I was just finishing this piece when a tornado touched down, destroying several homes and wreaking havoc throughout our neighbor city of Dexter MI. The wood is Curly swamp maple and was harvested from Dexter just a couple months before the big storm.
This was one of those pieces that just seemed to come together easily. The wet wood cut beautifully and was incredibly easy to hollow. I added the spiral grooves with my Cable Driven Spiral System and blended them using a carbide burr. I dried the piece in Isopropyl Alcohol and when it was time to add the finial, I simply looked through my box-o-finials and there was this ash spiral that perfectly topped off the whole piece.
The piece was bleached and finished with Krylon spray matte finish and measures 14 tall with the finial.
Comments are welcome and appreciated
-Jeff