Sandtazam

I would love an opportunity such as this, my only problem is the travel. I own a small business in Tucson and lately it has required all my attention. I recently got a new Powermatic 4224 lathe and I don't even have time to turn on it right now. In a few more weeks I'll be able to get back on it but for now, no extra time. If there were to be something I could do to contribute that could work around my schedule, by all means let me know. I'm building a new workbench that I'll share soon. I had to make time for it out of necessity. Have to hold the work to do the work. 8-) (That's the excuse I'm going with anyway)

The only way I could see it as cheating is if you represent a piece as being done with all hand tools & did it with power tools. If anyone thinks that the great pieces of woodwork through out history were done without jigs, they're in denial. There are different ways to do a project but there's no law that says that there is only one way. Personally I think the technique pictured above is innovative but by no means cheating.

Absolutely stunning!! A very creative mind you have there.

Thanks everyone, the big one will be around 20,000 pieces. Still working on it.

Thanks very much everyone. I've got a couple more done since this one. I'll post them soon.

The big one will be somewhere in the range of 20,000 pieces. Now if I can just make tome to work on it.

Thank you both for such kind compliments. I might suggest 2 books, a tribute to Ray Allan and any book by Malcolm Tibbetts. They were both a heavy inspiration to me. Thanks again.

Bill,

I noticed the table being out of square as well but I clicked on it and lost points. This is a great way to get woodworkers to avoid disaster.
I'd like to throw in an "Almost a disaster" Moment I had happen. I was using a pencil as a push stick on the bandsaw. I forgot to lower the upper guide down to the thickness of my material. By the time the pencil had pushed the piece of wood through the blade, I started feeling the wind off the blade on the top of my hand. Because I was pushing at an angle, by the time the wood was through, my fingers were about 1/2 an inch from the blade with out me even realizing it. Remember guys, always lower the top guide to the surface of your material. BTW the blade I almost got ate by is a 1-TPI carbide nick-named snagletooth. It would have cut my hand down the middle in a nano second. Thank God I felt the wind off the blade.

Personally, I don't have a Leigh, I use an Incra jig. It would be great to win a Leigh. I think it's a fantastic contest idea. Because someone has made DT's doesn't mean they couldn't use this jig. I've heard nothing but good things about this jig. I'll be posting some DT's shortly.

Thank you. Sorry for the poor picture quality. Lacquer is unforgiving when it comes to reflections in the picture. These are quite enjoyable to build. There is another one coming soon.

I've had a saying for decades now. it goes like this: To be the best at what you do requires knowing the right tool for the job. To do the pattern he has done pictured above would take an incredible amount of time. He has created a piece of fine furniture that will make even the best woodworker take a second look. I think in this case and so many others, a tool like this definitely has its place in fine woodworking. |We must keep in mind that the idea came from his mind and the execution was done beautifully. I wish I had a CNC

Bill,

Whimsical, creative, stylish, tells a story, incredible skill level, a mystery. This piece brings so much to the table. Congratulations on such a wonderful piece.

I'm speechless. You sir, have skills beyond imagination. Absolutely amazing.

This piece is absolutely exquisite. I could stare at this for hours. Fantastic job.

Bill,

E-mail sent my friend. Let me know if it got through. I have had issues before sending to Yahoo accounts for some reason. I look forward to meeting you.

At first look you may think this is a common segmented turning but if you look close, you will find that in order to do a round turning with the flat windows, it takes an incredible amount of work. preventing the segments around the windows from becoming uneven from one side of a flat panel to the other required days of planning. In addition, the cross shape holes in the upper, below middle and lower rings is something I'm not sure has ever been done. It was a real challenge as well. Another subtlety is some of the rings with 24 segments are made with compound miter cuts and have to be perfectly round. I think if you delve deeper into the build of Monsoon you will discover it is one of a kind in many ways. I know a lot of these little details can easily be overlooked and I don't expect many people to grasp these things so I hope you don't mind that I bring them to light.
I do thank you very much for your opinion though, and I must say that Ken's piece is an incredible turning as well as Dennis's. I would say both are deserving of the win and they are both an inspiration. Again, thanks to those that felt my work was worthy.

E-mail sent my friend. Give me a call and we can get together.

Thanks,

Thank you so very much. This winning has so many rewards. The fact that I was selected by Fine Wood Working to be a finalist, the votes from the public and my friends, and the DVD's. Everyone in the competition is extremely talented and deserving of a win as well. I look at the other members work and I'm inspired by so many of my fellow wood turners. I really would like to thank Fine Wood Working, my friends and fellow wood workers that voted for my piece. This is a real honor to be recognized by all of you. Especially being surrounded by such talent. God Bless and keep turning.

Bill Wyko,

Beautiful piece. Very unique form that begs to be looked at.

A few years ago I was running a piece through the saw and pushing the board towards the fence. My left hanf slipped and my thumb touched the side of the blade. A shock went through my body like I fell off a cliff and hit concrete. I got lucky that time. I have taken many more precautions since then. The first precaution I've taken since then has been to rember that moment every time I use the saw. Don't taake the chance my fellow wood workers, the saw will win every time.

I forgot to mention I buy wood from the same store Ray use to buy from. About 16 or so years ago he came in to Woodworkers source here in Tucson with one of his enormous, exquisite turnings. It may have even been the one like this. I had no idea what I was looking at but I was so amazed that I couldn't take my eyes off of it. Back then it was so far beyond my comprehension I couldn't begin to understand what had been done to create it. I'm thankful for that day even though I didn't start segmented turning for another 14+ years. What a blessing his work has been to so many of us. Congratulations on such a wonder work of art.

This is a very elegant piece of art. Very nice job.

Thank you very much. This piece was a challenge in many ways. The wood was very hard and the inclusion was very fragile. I was turning it by frequency of the wood. I could hear it getting thinner. At the end, I wrapped it with tape to keep it from going to pieces. This was an extremely enjoyable piece to turn.

Thank you. Segmented turning can be highly addictive. I really enjoy the challenges it presents to me.

Your work is exquisite. Where can I see more. Absolutely stunning.

Very beautiful patterns and shape. A stunning piece for sure.

Exquisite. Absolutely beautiful. I was inspired by the same book. You are a true master of segmenting.

Lonnie, you sir are an inspiration. I've seen your work and video's and all I can say is you are incredibly talented. Good luck.

I always love it when pictures of Mr. Studley's tool cabinet pop up. That piece always inspires me. What a master piece.

Very creative idea, bravo.

I would like to add that the finish is incredible. To create the aged look as well as it has been done here is nothing short of amazing.

While being a beautiful piece, it would have been nice to at least see the inside of this project. Congratulations to the winner. A fine piece of work.

You win. 8-) I saw your incredible work of art in the book 400 boxes. It's, by a wide margin, my favorite piece in the book. Actually it might very well be the finest box I've ever seen.Your work is an inspration to an extreme. I've stared at this piece longer than I'd want to admit. Good luck, though you probably won't need it. Very beautiful work.

Waterfall Bubinga is one of my favorite woods to work with. PM me for pictures of some veneer that'll knock your sox off. The Mngr of WWS showed me pics of this here in Tucson. It's absolutely beautiful.

Dennis, I'm speachless. This is absolutely amazing. The triangular shape really brings it all together. There's no way this could look any better in any other shape. You really brought so many skills together beautifully. My hats off to you.

I know your work. You and I had our pieces featured on the same page in AW last year. Very nice creation.

Absolutely beautiful.

Thank you.Two books, A tribute to Ray Allen and Malcolm Tibbetts book, The art of Segmented Turning. Both have been an Inspiration. I met Ray Allen about 15 years ago. He was at Wood Workers Source here in Tucson. He had one of his giant turnings in the back of a van. It was so far beyond my comprehension I didn't even realize it was over 7000 individual pieces of wood. Needless to say I was in awe. I didn't even know what to say. It wasn't until years later tha I realized just what an opportunity I had. I only wish I could talk with him now but unfortunately he's deceased.

This is such an exquisite piece. Your imagination is astounding. Absolutely beautiful.

This is an absolutely beautiful table. Wonderful idea. I love the legs.

Exquisite Gary. you have a wonderful imagination.

Beautiful Tool Box. Excellent execution.

Very whimsical. I've been meaning to try round turnings. This is a very creative way to express a round turning. Great choice of materials and very nice execution.

Thank you very much. I made the veneers myself on the band saw. Getting it to look like that is done by knowing that Tung oil doesn't look good until you get enough coats over each other. In this case it was 5 or 6 I can't remember. The trick to Tung oil is to use a quality 0000 steel wool after every coat and wait for each coat to fully dry before the next. You know what they say, When you're ready for finish you're only 1/2 finished with the job. Thanks again. Compliments like these are motivating and inspiring.

I just had to say that I do not envy the task of the judges. This contest is exploding with talent everywhere you look. Passion and inspiration on every page. Everyone here is a winner in my book.

I, myself have several boxes in here. I just have to say though, you've done a magnificent job here. I'm kind of like you too. My satisfaction is inner. Honestly, I think the best prize would be that Fine Wood Working recognized the winners work in such high regaurd.

Now THAT's thinking out side the box. Very unusual but I really like it.

Yes and it is also used to create the create the bent lamination as well.

Beautiful work. I'm glad you put it in. See you at SMC

Bill,

I got some bad news today. Fed Ex broke the humidor. Box was damaged. I can fix it though.

Absolutely exquisite. Great work.

Very beautiful. This has a very pleasurable flow to it. I have 4 pieces in here(soon to be 5) as well but yours is an inspiration. Very nice work.

Thank you very much. This piece took me 6 months of evenings and weekends to build. Sometimes I'd have to sit and stare at it for quite some time to determine what would look just right. Then usually around 3:00 AM I'd wake up with the right thing to do. I usually do make a plan for a project but this one just had a calling to cut wood. The Egyptians were masters in their design capabilities. Their architecture is captivating. Thank you again for such kind compliments.

Thank you very much for the compliments. I've been fortunate to find wood with such figure. AS far as the use of the Incra goes, I've developed my own way to use it which gives me a much better end result. It was very difficult to be consistent using their method. Now It can be 100% repeatable so I never have 2 joints with slight differences. Their method is a great starting point though.

Another good question. In these pics the humidor is new. I let the client buy their own humidification device. The Spanish Cedar in the inside actually is not attached to the rest of the box. When I get my Cedar I put the rough lumber in a bag with a humidification device and get the wood up to 65% RH which is what the proper RH is for a humidor. This way it is cut to fit tight. Any movement will be shrinkage durring the build. It will swell back to it's proper dimention when it is re-humidified by the client. It is really important to compensate for wood movement in some way when building a Humidor. The woods expansion capability is far stronger than any glue joint. Even double, double box joints and Dove Tails.

You sir are a true craftsman with vision. This is absolutely stunning. I have 3 pieces entered here but I must comment here where it's desrved. Beautiful job and an inspiration.

Thank you Gentlemen. I gave this to my BIL for X-Mas. He always had a good cigar for me when I come over on the weekends for the family get togethers so I thought I'd return the favor. He now has a space issue so I'm building him a smaller one and I get this one back. I'm almost done so in a few days I get my baby back. Glad you enjoy it. Thanks again.

This piece of art is exquisite. Beautiful work.

Beautiful job. Very unique.

Beautiful work and great choice of woods.

I have 3 pieces here as well but I must say this is absolutely beautiful. My hats off to you. Fantastic job.

This is a wonderful box. Great choice of woods and excellent execution. If you don't mind my asking, what did you use to get that color on the Curly Maple? It looks fantastic.

I too have 3 pieces here and would like to compliment you on your piece. Beautiful.

Nice job and great choice of woods.

That is a fantastic idea. Absolutely beautiful.

That's a good question. The finish is only on areas that are outside of the storage area. the small area about 1/4 inch around the inside of the gasket is not tung oil, it's whipe on poly. Also when it is totally cured there's no odor at all. The other one I have here called Brothers of the Leaf I've used for years now with no issue whats so ever. Thanks for asking.

I have to thank all my friends in the Cigar world for that. Lots of fine people. I build Humidors for many of them.

WOW, that is absolutely georgous. There goes my chance of winning. 8-) Who knows. Very creative and wonderful craftsmanship. Good luck. I think you'll be in their top picks. Nicely done.

This is quite a stunning piece. Beautiful design and it has great flow to it. I'm guessing you'll be on the short list. Great job.

Nice job. The sides look to be cut from a turning. Great idea. I may have to put that to some use in the future.

Very nice work and very creative as well.