Oak burr N/E panel.

[Les Symonds]

I've been wanting to have a go at one of these for a long time. It seems that lots of turners make them and I've taken my inspiration from several that I've seen recently, so it's no great design breakthrough, but this is just my personal take on a popular subject. It's a single piece of oak burr, about 60cm (2ft) long and 25cm (10") wide, with the outer wings scorched and lime-waxed, a very light coat of copper gilding cream on the outer disc, with the inner disc left plain and a Welsh slate 'washer' set into the centre. The stand is a slice of the burr that I cut off the back of this piece, before I turned it, and the legs are oxidised brass rods.







C&C always welcome...Les

[edbanger]

Well Les now who's getting arty 

Love it - must have taken a bit of turning but looks worth every minute you've spent on it

Ed

[Les Symonds]

Well Les now who's getting arty 

Love it - must have taken a bit of turning but looks worth every minute you've spent on it

Ed

Cheers Ed...whilst making this I understood why everybody seems to apply strong textures to the outer wings. I worked it out that at the outer-most part of the wings, I was turning 2% wood and 98% air...scary stuff and just about impossible to achieve an un-textured finish.
Les

[malcy]

Very arty, Les. Lovely piece of burr and well turned out. Well done. Malcolm.

[rick_dobney]

Very nice piece Les. The finish on the bare oak is fantastic.
The scorched, lime waxed and gilt finished outer areas along with the slate washer give a great balanced contrast to the piece.
I bet it's even more impressive in the flesh...the photo gives me the impression that it's a smaller piece.

Having turned one of these 'propellers', I know how difficult this amount of fresh air can be. Accurate, sharp and steady tooling is essential but what speed did you turn it at? I'm also intrigued, did you manage to reverse it to finish the base and if so, how did you go about it?

Thanks for posting
Rick

[Les Symonds]

Thanks Malcolm/Rick....Goodness knows what the lathe speed was....I suspect it was a low as 150rpm for the wings, but a little faster when I was working closer to the centre.
As for reversing it....I settled for turning a 100mm sycamore 'button' which fits into the chuck recess and that has all the pyrographed details of the piece on it. I've reversed some crazy shapes in my time, usually by clamping them against a 30" plywood disc, but i didn't think that this piece would take the stress of being clamped against the ply. In my mind, the desire to clean up every chuck recess can be taken just a bit too far at times, what's more important is that 1) I keep safe and 2) I find an alternate method of presenting the reverse professionally.
Les

[rick_dobney]

Couldn't agree more Les...safety first in both respects, speed and reversing.
I've used your approach of clamping to a backboard for reversing but as you rightly say, the strength and stability of the piece can dictate whether or not this is an option.

Great piece...love it.

Cheers
Rick

[GBF]

Very nice Les

Regards George

[Les Symonds]

Very nice Les

Regards George

Thank you, George....I'm pleased that you like it.
Les

[Gary Lowe]

I've been wanting to have a go at one of these for a long time. It seems that lots of turners make them and I've taken my inspiration from several that I've seen recently, so it's no great design breakthrough, but this is just my personal take on a popular subject. It's a single piece of oak burr, about 60cm (2ft) long and 25cm (10") wide, with the outer wings scorched and lime-waxed, a very light coat of copper gilding cream on the outer disc, with the inner disc left plain and a Welsh slate 'washer' set into the centre. The stand is a slice of the burr that I cut off the back of this piece, before I turned it, and the legs are oxidised brass rods.







C&C always welcome...Les

Well done Les,

You have created a beautiful piece here. I've done a few pieces like this and they do make you keep your wits about you. A great bit of oak with just enough decoration. The scorched wings and slate really set it off well.

Best Regards

Gary

[georg]

              Well must say after seeing this piece in real life a couple of days ago,  the photo does not do this piece justice for
              the impact it presents .... Well Done Les.
              Regards Tony Di
             

[DDB]

Nice piece Les, like the slate, as you say now you know why people use alternative texturing on the outer edges, gets a bit daunting cutting that much fresh air, my only slightly negative comment would be that I think I'd prefer the base to be darker colour to possibly tie in with the slate colours you already have, think it detracts from the natural areas too much.

Regards Darren

[Bryan Milham]

Les,

I've looked and looked at this since you posted it, and don't know what to say

Speechless!

[Tony Kairo]

I like this Les - A nice sculptural piece right up my street

[Dancie]

I think this is beautiful and nicely photographed too, I do wonder if just one stand / leg would've been better though. . . . . . . . just my two penath