Bill Noble
Eucalyptus lamp, finished in lacquer, contains a CFL, the triangular object is the on/off switch - it is hollowed from both ends
Goblet turned in a single pass from freshly cut eucalyptus.  Turned until
light shone uniformly through the top part, finished in lacquer -
distortions are what eucalyptus does when it dries

Monterey Cypress
September 08
Ficus
September 08

 
I have been making items on a lathe for a number of years, and before that I have made metal sculpture, jewelry, and other kinds of wood working, as well as restoring antique automobiles. Turned wood is an interesting art form for me  - there are tools and machines to be mastered, and then there is the wood itself.  Really all you have to do is put a piece of wood on the lathe and then remove all the parts that don't belong.  The artistry is in removing the right parts to reveal what the wood has to say. Each piece, if turned right, will reveal an interesting pattern in the wood, complemented by the shape.  The symmetry of the shape forms a nice contrast to the asymmetry of the grain.  In this way, turned wood is very different from metal working or cabinet making because it is the grain and the inherent characteristics of the wood that determine the way a given piece should be shaped, as much if not more so than any predefined notion of form. 

 

 Lathe - Nova Comet (mini) and a Stubby 1000

tools - bowl gouge, skew, parting tool

Finish - as specified for each piece. 

Contact - 

Web site - http://www.wbnoble.com   

3 in diameter burl wood bowl, oil finish		 About these photos:

If you compare these photos to the others in the gallery you can see the difference that a good camera can make.  The really bad pictures were taken with a Kodak DC20 digital camera - as you can see, the camera cannot handle contrast very well, has a very shallow depth of field, and it picks up the 60 Hz from fluorescent lights (photo at left).  But, it's what I had.  Background is conductive foam plastic from some electronics packaging.

The better quality pictures were taken with a Minolta DiMAGE X.  The improvement in quality is quite striking.  For example, compare the two images below.

Lemon wood base and finial, sycamore root ball with lacquer finish.7 inches high. (photo taken with the DC-20, note focus and resolution problems - this is as good as that camera gets)
Olive wood vase, 6.5 inches high, finished in lacquer Click image to enlarge
   

Ficus 13 " diameter - sold at Brand Library "From Wood to Treasure" show
Cypress (about 18 inches) from near San Luis Obispo (not for sale)		 I like to call this plate "Great Caesar's Ghost, for obvious reasons - it's Cottonwood, with some spalting, cut from a crotch.  The wood is very soft and porous so it's not all that easy to turn.  The finish is high gloss lacquer. This is another scanner photo. Click on the image to see a larger version - click back on your browser to return here.
   

click image to enlarge (Sold)		 Carob and lacquer, 7 inches high, 8 inches wide. Click image to enlarge. (Sold by Ilan Dei Gallery) 

I called this my Owl bowl - its less apparent in the picture than when you hold it in your hands, but it really has the face of an owl.  This was from the crotch of a branch from a fairly large tree.  Wall thickness is about 1/2 inch.  The color is the natural color of the carob wood.
Oak, turned very wet, note warping - also note that this is from a "Y" and includes three (count them, THREE" piths that did not split - the trick - turn it thin in a single setting and then stop and leave it alone.		  
 
Click image to enlarge

Silky Oak (from Australia), 4 inches diameter, oil and wax finish.  .  This wood turns nicely and looks good, but I had a rather severe reaction to the dust from this wood, I won't be turning any more of it.  Beware of this family of wood unless you are almost totally immune to poison oak/ivy/sumac.

  

last updated 12/05/2008