Cinderella

 

Deep clockwise spiral pyrography made using 11awg wire nichrome wire.

Poplar

1.75" high by 7.5" diameter  

Multiple coats of Josonja Iridescent matte flow acrylic paints 

applied using the dry brush method. 

Top coated for protection with two coats of Rust-Oleum clear satin spray (2x).

Scorcher II My DIY Pyrography Burner

Grandson using pyrography on his wood dinosaur egg

Being frustrated by not being able to use 16-, 14-, and 12-gauge nichrome 60 wire in my art and woodturnings, I designed and built an awesome pyrography burner that I call the Scorcher II. 

Since I started woodturning in 2005, I have used converted battery chargers for my pyrography (scorching or branding), but their performance was barely adequate for my needs, not to mention the fact that I have burned up three of them.  

A couple of months ago I said to myself, "you have the skills, knowledge, and experience to build a machine that will meet your needs - so get busy and do it."

I made a prototype that worked better than expected but, being who I am, I was not satisfied and made a second one named the Scorcher.  

Then I thought, " . . . but if I just make a few changes, I will meet my goal of making the machine I always wanted."

And so, the Scorcher II was born.  

I sold one with newly designed hand pieces to a friend, Rick Cannon, and now that he has been using his Scorcher II, he stated, "you really have something here and there is nothing on the market like it."  

He encouraged me to sell them.  

That was NOT my plan when I made Scorcher II.  

However, contact me and I will consider making and selling a Scorcher II with the hand pieces.

Enjoy the videos below and email me if you have questions.  

Larry AT sefton DOT info

Mandala on Black Walnut

Mandala on Black Walnut was inspired by my younger son when he loaned me a coloring book of easy mandalas.  

One mandala was the perfect design for this hollow form that had been sitting idle for four months waiting for inspiration.

The mandala was created using a combination of pyrography and stippling.

Pima Design Basket Illusion

Inspired by a photo from a book showing a Pima Indian platter basket (source unknown).

Beaded with 1/8" beads and pyrography (most of my beaded platters feature 3/16" beads).

Actual size of Pima original platter is unknown, but I estimate that this 10" platter is 50% of the original.

Detail photo.

Potential

 

Potential was inspired by and started at Arrowmont School of Arts and Craft located in Gatlinburg, Tennessee during a one-week class with J. Paul Fennell.   Class was titled Embellishing Wood Vessels: Simple Tactile Designs to Elegant Narrative Expression.

Potential is my first work exploring multi-level relief carving with negative space on a hollow form woodturning.  When I look at this piece, I see endless possibilities that can cause me to lose many hours of sleep. It has opened the door to a new chapter in my woodturning art journey and I feel it has energized me.   

Delicacy

Delicacy was inspired by and started at Arrowmont School of Arts and Craft located in Gatlinburg, Tennessee during a one-week class with J. Paul Fennell.   Class was titled: Embellishing Wood Vessels: Simple Tactile Designs to Elegant Narrative Expression.

In my 19 years of woodturning, Paul was one of the best instructors I've had.   

The piece was finished three weeks after returning home.

A Gift for Our Neighbors

 

In January of this year one of our backyard neighbors had their large oak tree taken down.

The tree company loaded a hefty section of the lower trunk into my trailer and this bowl was turned from that wood.

The spalted hybrid oak bowl measures 18" across with a depth of 5"

And our long-time neighbors have no idea this will be gifted to them in the very near future.  

MSWG June President's Challenge - Anything with a Lid

 

I chose to make this small lidded box for this month's MSWG President's Challenge.

Mahogany base

Chestnut lid with an ebony finial

The box stands 3.75" tall and has a 2.25" diameter.

* * *

You can see more photos of 2023 work by MSWG members HERE.

Introducing Big Red

 

Big Red - hollow form turned from Bradford Pear.

21" tall with 10" diameter

Why did I name it Big Red?

This photo shows the lighthouse at Holland State Park (Michigan) known as Big Red.

Our youngest nephew and his new bride had some of their wedding photos taken (by special arrangement) at the base of this well-known and much-loved landmark.  And both my wife and I visited Big Red more than a few times during our Michigan youth.

You can read about the lighthouse's history, see lots more photos, and enjoy a well-made video of its legacy HERE.

Surface techniques include pyrography, carving, plus interior and exterior painting

Big Red, the woodturning, also features a weighted base in case its new owner chooses to use it for some sort of tall floral arrangement. 

The Making of Eternity

After many hours of mathematical calculations, I cut American Cherry boards into hundreds of segments.  

The segments were first glued into half-circles as shown here while held in position with spacers and large rubber bands.

The half-circles were then glued into full rings.

Those rings were then cut into layers, again after multiple sets of calculations to achieve all the necessary angles.

The layers were then prepared for their journey through my drum sander.

After sanding, the long process of gluing pairs together began.

Pairs were then glued to pairs, fours were glued to fours, and so on.

This photo shows a mock-up to make sure the angles were correct.

Roughly six weeks after the project began, these two large segmented circles were the result.

Each of the rough circles were then turned using my lathe.

The circles after being rounded and turned smooth on the lathe.

Then it was time to cut the circles apart and glue them back together to form an infinity loop.

The loop was then lightly stained with American Cherry to bring out the wood's color.  Note:  the wood will continue to darken with age enhancing the depth of its coloring.

After multiple coats of General Finishes semi-gloss Enduro were applied, it was time to drill the hole to allow the loop to stand upright.

This photo shows the upside-down finished loop supported on my lift table and held in position in order to drill the mounting hole (to secure it to the base) so the loop would be being perfectly aligned from all angles.

And now Eternity has found its new home in our dining room.

Statistics:

Started June 2022 - Completed February 2023

Approximately 1,500 segments were cut in order to create Eternity

Depth (front to back) 7.8"

Width (side to side) 16.75"

Base (diameter) 9"

Overall height (including base) 31"

Weight 14.8 pounds

Shaping the Top for a Wig Stand

Here I am in the process of making the top for a wig stand from MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard).

MDF is dusty to work with, so watch closely and you can see the dust being controlled by the large fan in a window behind my lathe. (off-screen to the right).

This is the easiest to view if you click to enlarge the video to full screen.

My 5 Year Grandson's First radio commercial!

Le Bonheur Children's Hospital

 

Demonstration for Mid South Woodturners Guild - Complete

On Saturday June 25, 2022, I did a demonstration for my woodturning club - Mid South Woodturners Guild (MSWG).

During the demo I went through the complete process of making a wig stand using MDF (medium-density fiberboard) and furniture found curbside (as in put out for the trash) or at Goodwill's last-chance bargain annex.

The link below goes to a related post shared on MSWG's blog:

Wig Stand Demonstration - Completing the Paperwork (midsouthwoodturners.com)

My First Wig Stands

The Mid South Woodturners Guild has started a new outreach program to make wig stands in support of cancer patients who have lost their hair during the treatment of their disease.  

These photos are of the first eight wig stands I have completed during the past two weeks in support of this new Giving Back program.   They were made from a variety of different woods and feature multiple forms of embellishment and finishing techniques.

No. 1

No. 2

No. 3

No. 4

No. 5 - Base

Top

Looking down

No. 5 - side view

No. 6

No. 7

No. 8 is my "for now and later" wig stand.  

The base is a stand-alone hollow form with a removable top that allows the hollow form to function as a wig stand during treatment but without the top ("later") it becomes a decorative art piece.