insert wood for vessel of illusion

[Breck Whitworth]

I want to try a vessel of illusion that Trent has made famous but was wondering if there are certain types of wood to turn thin then boil in order to bend it allowing it to be inserted. I am guessing a close grain wood similar to sycamore would be a good choice, but I need someone with experience to let me know what works best for you?

 

[john lucas]

look up woods that are good for bending. You should be able to find that. Oak has been used for years in Windsor chairs. I've seen Trent do that demo but it was a very very long time ago and don't remember the species he suggested. Turn it thin. Chris Ramsey uses a lot of maple for his Cowboy hats and some of them have a lot of bends.

 

[egsiegel]

I've had good results with cherry and maple.
Mesquite does not work at all.

I've also had good luck with using a microwave to steam the piece...
wet the piece. wrap in wet paper towels. microwave for about 3 minutes....depending on the piece and your microwave.
When I did this as a demo for my club there were gasps as I bent the piece in half like paper with no cracking.

here is a link to the right up from my demo...pretty much based on Trent's concept, but my version. I gave him lot's of credit during the demo.
http://www.woodcny.org/uploads/1/1/8/9/118950963/peeled_lip_vessel.pdf

 

[Mark Wollschlager]

I have seen Trent do the demo a couple of times, and in VA he used cherry.

 

[Bill Boehme]

when I took a class from Trent several years ago we used cherry.

 

[hockenbery]

I have not made a vessel of illusion but have been Trent’s assistant 6 times or so when he taught it in classes.
And probably seen the demo another 4-5 times. So got to cut lots of blanks. And help people turn them.

Critical is selecting a blank that has straight near parallel side grain. The endgrain s should be very little curve. See @egsiegel Diagram in the link above. And cut the blank face parallel to the side grain. You will likely have more success with a poor bending wood with straight grain than you will with a good bending wood that has angled grain.

You want a wood that has contrast to the wood of the vessel. A cherry insert in a cherry vessel sort of defeats the purpose. Since the piece is thin many woods will bend. You can often get an poor bending wood to work by turning 4 inserts and hoping to not break more than 3. Trent uses cherry a lot in classes and demos because it makes a a nice contrast with the vessel wood that is not cherry and it bend reliably.

Fundamentally you should familiarize yourself with woodbending. Here is a good overview.
The little pieces can just be in boiling water.
https://www.leevalley.com/us/html/05F1501ie.pdf

The chart below shows the importance of parallel grain.

 

[hockenbery]

I should add here that Trent is one of the most innovative people I know.
He has so many unique series of pieces that he has developed.

When he came up with the vessel of illusion it blew people away.
He then created a dozen other unique turnings. Invented using video for hollowing.

Visitig
http://trentbosch.com/portfolio/. You will see 13 different lines of work. At least 10 are unique lines if work.
Under the functional series you will see 4 unique lines of work.
If you think everything has been turned look at all the new work Trent came up with.