200 years old.  To say I was a little intrigued would have been an understatement.

A few hours (alright, about 4) of making wood chips, and this is where you end up.  Notice the deep checks in the bowl and one of the vases … they run deep into the center and make it very “non-beginner” friendly when you’re turning.  I still have no idea what this wood is.  It looks like oak but does not turn anywhere near as hard as oak does.  It is still a hardwood & has no distinguishable odor … just a slight “sweet” smell when you smell the inside cuts.

The deep cracks were filled with a two-part epoxy and allowed to cure over-night.  At this point is was more of a safety issue than anything else.

We’ve made some progress.  From the point above to where we’re at now, this is about 5 hours of work, $20.00 in turquois & epoxy, and because it’s the middle of December, about $10.00 in kerosene to keep the shop warm while I work & things dry.  It’ll be about 1 1/2 hours more to take all the extra epoxy back off and a couple of sanding belts.  Epoxy tends to trash sanding belts / pads fairly quickly.

Below is where we’re currently at.  Delivery is still planned right after Christmas of 2016, that will need to occur this week.  Check back soon on this project.

Well, we’re finally at the end of this journey.  With another combined 5 hours of lathe time and sanding, it was time to put 3 coats of Tung Oil on each piece (buffed with ‘0000 steel wool after each coat has dried) and then a pass through the wax process. 

The finished products are shown below.  They should be back to their future homes in the next couple of days.  We’ll see how the go over.