that is a gorgeous brush..

Yes, I only make one at a time. I will mix my own finish at times too. I would like to try pouring my own resins, maybe this summer sometime. I like color. I have played with stabilizing wood. I worked for the city and knew the City Forester quite well so if he found some interesting wood he'd usually save it for me, basically burls. I live in an area that's not a tree rich environment. Unfortunately my straight razor habit keeps me broke most of the time so I don't have the the cash needed to experiment as much as I'd like.

Looks real nice-as do all of his creations.

Great curves and proportions.

Thank, Paul, but you don’t see the ones that hit the garbage! My next resin/wood combo after this one didn’t harden properly. I think my basement was too cold, actually. Ended up binning a few blanks.

Super rad topic. As far as approach goes...

First, music is turned up real loud- Motorhead or Bongzilla would both be excellent choices. Then I'll rip the blank on my table saw so it's pretty square. Mount it in a chuck with a live center and part off the very top edge so it's clean. Drill out the hole with a forstner bit on low speed, sand, and coat with 4 layers of CA if there's anything non-resin exposed. If the hole only goes into resin I'll leave it alone. Flip it around and attach with pin-jaw chuck. Turn high speed to final shape with a live center. Remove center and finish bottom. Drop to slow speed and sand, 10 coats CA, wet sand, polish, and buff all in reverse rotation. ( I find it easier to do this stuff with the handle pulling away from me rather than pushing towards me.) These were the only pics I had on hand- 3 different blanks but you get the idea.

Awesome pics and stunning results! You do 10 full coats of CA glue on the lathe? I’ve never used it as a finish. Does it take all 10 to build up enough, or to shine enough?
Since you do your own pours, what do you use as a form?

10 coats will shine up like glass and will withstand a hell of a lot of abuse. I use HDPE plastic for rectangular molds. You could also hot glue up some foam core for a mold and just turn it off on the lathe. Depends on the resin you want to use and how long the work time is.

Hmmm...I have a decent table saw, miter saw and a lathe. What am I waiting for?

Thanks to all for the inspiration!

This was the Resin I used for the mixed wood/resin brush that Jim showed above.

With this metallic pigment:


I picked these products for two main reasons. One- they were available in my town without having to order them in. Two- I could use it in the basement without a respirator.
Do you have a preferred product I should look for instead?

Interesting thread boys. Love wood handles brushes. Jason that bowl is super

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Here is a lidded bowl from start to finish from this afternoon. I apologize in advance for the number of pics.

The bowl part can be screwed right onto a faceplate, as it will be hollowed out anyway:

The bottom and outside are then shaped. You will notice a recess in the bottom. That is for the chuck jaws to ‘grab’ from the inside. It also enables the bowls to be stacked, even with a rounded top. I sand the bottom as well at this point, as you can’t do it with the chuck in place:

Next, the faceplate is unscrewed, and the bowl is turned around and held with the chuck. If you don’t have a chuck, you can reattach a blank and screw the faceplate into it and then cut it off afterwards. The process of hollowing out the bowl now begins:

One note- with a lidded bowl, don’t sand the top edge too much, if it is too rounded it looks like there is a gap, even when there isn’t.

Next it is time for the lid. The faceplate is screwed into a waste backing piece, so that the screws don’t go into the wood. With a wood like this that has a prominent grain pattern, I try to take the lid from right beside the bottom on the same board so they’ll match pretty closely as well.


Similar to the bottom of the bowl part, a recess for the chuck is shaped, as is the edge of the lid to fit the inside edge of the bowl. This is so that it doesn’t slide off easily, and so that soaps can be stored better within. Again, don’t sand the edge a ton, or it will not look as clean:

Use the bottom to check for diameter and edge fit:

Turn the lid around, use a chuck (or a 2nd waste blank) and cut off the waste blank. I don’t worry about marking it up, as I am turning it anyway. If I was to use a blank where needed to finish it off the lathe, I would take more care:

Now I turn the top of the lid. I try to match the style of the bottom, obviously:

About 1 1/2 hours start to finish.

And the bowl is now ready for its coats of finish. I use a Urethane finish off the lathe, with light sanding in between. I’ll post a final pic in a few days when the finish is complete.

Beautiful, Jason!

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looks awesome..love how the grains match..

Anyone else dying to see what that first one turned into???

Here's a some of my turnings. I like to do the stuff on the right (hollow forms). Some are junk some are o.k. Always thought the square bowl on the left would be good lather bowls, give you something to hold on to. I have a bunch of bowls but won't drag them out. I did turn all the fruit in the center bowl.

Here is the opening with my thumb for comparison.

Here's a pic of a burl on a piece of box elder, big enough for a couple of brushes or a small bowl. The pic with my thumb in it is made from box elder burl.

The far right and little ginger jar are local woods Box Elder and Russian Olive. American Elm, Ash and Cottonwood are other locals. Occasionally I'll run across some Maple and rarely Walnut but they're infrequent and small.

Awesome work! Love the vessels with the small openings. Very skilled work. Did you shop build a curved scraper to get the inside walls done, or did you buy a specialty tool for it?

I made a couple and bought one but don't use it much. One catch or stupid move and it's toast. If it's on the lathe I consider it broke until it's parted off the lathe and in my hand. I broke a nice rosewood handle last week, of course I just didn't think for an instant and gone. I've broke a lot of stuff.

Jason....you make it look easy. Great job and beautiful work.