This vessel was one that actually started out as a play on words. In woodworking, a "vessel" is usually
bottle-like; a tallish shape with a hollow interior and usually a narrow opening. In engineering, a pressure vessel is a type of bottle made to handle high pressure. These days, pressure vessels tend to be forged tubing and rounded ends attached with continuous welding. But in the good old days, big thick plates of steel were bent and then riveted together, making a much more interesting (and dangerous-looking) vessel. So I made a wooden version of the antique "pressure vessel" from the days of steam. This piece is modeled on the "butt-strap seam" style of boiler construction where the pieces of steel forming the boiler are butted up to one another, and then straps are added to the inside and outside, and riveted together.
This piece was made of laminated maple pieces, turned and hollowed. The three horizontal rows of "rivets" were formed on the body using a small cutter and then the remaining wood removed by hand. Since I couldn't find anything like the kind of cutter I needed, I ended up fabricating that myself, starting with a Philips-head screw. The "straps" on the sides are separate pieces that had the rivets cut into them before they were glued onto the main vessel. Due to the difficulty of cutting them in place, the rivets on the top flange and bottom plate were formed on a separate piece of wood, and then cut off and glued on to the main vessel. During the turning, a ridge was left on the bottom and was then carved away to leave the four short legs. The piece was dyed black before finishing to get to the "iron" look. There are a few construction details
here.
| Material: | Maple |
| Construction: | Turned and carved |
| Finish: | Black aniline dye + 2 coats Miniwax Wipe-on Poly, clear Satin |
| Size: | 4.6" dia x 9.75" high |
| Time: | 30 hours |
| Done: | April 14, 2010 |
