Orbsession

Am I the first to say, "Nice balls, Nathan!" ?

They're pretty, even if they are cracked and rotted.

I won' t say they are nice I'll Just say you've got big amazing balls!

Wow those are really cool! The ones with inlay remind me of Boulder Opals. The ones without inlay would make great planets for a model of the solar system.

Thanks for posting.

Really good job of turning Nathan!

Those are really cool!!

Jim

GORGEOUS WORK!

Thanks guys.

LOL. Not sure what I was thinking posting "ball's to LJ. I can always count on you guys for a laugh. Subconsciously I think I knew the jokes that would inevitably come up. That is probably why I called them spheres and orbs.

BTW, I forgot to mention that I fairly closely followed the freehand method demonstrated on the As Wood Turns Youtube channel. Mine are by no means perfect spheres but what I discovered is that they look nearly perfect so it doesn't matter for decorative pieces.

Those look great Nathan! I was going to ask what sphere-turning jig you made but now I see you didn't use a jig. That's encouraging )

Truly amazing Nathan! These must require a light touch and patients. Super turning buddy!

Beautiful !!! I may have to try my hand at one of these. Hope they come out at least half as good as yours. Excellent job !!! Mel

Give it try guys. The process was actually pretty simple, though the first one kept getting smaller and smaller as I figured it out. I think that what I figured out when I did the second one is not to worry too much about it being perfect. Sanding and polishing makes them look pretty darn perfect-that Mylands Friction Polish is amazing stuff. The one exception was the dogwood one. It was a little punky and the new epoxy I used to fill some voids was so much harder than the wood that sanding just made the wood smaller and smaller without affecting the epoxy and it just started getting more and more odd shaped so I finally just stopped and applied a finish. My favorites were the two bois d'arc ones (pictures 1 & 6). That wood looked polished right off the bowl gouges I used to get a final shear cut. In fact, I didn't have to sand the 2 bases made from the offcuts except to polish the brass/epoxy inlay in the first one.

They are absolutely fantastic - lovely colours and wood samples.

Pretty cool spheres.

love em all pretty cool

GREAT JOB :<)))) GRATZ TOP 3

This is why I work with wood. An ordinary dull block of wood can product such beauty with the right touch and thought. Great job

They really catch the eye, nice work!

I'm a little late to this party but these are super cool.
Great variety and fantastic work. I'm not sure which is my favorite because they are all great.
Love the inlays.

Thanks, MrWolfe. They are really fun to make. Every time I make one, I end up making several. The inlays are a great way to use some cracked wood that might otherwise be unusable. I posted a few more in this project if you are interested.