After a little inspiration from Alma Allen, I turned my first stool (I guess it could work as a low end table as well). One of the bigger pieces I’ve ever turned.

Made from an oak tree that fell in the Poconos. I finished it with stain and tung oil.

14″ tall 10″ diam

I’ve been prototyping a pretty simple lamp using a piece of paper as the shade. A little fine tuning is still needed to get the dimensions right, but I’m liking where it’s going. I’ll probably group three or four of these lamps together with shades made from letter size (8.5″ x 11″) and legal size (8.5″ x 14″) paper.

Maybe go the kit route, I make the lamp base, you build the shade. More to come.

I recently joined the Gowanus Studio Space. Finally a place I can make a big ol’ mess.

There are so many great people/designers/artists/tools at this place. And they have a lathe. Although, it kind of feels like I’m cheating on my wife with my new girlfriend.

Alma Allen is a sculptor, furniture maker, and tuner who makes some beautiful pieces. His turned stools are incredible. He has inspired me to take a crack at it.

Do yourself a favor and check out his stuff.

A lathe chisel canvas roll-up carrying case (say that five times). She took an old canvas tote bag and turned it into this.

Thanks mom.

Recently, I got my hands on some logs that have been at the bottom of a lake for about 100 years. I turned a simple bowl, just to see what the wood would give me. I’m very happy with how it turned out. The imperfections give it so much character.

The wood was pretty stinky, I had to put the microwave outside while I dried it out. Thankfully the smell went away once it dried.

I’m not sure what species of wood it is, it might be maple. I believe the gray color is due to the fact that it has been absorbing dirt and silt for a couple decades.

After truing up the bottom of the bowl, I found it wasn’t exactly flat. The bottom comes to a point that allows the bowl to spin. It’s a bowl and a top. This was totally on purpose by the way.

My family has the Christmas tradition of making our presents. This year I made turned candle sticks for one of my sisters. I was inspired by some candle sticks I had seen in a design blog somewhere.

An oak side table (or stool, can’t decide) for another sister. Kind of an homage to the Eames Walnut Stools

And a patterned t-shirt using discharge paste (maybe the worst named product ever). Remember the S.E.A. Monkey?

Thomas Forsyth created these great Drawing Tops.

Thomas Forsyth - Drawing Tops from Thomas Forsyth on Vimeo.

In his own words:

A spinning-top, that uses a pen as the spindle. Simply through indulging in the enjoyable process of spinning the top a bi-product is created. Where the pen marks the surface, a beautiful map of the experience and events that have occurred is produced. I am able to draw, but I am not particularly talented at it and yet found that, through the interaction with these objects, I have created drawings that I am more proud of than any I have done before.

Via notcot.org

I was in the Poconos a couple of weeks ago and turned two lamp blanks: one birch (the tall one), one maple (the fat one). Both turned green and allowed to crack. Need to dry them out completely (nuke them) before I can add the finish.

Two oak spheres turned while wood was green and allowed to dry and crack naturally. One is 6 inches in diameter, the other is about 5. The oak tree fell naturally at my parent’s place in the Poconos. Finished with walnut oil and furniture wax.

They are now for sale.