Segmented Turnings
This is a chronology (starting with my first on top and working down to my latest) of much of the segmented work I have completed. This encompasses about the last 6 years, but the majority has been the last 3 years. Segmented work is my favorite expression in turning because it requires a combination of very different skills to complete a piece. This includes design, planning, understanding wood and it's movement, complex joinery, precision, math, and finally turning. I designed all of the work here (with the exception of "First Try") as one of a kind works. The true creativity in producing such pieces is in the design, and ensuring that the design can be executed. Others may copy, or even mass produce pieces that I have designed, but I have so many ideas of things to try, that I have yet to do more than one of a kind, or even a series.
First Try
117 pieces 11"diameter x 5" high
Mahogany, Maple, Walnut, Wenge, Bloodwood
This was my first segmented piece. I followed a plan from "Wood" magazine to complete the piece.
Maple Lotus
196 pieces, 14" diameter x 6" high
Holly, Bloodwood, Purpleheart, Dyed veneer, Quilted Maple
Classic Urn
548 Pieces, 14" diameter x 26" high
Yellowheart, Mahogany, Wenge, Dyed veneer, Maple Burl, Macassar Ebony
548 Pieces, 14" diameter x 26" high
Yellowheart, Mahogany, Wenge, Dyed veneer, Maple Burl, Macassar Ebony
Through the Wormhole
420 pieces, 16" diameter X 14"high
Maple, Walnut, Bubinga, Yellowheart, Purpleheart, Ebony
This is a piece that stemmed from my love for science fiction. The idea sort of popped into my head and nagged at me enough that I had to do it, even though it would probably have limited appeal. The base sort of signifies the warping of space/time around a wormhole, the body a saturn-like planet and the inside a super-nova. I know... it's out there.
420 pieces, 16" diameter X 14"high
Maple, Walnut, Bubinga, Yellowheart, Purpleheart, Ebony
This is a piece that stemmed from my love for science fiction. The idea sort of popped into my head and nagged at me enough that I had to do it, even though it would probably have limited appeal. The base sort of signifies the warping of space/time around a wormhole, the body a saturn-like planet and the inside a super-nova. I know... it's out there.
Royal Spiral
1082 pieces, 18" diameter x 26" high
Wenge, Bloodwood, Bubinga, Curly Maple, Dyed Veneer, Purpleheart, Ash, Quilted maple
This is my most ambitious piece to date. The size and complexity required coming up with solutions to several unanticipated problems.
1082 pieces, 18" diameter x 26" high
Wenge, Bloodwood, Bubinga, Curly Maple, Dyed Veneer, Purpleheart, Ash, Quilted maple
This is my most ambitious piece to date. The size and complexity required coming up with solutions to several unanticipated problems.
Golden Urn
157 Pieces,10" diameter x 12" high
Maple, Curly Luan, Peruvian Walnut, Alaskan Birch Burl, Amboyna Burl, Bubinga, Claro Walnut.
I made this piece for my parents 50th Anniversary. It featured my first attempt at carving a turned object.
157 Pieces,10" diameter x 12" high
Maple, Curly Luan, Peruvian Walnut, Alaskan Birch Burl, Amboyna Burl, Bubinga, Claro Walnut.
I made this piece for my parents 50th Anniversary. It featured my first attempt at carving a turned object.
Inside Out
329 pieces 15"high x 10"diameter
Zebrawood, Yvra, Pernambuco, Dyed veneer, Ebony
329 pieces 15"high x 10"diameter
Zebrawood, Yvra, Pernambuco, Dyed veneer, Ebony
Crimson Pagoda
771 pieces, 12”diameter 25”high
Bloodwood, Ebony, Yvra, Pernambuco
771 pieces, 12”diameter 25”high
Bloodwood, Ebony, Yvra, Pernambuco
This is my favorite piece to date due to the simplicity of it's form and the way the choices of woods and patterns work together to complement the form.
Diamonds in Alaskan Birch
682 pieces, 10"diameter x 14" high
Spalted Alaskan Birch, Yvra, Kingwood, Mahogany, Veneer
682 pieces, 10"diameter x 14" high
Spalted Alaskan Birch, Yvra, Kingwood, Mahogany, Veneer
Queen Nefertiti's Lotus Vase
313 pieces, 9"diameter x 15" high
Maple, Purpleheart, Wenge, Dyed Ash, Curly Maple
313 pieces, 9"diameter x 15" high
Maple, Purpleheart, Wenge, Dyed Ash, Curly Maple
All American
590 pieces, 17 1/2”diameter x 18 1/2” high
Elder burl, Cherry, Walnut, Maple
I started designing this piece around a supreme piece of Elder burl which I have had for about 5 years. I was waiting until I had a design that would take full advantage of the piece of wood. Using some special turning tools I was able to core out the center of the burl, thus allowing me to get one or two more pieces out of this choice piece of wood. While I was coming up with a design, the 9/11 tragedy happened. With the resulting national passions as a fuel, the design easily gelled. The resulting piece has loosely a "stars and stripes" theme and I used only woods native to the US, thus the title.
590 pieces, 17 1/2”diameter x 18 1/2” high
Elder burl, Cherry, Walnut, Maple
I started designing this piece around a supreme piece of Elder burl which I have had for about 5 years. I was waiting until I had a design that would take full advantage of the piece of wood. Using some special turning tools I was able to core out the center of the burl, thus allowing me to get one or two more pieces out of this choice piece of wood. While I was coming up with a design, the 9/11 tragedy happened. With the resulting national passions as a fuel, the design easily gelled. The resulting piece has loosely a "stars and stripes" theme and I used only woods native to the US, thus the title.
Emergence
379 pieces, 10” diameter x 13 1/2” high
Bloodwood, Ebony, Bubinga, Maple, Curly Maple, Dyed Veneers
I had the basic shape for this piece in mind long before I actually figured out how to complete it. I did not want to waste the large amount of wood that would have been required if I built the bubinga layer using typical staved construction. I wound up building this layer using compound mitre pieces. It took a while to get the math figured out on the cuts, then I made a jig (table saw sled) to allow me to make the cuts safely and with the precision required. Though not the largest or most complex, this was my most challenging piece to date.
379 pieces, 10” diameter x 13 1/2” high
Bloodwood, Ebony, Bubinga, Maple, Curly Maple, Dyed Veneers
I had the basic shape for this piece in mind long before I actually figured out how to complete it. I did not want to waste the large amount of wood that would have been required if I built the bubinga layer using typical staved construction. I wound up building this layer using compound mitre pieces. It took a while to get the math figured out on the cuts, then I made a jig (table saw sled) to allow me to make the cuts safely and with the precision required. Though not the largest or most complex, this was my most challenging piece to date.
Segmented Heart Clock
Ash, Walnut & Purpleheart
13"diam. 2" deep, ?? # of pieces
This is the last segmented piece I was able to complete in Sitka before moving to Vermont. I was trying a new and very different construction method. I'm pleased with the result and can't wait till I have a new shop to see what I can develop using this technique. I think it may have a lot of potential.