Beechnut Flower Vessel

Taking inspiration from the Ed Kelle workshop I attended last month I thought I’d see if I could extend the veining technique we applied to the mini-blossom to a larger turning.

One of the pieces Ed showed us at the Chesapeake Woodturners meeting was a small flower vessel that he had veined. I still had some billets from the Beechnut tree that came down in a storm in June of 2008. Turned the vessel to shape and drilled a hole to hold the flower frog in the center.

Sanded to 220 grit and began the veining process using my Dremel tool and a diamond encrusted disc from Harbor freight. Overall it took 3 sessions to complete the veining process total time about 2 hours.

Next I remounted the vessel on the lathe using a chuck to hold the top of the vessel using the hole that will contain the flower frog. Finish the bottom of the vessel to define a clean line between the veining and the base of the vessel. Added my signature and finished the pieces with 3 coats of Watco Oil and epoxy set in the flower frog.

Here is the final result.