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My current projects

coquinncoquinn Posts: 12 ✭
in General Discussion
Hi everyone,
Thanks for having me, I've only made one other post... Incorrectly... and yet still got a warm welcome, thank you.

I'm going to try to attach some of my current ashtrays I'm working on.(and one I've finished)

Please let me know how you would like to see an ashtray. More notches for cigars? Less? Deeper? What about cigar holder posts? Wider dish? More shallow? 

Help me out here, I want to make the guys at TPE double take at it when I get to goo to another show (thanks to everyone that welcomes us hookah folks) 
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    90+_Irishman90+_Irishman Posts: 12,408 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Some really neat projects and a lot of quality work, you certainly have talent and it's cool seeing the different ideas. Thanks for sharing!

    Brett
    "When walking in open territory bother no one. If someone bothers you, ask them to stop. If they do not stop, destroy them."
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    CigarPunkCigarPunk Posts: 826 ✭✭✭✭
    Nice work. Just keep doing what feels right. 
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    johnnyBjohnnyB Posts: 1,553 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Those look great, cool to see 
    Non Crux sed lux
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    GuitardedGuitarded Posts: 4,647 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Marty that is absolutely beautiful art! 
    How long were you planning on hiding that from us?!?
    I am not sure whether to be ecstatic to see it, or pissed because I have not seen it before!
    Friends don't let good friends smoke cheap cigars.
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    jlmartajlmarta Posts: 7,881 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited August 2016
    Well, I wasn't trying to 'one-up' @coquinn, but I wanted to show him what could be accomplished while trying to deal with cracks, checks, voids, etc. 

    And I wasn't really trying to hide it - I just never had a reason before. I didn't want folks to think I was just tooting my own horn....  :#

    But many thanks for the kind words, Mike. They're appreciated....
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    GuitardedGuitarded Posts: 4,647 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Marty, You just never know when some old fart is going to show a hidden talent!!
    @coquinn beautiful work! I like the dark center of the ashtray and the natural bark left on the others is beautiful. My eye is drawn to the unique shapes rather than traditional round. Just my opinion. Keep up the great art!
    Friends don't let good friends smoke cheap cigars.
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    First_WarriorFirst_Warrior Posts: 3,171 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Nice work from both @coquinn and Marty. The lathe is a wonderful tool to allow self expression.  Keep Turning!
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    webmostwebmost Posts: 7,713 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Wish I had a lathe again.
    “It has been a source of great pain to me to have met with so many among [my] opponents who had not the liberality to distinguish between political and social opposition; who transferred at once to the person, the hatred they bore to his political opinions.” —Thomas Jefferson (1808)
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    coquinncoquinn Posts: 12 ✭
    jlmarta said:
    You do some nice work, @coquinn. Thanks for showing it. 

    For starters, let me say that Rodger, @First_Warrior, does turning of a professional nature and he's far better at it and more artistic than I am. 

    One of the tricks I've learned to deal with checking and other voids or faults is to mix up a little fiberglass resin and fill the checks or voids with it. Do this when the object is rough-turned and then finish turning it once the resin cures. Another thing I do occasionally is to mix a drop of colorant of some sort into the resin to draw the eye to it. When you make it obvious people will know you weren't trying to hide it and failed. The photo of the walnut platter will show you what I mean. The red area was a void where the walnut stump had grown around a clod of dirt. While I was turning the platter I got to a point where my gouge suddenly went dull. After touching it up a couple times I looked closer to see what was dulling my gouge. When I saw the clod of dirt, I used an awl to scratch away at it until I dug away all the dirt. The down side is that the clod went all the way through what was left of my platter blank. I mixed up some resin and added the red colorant because, to my eye, the red went well with the walnut wood. 

    Another way I deal with shrinkage and checking is to build laminated blanks out of smaller pieces of various woods and with the grain running whichever way they may, or whichever way I choose. The photo of the ashtray will show you what I mean in this regard. I use a 1" core box router bit mounted to a router and router table to machine the stirrups for the cigars. I just jig the ashtray upside down on the table surface and run it over the bit until the desired depth is reached. 

    A friend once gave me a bunch of mahogany that had been book shelves but which she had torn out when she remodeled. I learned a neat trick to make, say, a 10" bowl out of a single piece of mahogany that measured 11"X11"X1". See the photo. The inlaid stripes weaving around the bowl are pieces of veneer. This bowl was intended as a gift but ended up being a reject (by me) so I kept it. Can't give a less-than-perfect gift to someone.... 

    As a thank-you gift, I made a weed pot for her out of some of the mahogany. The pin-striped weed pot employs pieces of various veneers to accentuate the mahogany stripes. I then made a larger one for myself. 

    And, speaking of weed pots, the one with the flower petals was just a practice piece I did when I was trying to figure out how to make straight pieces of wood laminated into the blank appear to be curved. 

    Anyway, these are just some examples of my work over the years. I was totally self-taught so feel free to take my suggestions with a grain of salt. If I can help with any tips or tricks just let me know. I'm always glad to share woodworking lore. And as for tricks, I really enjoyed turning what I called 'tricky s h i t.'  Things that folks can't figure out how I did them. 

    Hey Marty,

    I'm not too concerned with cracks and shrinking currently, I've actually played around with turning a full bowl from green wood and leaving it in a hot shed so it will warp and crack, gives some nice character.

    I'm also self taught, been turning here at work for about 2 years now, mostly making hookah stems (pictures of our 2 new catalog models I made below)


    I've made a handful of bowls and some random other projects, I'll attach pictures of that too. One of my other projects is a two chamber Native American flute, which is normally made by cutting a dowel in half and carving from the inside, but I was determined to make it from one solid piece.....harder than I thought it would be.

    Some of these pictures are of projects that are not finished or polished, and probably won't be due to the wood quality. But the two hookah stems that are clearly polished are cherry and maple wood sanded to 2000 grit and "shine juiced" up to that glass finish.


    One thing you might want to try for filling cracks that's MUCH easier than messing with resin is some metal inlay. Simply take metal shavings (copper, aluminum, silver, gold, whatever. just make sure its very fine shavings, almost powder) sprinkle that into the cracks then take some ultra thin CA glue and drop some into the powder, it will solidify and look like solid metal instead of powder, then you can sand down and finish. I've also done this with some cobalt blue hookah vases I smashed into dust.
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    jlmartajlmarta Posts: 7,881 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Wow!  Very nice indeed. I'm particularly intrigued by the pieces where you've 'mixed the media' so to speak - the resin and cherry piece or what appears to be the base of a hookah. 

    If I understand correctly, you've cast a resin blank onto a piece of cherry making it a solid unit. Then you turned it from that point?

    What about the variegated purple/lavender swirled base on the hookah thingy?  You turned that, too? How did you cast the swirled part?

    Sideways deviations from the norm like that really pique my curiosity and make me wish I were thirty years younger again. I no longer have the stamina to stand in front of a lathe for long periods of time like I used to. 

    You show a lot of talent and a healthy curiosity to try new things. I've got a couple other turnings you might be interested in. I call them 'tricky-s h I t' items because they're fun to do and make people wonder how you did them. If you'd like to know more about this type of thing just let me know. 

    Thanks again for showing us some of your work. 


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    coquinncoquinn Posts: 12 ✭
    Hey Marty,

    I am constantly looking for new projects. I find each time I try something new, I learn a technique I can apply to everything else.

    The sherry and resin piece was turned to a rough sphere half, taped up then purple tinted resin poured in. once that cured, turned that to shape, sanded and then microwaved it to heat the resin then poured another layer over the top that fell down over the cherry. then just shape up that outer coat and BAM, resin encased half sphere of wood. to get the swirly part in the resin, just don't mix the color in well. I've found that perfect casts lack character, but if you get some swirls of undiluted color and even the occasional air bubble, you get a lot more to look at.

    My only major issue is I don't have a lathe of my own. I use the one up at work, which we recently moved out of the shed in the back and inside (since Georgia has been in the 100+ for a while and I was dying outside) which means I can't come turn when the office is closed like I used to.

    My goal is to try and save up to buy a nice midi lathe, chuck, and some decent tools so I can start turning items to sell (or ideally, turn custom pieces for people I know will appreciate them) I recently graduated in electrical systems and PLCs, but haven't tried to find a career there yet because the artistic part of me wants to start selling wood for a living....but without a lathe, that boat ain't gonna float. I've also lost a bit of drive after loosing my father on Memorial day (that's what possessed me to turn that cherry urn I showed pictures of....left the natural cracks to remind me how life always has it's problems, but you work around them and create something worthwhile with whats left) He was very supportive of my work and was going to help me purchase and set up a woodworking shed on our land....but I've got a few more bills and debts than I was expecting after loosing him so I don't really have the scratch to go buy myself a lathe.

    Again, sorry to be so long winded, I get a bit carried away talking about turning.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 3,917 ✭
    I've always loved woodwork and the two of you, along with other forum members, are truly talented and artistic individuals. Do either of you sell any of your work?
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    jlmartajlmarta Posts: 7,881 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Naw. Mine was just for the self-satisfaction of doing it and for giving away when the mood struck me. I've compared my work to that of others and mine couldn't compete, I think. 

    Thanks for asking, though....    B)
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    coquinncoquinn Posts: 12 ✭
    I have been turning mostly for myself and gifts for folks, haven't sold anything as of yet, but I wouldn't mind the idea of making items to sell...
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    coquinncoquinn Posts: 12 ✭
    Bigshizza said:
    Trading for cigars is good too..
    That is a good idea! 

    Let me figure out my own setup, and I can do custom work for trades. Excited about the thought.

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    NorthsideSmokeNorthsideSmoke Posts: 515 ✭✭✭✭
    Oh, I would be in on one of those ashtrays :)
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    jlmartajlmarta Posts: 7,881 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Check your inbox, @coquinn.....   B)
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    coquinncoquinn Posts: 12 ✭
    Thanks for all the comments everyone, sorry I've been busy IRL, with my girlfriends Grandmother passing and her sister being diagnosed with cancer all in the same weekend. Anyone who does....please pray for them them.

    Hopefully I can become more active in a few weeks time and share some new projects.

    Thanks,
    -Cecil
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    90+_Irishman90+_Irishman Posts: 12,408 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I'm so sorry to hear that Cecil, prayers with you and your family!

    Brett
    "When walking in open territory bother no one. If someone bothers you, ask them to stop. If they do not stop, destroy them."
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    Ryan1990Ryan1990 Posts: 526 ✭✭✭✭
    Oh man. So sorry to hear that @coquinn! Hang in there, man! Prayers up for you, your girlfriend, and her sister. 

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    YaksterYakster Posts: 25,768 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Prayers en route.
    Join us on Zoom vHerf (Meeting # 2619860114 Password vHerf2020 )
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    johnnyBjohnnyB Posts: 1,553 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Praying for you and yours 
    Non Crux sed lux
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    coquinncoquinn Posts: 12 ✭
    Quick update.

    First I'd like to say thanks to everyone who has prayed for us. GF's sister has had the port for Chemo put in and yesterday she had to have a colostomy bag put in. But her spirits are high, she won't be counted out just yet.
    We've been back and fourth from south GA up to ATL on the weekends to help take care of their one year old girl, to give the grandparents a bit of a break.

    Long road ahead of them, so I just want to try and do as much as I can to make things easier on them.

    Thanks again for your prayers and please keep them coming.
    -Cecil
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    90+_Irishman90+_Irishman Posts: 12,408 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Continued prayers your way Cecil, hope that everything works out as well as it possibly can for y'all and your GF's sister and family!

    Brett
    "When walking in open territory bother no one. If someone bothers you, ask them to stop. If they do not stop, destroy them."
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    Ryan1990Ryan1990 Posts: 526 ✭✭✭✭
    Thanks for the update, @coquinn. Glad to hear her spirits are high. We'll continue praying for her!

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    jlmartajlmarta Posts: 7,881 ✭✭✭✭✭
    She'll have my prayers as well, Cecil. As a cancer survivor myself I know the power of prayer. 

    Its good that she's had a port installed. They opted for a PICC in my case but the port is far better (IMO) and they're easier and more practical to deal with. 
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    coquinncoquinn Posts: 12 ✭
    Thanks guys, I did just happen across a go fund me page made by one of her Husband's high school classmates. https://www.gofundme.com/2kccukbg

    I'm still just trying to wrap my head around how young they are, going through this...

    thanks again for the prayers, as I hear news I'll try to update

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