I liked the classic shape of the original clay pot and thought it might make a decent model for a wooden version. With that target in my sights I then had to decide how to make it.

I considered a "conventional" segmented approach where appropriately-shaped pieces of contrasting wood species are stacked together to form the pattern in the turning blank. However the pattern of diamond and triangular faces combined with sharp curves would require irregular polyhedron pieces with specific angles on all edges. Theoretically achievable, but the wood grain couldn't be made continuous and it would probably be mostly of interest only to other woodworkers, not to mention rife with possibility for tiny angular imperfections causing gaps in the finished product.

However I had recently used dye stains on a couple of wood-repair projects (too minor to rate web pages here) and thought that I should get a dye selection for similar projects. With that in mind, using dye for the pattern seemed like a better approach since it essentially replicated the original's creation. Plus I was less likely to screw it up.

This vessel was going to need a large piece of light-coloured wood and fortunately I had just the ticket in the form of a Manitoba Maple log.

Half the log remains out in the shed while a quarter had been used for a previous turning, leaving this quarter on the floor of my shop twiddling its metaphorical thumbs waiting for an assignment.

The ends were a bit angled so I started by cutting them closer to square using the band saw.

The facing side has a white cast due to being coated with wax when stored about three years ago to slow the drying process and reduce cracking.

I recently equipped my saw with a carbide-tipped blade and now it cuts this thickness of wood with absolutely no problem.

A bit more band saw action got the pie-shaped log piece to a reasonable facsimile of an octagon (with one particularly lumpy side).

I would need a faceplate attached for doing most of the turning but that needs a flat face. Unfortunately the ends were neither exactly square nor flat so the first step was to flatten the end, which I planned to do by turning it using the spur drive visible here.

I first trimmed off the big lump at one end to help with the balance and then I flattened the drive spur end so it could mate to a faceplate without any rocking.

My 4" aluminum faceplate was carefully centered and then screwed on.

I (digitally) glued together the photos of the turning progress here.

I employed my usual technique of cutting slots to defined depths and then removing the excess wood and smoothing the resulting piece.

Coulda used one more photo there...

Anyway, the lumpy shape of the last photo was evened out using scrapers and then I did some sanding to smooth off the surface.

That's the outside shape done.

Then it was on to the hollowing.

I used my usual captured hollowing jig along with my new 2-wheel steady rest. Here I'm getting some good shavings off the inside at maybe one-third of the way into the vessel.

I pronounced the hollowing complete when the walls were about 1/4" thick. Then the sandpaper came out to clean up the inside surface.

Here I'm using a previously-made jig to reach inside the vessel for sanding.

I took the opportunity while the wood was still on the lathe to mark twelve sectors on the outside. The lathe has fixed stops that makes this convenient and the levelling laser helps ensure the lines run right through the center line of the vessel.

The bottom still needed to have its shaping completed. My SOP is to use a jam chuck into which the top of the vessel friction-fits to expose the bottom for turning. I employed this well-used disc of MDF, cutting a slot to exactly fit the vessel top. The tailstock pushes the vessel from the bottom to hold it to the jam chuck so I usually add a precise-length* center piece to support the bottom to prevent cracking from tailstock pressure.

*Yes, the first word that springs to mind about that rough, tape-equipped piece of scrap is probably not "precise", but the actual (tape-equipped) length is indeed just right to support the bottom of the vessel while the top still contacts the jam chuck.






Then with most of the extra bottom wood cut off and the vessel flipped around and spinning, it looked like this. Here I'm just starting to shape the bottom.

A little foot has been formed and the bottom is done except for removing the central nub of wood.

The sides of the vessel are already marked for the twelve sectors and the three circumferential bands.

Next stop was into a clamp held in the bench vise. I used my usual dowel-inside-to-clamp-the-bottom technique so the body of the vessel remains unstressed by the clamping force.

In this shot I'm adding marks to guide the drawing of the diamond shapes.

The diamonds were drawn with the aid of a flexible straightedge (a piece cut from an old yogurt container lid).

A bit more pencil work and the full design was drawn onto the vessel.

Initially the lines were pre-cut with a knife to help guide the V-tool. My thoughts were that the slicing would guide the chisel to cut straighter and maybe also help prevent dye wicking across the slot.

Then the V-tool chisel was used to cut the "proper" grooves in the pattern.

It turned out that the knife cuts didn't really help with either straightness or dye wicking (which adding dye to my test pattern helped determine). So I soon abandoned the knife stage and just carved to the pencilled lines with the chisel.

In this shot the carving process is almost done.

I used the magnifying glasses to get a more-detailed view of what was being carved.

The dye that was going to be used was water-based and usually its application will raise the grain and leave a rough surface which isn't practical to sand post-dye.

The standard remedy is to wet the surface beforehand, let it dry and then sand the not-yet-dyed surface. The next water application then has little grain-raising effect.

So this is the vessel after wetting of the to-be-dyed areas, just waiting to dry.

I like to add some pizazz to my otherwise-boring vessel bottoms. On this one I chose little carved leaves shaped like those on the Manitoba Maple from which this wood originated.

I got outside and snipped off a few leaves for guidance, the one below being a typical shape for the tree.

After sketching in an arrangement of leaves I used the same small V-chisel to carve the outlines and center stem.

That's the completed bottom carving. The center circle is of course where the initials and year will go.

And on to the real thing. I'd found that a conventional brush (however tiny) held too much finish and tended to let it flow into the carved groove, which I didn't want. So rather than that I just hammered the end of a toothpick flat for precise varnish application.

The dye was used for a few leaves and then fine felt markers for the others.

I'm not sure how stable the felt marker dyes will be but on the vessel bottom at least they should be safe from sunlight-caused fading.

Then it was on to the vessel body. I decided to work from the inside out for the staining so first up were the small diamond shapes. They received the lightest color; the amber.

Darker colors on surrounding areas will help hide my failures to color inside the lines.

Here all the amber bits are done.

Next was burnt sienna for the larger diamonds.

The circumferential bands were done in raw sienna.

And finally the remaining triangles had burnt umber applied.

With the super-thin dye solution it wasn't unusual for it to run into the grooves. To keep a good definition between the colors, I re-cut the grooves to remove (or more usually just fade) the extra dye.

And that was it for the woodworking*.







*Actually I had planned to cut grooves in the dyed triangular sections to match the original clay pot. This I managed to completely forget.

Here the first coat of varnish is going on.

My varnish was starting to thicken which may at least partially account for the poor-looking finish of this first coat (not yet dried). I switched to a better can of varnish for the following two coats and that ended up looking fine.

Done

That's it. I'm outa words.