Flying Saucer Vessel

[gitano]

Next up on the woodworking front is a segmented box I have technically been working on for a while now. "Technically" because I had to wait for some special stain I wanted to use. I got that stain and finished the piece.

The body and lid/finial of the vessel is made of "American ebony". It's called American ebony because it is the same genus as the several other species of true ebonies found around the globe: Diospyros. The species is "virginiana". You know it better as "persimmon". Nevertheless, it is a true "ebony".

Due to its strength and density, persimmon was prized up through the middle 20th century for use in making golf clubs. The term "wood" to describe golf drivers comes from the fact that the best ones used to be made from wood - persimmon wood.

Persimmon is very 'nice' wood to work. It machines almost like soft metal. Because it rarely has much black-colored wood, its grain is not commonly figured, and the tree doesn't grow a large, STRAIGHT trunk, it is not particularly sought out by American woodworkers. (I, on the other hand, seek it enthusiastically.)

The 'equatorial' band you see is made of bulletwood (Manilkara bidentata), and black spruce (Picea mariana). The 'foot' is made of hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna). The lid/finial and the foot have been 'stained' with India ink. I have tried every "wood" stain available in the US, and none of them were remotely satisfactory in creating an ebony-like blackness. India ink does. AND, it's cheap, readily available, and doesn't require special dispensation from the Pope to ship to The End of the Road. Normally, I don't care for stain, but in the case of these finials of American EBONY, I am perfectly fine with coloring them black. As for the hawthorn foot: I just made that piece while I was waiting for the India ink to arrive. Once it did, I decided to see how the hawthorn looked when stained. It's OK, so I left it for the time being. I may change it in the future.

As usual, I didn't start taking pictures until I was well into the process, so these pictures are absent early effort. This first picture is actually well along in the process, when I was making the finial/lid. The idea was a 'drop', starting at the top of the finial, elongated in the vertical. With each additional section the 'drop' shortened and flattened. In the middle, was a circle, followed by two more extending the ellipsoids laterally, finally resulting in the vessel itself. Unfortunately, as I was finish-sanding the piece, (with 0000 steel wool), the steel wool 'caught', and broke the top ellipsoid off. (Lots of sailor-talk at that moment. :lipsrsealed:) There was a possibility that I might be able to fix it by drilling small (1/32") holes in the bottom of the ellipsoid and the top of the intact spindle, and gluing a dowel in to hold them together.    (The second picture below shows turning that 1/32nd inch diameter dowel.) Unfortunately, because the shaping was finished, AND there was no way to PERFECTLY center the dowel hole on the finial end, AND there was no material left to turn away and re-true the tip-top, I couldn't keep that top ellipsoid. :frown I sharpened the stub to a point and called it 'good'. The problem was, to my eye it wasn't "good".  It looked too 'clunky'. I had to make another.









This next picture shows the equatorial band glued up and clamped with a band clamp. Once the glue had dried, the  band was put in the lathe chuck and trued and reduced to final thickness.




In this picture the shaping is close to finished. I still need to cut the lip for the lid.



Here's the piece with the lip for the lid finished and the "finish" applied.


Here's the  'finished' piece from the side showing a close-up of the equatorial band and the foot.



Here's the same, but without the finish and still mounted in the chuck.


And here's the finished piece with the second finial/lid stained and polished.








There is going to be a 'mate' to this vessel. The body of this one was turned from a larger piece of persimmon that I split in half. The other half of that bigger block will be made into another vessel with dimensions identical to this one, but with a slightly different 'look'. I haven't decided yet exactly how that look will differ. The body will be as identical as I am able to make it. The finial and foot may be different, but if so, they won't differ too much. The equatorial band will be the same dimensionally, but will be of different materials.

Since I know what's 'up' with the second piece, I'll start taking pictures from the start. Because it will be the 'twin' of this piece, that sequence of pictures should clarify a bit about where this piece started.


Paul

[Paul Hoskins]

This sort of thing is enough to test the patience of Job.  It is beautiful but to me of no practical value since I have no use for it. Paul, you certainly do great woodwork. I've noted  it before in your stock making. Looking forward to te next episode. .....Paul H ...

[gitano]

Thanks, Paul.

There is a small amount of practical use for this thing; I have filled it with jelly beans. ��

Paul

[j0e_bl0ggs (deceased)]

You need design in a delivery hatch for the jelly beans...

[gitano]

Maybe. That would be novel, but the original design was not "flying saucer". That's just what people have been conditioned to interpret when they see this shape. Every time I show it to someone, they say "Is it a flying saucer?" That's the reality of 'today', so I can live with it. (Actually, there is no choice but to 'live' with that Hollywood-indoctrinated perception.) However, putting a 'delivery hatch' in it would certainly seal the flying saucer image in design.

Paul

[j0e_bl0ggs (deceased)]

I would like to place an order for a 'forbidden planet' bean saucer - with dispenser chute...

[Jamie.270]

I'm having trouble getting a sense of scale with it.
How big is it?
The OD for instance,...

[gitano]

Jamie. 270: OD is just a skosh under 6".

Paul