How to Turn and Carve Wood

Elizabeth Jennings: After the base is turned on the lathe, it is time for the lid to go through a similar process.

Okay Joyce, so you just took this piece of walnut and whittled it down to the base. Now, the next part that we’re going to do is to do the cover which are the leaves.

Joyce McCullough: Alright. We’ll take this piece of cherry, we’re going to put it in the lathe.

Okay. Let me step in a little bit to show you. You press it down on the tool rest and just slide along.

Elizabeth Jennings: It really is one of the coolest pieces of equipment in terms of just watching what it does. Alright, is it my turn?

There we go. Now we got the chips flying.

Joyce McCullough: Just gently push. In you go. Good, that should be enough. Just this one more time, we’ll make sure it goes all the way in.

Elizabeth Jennings: That’s beautiful.

The lid unlike the base requires a little bit more work. It needs to be curved and made to fit perfectly with the base. Here, Joyce turns the lid a little bit more until the fit is right.

Alright Joyce. So now, we’ve hollowed it out. You’ve measured where the curve inside ends. So now the next step is to create the top curve.

Look at that.

After a rough semblance of the box is reached by turning it on the lathe, the next stage begins with drawing the intended design before carving begins.

Alright Joyce, so we’ve finished the turning portion to make the top and the bottom and you’ve left a little bit of excess to make the stem, right? So now, what’s the next step?

Joyce McCullough: You’ll draw the leaf design…

Elizabeth Jennings: On the actual top part. Alright, then I will hand it off to your wonderfully artistic hand.

Relief carving is the next stage. After the design is traced on to the wood, the areas that are unmarked are carved out so the design pops out of the surface creating a stunning relief.

Alright Joyce, so now you’ve taken the top and you’ve sketched in some of the leaves which you’re now going to carve using-- this is a rotary tool did you say?

Joyce McCullough: Yes. An SK rotary tool.

Elizabeth Jennings: Alright. So now, what you’re going to do is actually make the leaves pop out, right? So we’re carving around them?

Joyce McCullough: Yes, we’re going to relieve the wood around it which is basically relief carving. The deeper you go, the more the leaves pop on top.

Elizabeth Jennings: Alright. Well here, I will hand it over to you.

A more detailed carving with finer tools follows next. The maple leaves on the lid are refined and fine tuned before giving it a final coat of paint.

Alright Joyce, how did I do? Can you tell which one I did?

Joyce McCullough: Not at all.

Elizabeth Jennings: She’s lying. You’re a very kind woman. It’s so nice. I mean, this is the finished product and you could see, we are really getting there. We’re on our way.

The final stage is giving the box a coat of shine or varnish. This brings out the color of the wood while also preserving its quality.

Alright Joyce, so this is our finished product. The varnish has dried to a beautiful subtle shim and I love the contrast of the two different wood colors. How do you think we did?

Joyce McCullough: I think we did real good.

Elizabeth Jennings: And then you have a little finishing touch which is this little seed. I don’t know if you remember this, if you’re from New England, you probably stuck them on your nose as a kid, at least I did. And we’ll just put it right in that little spot there.

I love it.

Joyce McCullough creates fascinating pieces of beauty gently allowing them to emerge from mere blocks of wood, a fascinating parallel to how carving itself has allowed this subtle artist in her to emerge coloring all her work with charm and elegance.