A Large Handcrafted Segmented Purpleheart, Curly Maple, & Sapele Wooden Vase

Description

A Large Handcrafted Segmented Purpleheart, Curly Maple, & Sapele Wooden Vase

This Large Purpleheart, Curly Maple, & Sapele Wooden Vase vase took four months to glue up and was a fun turning on my lathe. This is one of the largest vase that I have made to date. There 721 pieces glued together.

This is Purpleheart, Curly Maple, & Sapele segmented wooden vase is made with wood purchased from Central America. It has 721 pieces  glued together. This provides two benefits over turning a bowl from a solid blank. First, there’s less waste because the blank will already be hollow. Second, when turning, you’re nearly always cutting with the grain of the wood, rather than across it. The exception being the disk at the bottom. This reduces tearing, wear on the tools, and makes mounds of those shaving ribbons that are so satisfying to watch fountain off the work-piece and pile up on the floor.

This bowl was hand crafted and turned on my wood lathe.

Purpleheart is an exotic wood with mechanical properties of the wood are reported to lie somewhere between those of Greenheart and Oak. It is reported to have exceptional tolerance for shock loading. Purpleheart is reported to be highly desired by hobbyists and craftsmen who use the hard heavy wood in small projects.

Curly Maple (Tiger Maple) is traditional hard maple with a soft and flowing figure. The hard maple is the state tree of Wisconsin, Vermont, New York and West Virginia. In the North, during the cold nights and warm days of late winter, the sugar maple is tapped for its sucrose-containing sap, the source of maple syrup. Until the turn of the century, the heels of women’s shoes were made from maple. Curly Maple (Tiger Maple) has been a favorite of American furniture makers since early Colonial days.

Sapele Heartwood is a golden to dark reddish brown. Color tends to darken with age. Besides the common ribbon pattern seen on quartersawn boards, Sapele is also known for a wide variety of other figured grain patterns, such as: pommele, quilted, mottled, wavy, beeswing, and fiddleback. Grain is interlocked, and sometimes wavy. Fine uniform texture and good natural luster.

Vintage charm and character abound in our handmade wood turnings.  Each lovingly hand crafted is turned on my lathe and will surely impress your guests.

Dimensions:

7 3/4 inches  diameter by 15 1/2 inches tall.