This section answers frequently asked questions and provides some non technical information about my work for the general public.  If you want more detail, including images of the tools, please read the “Techniques and Tools” pages which are geared primarily to wood turners.

How do I care for the pieces?

1. •The finish needs little care, other than occasional wiping with a soft cloth to remove dust and fingerprints. The new microfiber dust cloths  are great, but a t-shirt is fine also. A good, environmentally friendly product is is “Greening the Cleaning Citrus Sage Glass and Window Cleaner”.
   

2. •If you want to apply a wax, use Renaissance brand microcrystalline wax (available at Woodcraft.com).
   

3. •Although the manufacturer of the dyes claims light fastness with interior use, do not place the    work where it will receive sunlight from windows or skylights.  Treat them like oriental rugs.
   

4. •Wood moves with the changes in seasonal humidity.  Everything I sell is seasoned and as dry as their surroundings. They will respond to the ambient relative humidity, but this will cause no problem.  Avoid placing pieces near sources of heat in the winter.
   

How do you achieve the finish: color and gloss?

The color is achieved by applying water based dyes to the unfinished, raw wood.  I add airbrush acrylics to deepen and darken the dyed surface.  A single color can be ragged on.  The complex shaded finishes and the acrylics require an airbrush.  The color the dyes provide is in solution, rather than being a stain with particles of pigment.  As a result the grain and other wood features show through the transparent color.  The dyes are not a finish; until a clear finish is applied they look washed out and flat.

The completed ‘look’ requires a built up clear coat which then reflects light and gives the glass-like ‘wet look’ to the wood.  I use a wiping urethane varnish when the  wood has open grain(ash, for example)  or other surface features (burls, worm holes, bark).  This finish is glossy yet retains some of the surface texture of the wood.  Smoother and tighter woods (birch or cherry, for example) are sprayed with water based lacquer.  In either case, it takes about twelve coats and sanding, buffing and polishing to achieve the final effect.

How do you keep the wood from cracking and why turn “green”?

I turn vessels from one large log section, often sixteen inches or more in diameter. There is no practical way to successfully dry such a thick section of wood without cracks appearing.  Being a water filled cellular material, wood shrinks and changes shape as it loses moisture. A large piece of drying wood cannot adjust to this movement, and therefore it must pull apart in places and crack. 

By turning wood before it dries (unseasoned, green) the completed vessel is quite  thin when it finally starts to dry.  The green turnings are placed in heavy paper bags to retard and control the drying process.  They reach a seasoned state in about two to four weeks.  These thin walls can accommodate movement and shrinkage and seldom crack.  The seasoned vessel sometimes noticeably changes shape, and this asymmetry becomes part of the overall design.  Green wood also tools better, is more forgiving as it becomes thinner and is virtually dust free.

What are the “local” hardwoods you use?

I use the most interesting pieces of wood I can find within a reasonable distance from my studio in eastern Connecticut.  The land is primarily forested and only partially developed.  Wood is acquired from landowners, town and power company take downs, landfills and residential tree removal among others.  I prefer wood that is low cost or free and does not need to be transported long distances.  I also like the fact that some of what I make is determined by chance: it depends on what wood comes my way.

The species I typically use are: white ash, native cherry, the maples, box elder, willow, birch and burls of any type.

What do you use to pierce the vessels?

Although many assume a laser, the tool I use is a hand held, air driven, very high speed rotary tool (akin to a dental tool). The bits or cutters are quite small(one millimeter or less);  the cuts on the fine piercing (for example: #08-35-O) shows the size of the bit.  The technique is to pierce the vessel wall and then rout the pattern freehand.  I also use this tool to carve the rims of some vessels.  See the Techniques and Tools pages for images and more detail.

How do you turn the inside of hollow forms?

After shaping the outside to get the final form, the vessel is hollowed through a small opening in the top.  The tools are long, with a variety of curvatures to gain access to the interior.  Frequent stops are need to remove the shavings.  In order to achieve a uniformly thin final wall (one quarter inch or less) I use a rig which has an inexpensive laser pen mounted to show how close the tool is to the outside of the vessel.

What do the terms in the title descriptions mean?

1. •Burls are growths appearing on the sides of trees characterized highly figured,  multi directional grain.  They are akin to a benign tumor and are not harmful to the tree.  Their origins are not well researched.
   

2. •Spalted (German for ‘spoiled’) wood is the result of natural decay.  While most decaying wood is unremarkable, occasionally two fungi collaborate to produce a dramatic pattern and figure of black carbon lines.  Depending on the stage of decay, spalted wood can be structurally compromised.  
   

3. •Ambrosia (wormy) maple has been attacked by the parasitic ambrosia beetle.  This insect bores into the tree while carrying a fungus which stains the tree in a distinctive radiating pattern.  This effect is most evident when the tree is viewed in cross section.
   

4. •Natural edge involves wood orientation on the lathe so that the bark side of the tree forms the rim of the vessel.  Bark from freshly cut trees stays attached best, but a natural edge does not necessarily have bark on it.
   

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