El Dorado

Nice placement of the heartwood to catch the eye, and the way the modular ray's form the star-burst effect.

Ditto, Robert. Very nice!
Don L.

Very nicely done! What is the Camino Real?

very nice

Thank you Bernie and Don, Dale and Charlie. Dale, the Camino Real is the trail that connected the missions from Loreto in Baja to Sonoma in northern CA starting in the late 1600's. Today a portion of it is Highway 101. This Oak had a bole that was six feet in diameter for twenty feet and was hundreds of years old and may have provided shade for early travelers.

El Dorado was turned when the wood was very wet, parted off, and then dried. The pith runs through the piece which dried oval with a half inch differential. After drying, I hand sanded the piece with 220 then 400 grit and sprayed one thin coat of finish.

Bob-An excellent shape alone but also perfect use of the rays extending out from the center. Do you have any of this wood left?

Thanks Wayne. An email went out to a couple hundred local woodturners in my area that an Oak was coming down in Calabasas on a Saturday and I was the only woodturner who showed up. A few others came and had their pickups filled for firewood. This behemoth could have filled a hundred pickups with oak, but the owner came and kicked us off the property. The local arborists are happy to give it away as the landfill fees are so high here and there's not a huge demand for firewood. I was able to get some nice bowls and hollow forms roughed out and will post photos of some of them as they complete.