Neil Turner: Making the Lone Spirit vessel

Words: Neil Turner
Photos: Suellen Turner

The piece shown here is part of a series of five pieces which share a similar form and embellishment. Although I’ve made them from different woods, it’s been mostly about getting the form exactly how I want it, always striving for perfection – and never quite getting there. My thought with the name was that this form represents a single flame, just one flicker of light, a single spirit.

Over the years I’ve been lucky to receive commissions from people all over the world. Recently a collector in France got in touch with me and commissioned me to make a piece. I decided to make another Lone Spirit vessel which at the same time also pays homage to Jack de Vos, a mentor and friend. Jack and I attended workshops and collaborative workshops together and he taught me many things.

Jack rang me ten days before he passed away and asked if I would like to buy some of his timber. In particular, he wanted me to have some very special black fleck jarrah. I felt honoured that he offered it to me, and now make sure that I use it for special pieces only because it continues to remind me of my time with him. This piece of jarrah had a distinctive black fleck running through it, making it unique. 

This piece draws on techniques I often combine in my work. After hollow turning a vessel, I use various carving tools to pierce and embellish the surface. The effect creates a series of negative spaces and an interplay of shadows that work in harmony with the outside form. As artist and friend Bing Pho said to me, ‘It’s what’s not there that makes it interesting’.

The process

The blank required for this piece was 150 x 150 x 280mm long. After mounting it between centres, it was turned round using a roughing or bowl gouge. I checked for any cracks or deformities that might cause a problem in the final design. A 30mm long spigot, 65mm in diameter was created to accommodate a set of shark jaws for better holding capacity (photo 1).

The base and part of the long neck are first shaped. The hollowing process differs from the norm for this piece as it is hollowed through the base. At this stage, we can’t finish the whole form because we need support material while hollowing the inside. The start of the neck is reduced to 70mm so you need to visualise where the final shape will end.

A 40mm pilot hole is drilled into the form to a depth of around 100mm (photo 2). With a steady in place, start to hollow using a combination of straight and curved carbide-tipped tools to remove the waste, blowing the shavings out regularly.

Measure the wall thickness as you proceed to the depth of the hole drilled, ensuring it’s 5mm. An even wall thickness is necessary because we will be piercing the vessel, and the thickness of the wall will be visible (photo 3).

The rest of the outside shape was then turned away with a large Oneway tailstock centre in place. Reduce the neck size to 30mm at the top, ensuring a smooth transition from the long neck to the bottom shape (photo 4).

Next, drill a 19mm hole down to the end of the turned form (photo 5). With the steady in place, hollow down to the end of the hole, measuring the wall thickness as you go.

At this point, you may have to use a heavier shafted tool to remove the waste in the neck, as there is a lot of the shaft extended over the toolrest, which can result in flex and vibration (photo 6).

In this case, I have extended the neck a little longer with a bowl gouge to make it look more elegant (photo 7).

All my hollowing tools have an outrigger, with a simple cable tie cut to length to indicate the wall thickness and the position of the cutter inside the vessel (photo 8).

This simple attachment makes the tool safer to use and helps reduce the risk of going through the side of the vessel. Another tip is to have the cutter above the centre when turning inside the form; if you do have a catch, it will tend to fall away from the timber, reducing the catch.

Sand the outside and inside of the vessel to 400 grit. A Vermec sanding tool running through the grits from 120 to 400 was used on the inside (photo 9). Remove all the tool marks with the heavier grits to speed up the sanding process, blowing out the dust as you work.

Sand as far as you can with the sanding tool. The inner neck can be sanded when it is opened up during the carving process. This part of the process is essential, as you can see inside the vessel when the carving is completed. With the sanding completed, we can now cut off the form with a parting tool (photo 10).

Mark out for carving

The next step is to mark out where part of the neck will be opened. We need two lines spiralling around the piece, converging at the top to create the flickering flame. On lighter woods you can use a pencil, however I find that on denser timbers this tends to rub off with constant handling while carving. Instead, on denser and darker timbers I use a fine ink pen.

There is no set line here to draw; you have to trust your eye. So, mark with a pencil initially, then use pen when you are happy with the lines. You can now draw some fire forms following the two lines on either side, running up to the top of the piece (photo 11).

Carving the flames

For this, the carving tool of choice for me is a micromotor machine. This has a good range of speeds from 1000 to 40,000rpm, no vibration or noise to speak of from the handpiece, and it’s very manoeuvrable.

First, remove all the waste from inside the fire forms, then open the groove from the base and continue all the way to the top, cutting out the small flame and then the other side of the void. For this part of the process, I had to use a flexible drive Foredom, as the spiral cutter has a 1/8" shank, which will not fit into the micromotor handpiece – it can only receive a 3/32" shanked bur (photo 12).

With a cone-shaped bur, elongate the flame tips and bottoms, as well as chamfering the edges. The same bur is also used to tidy up the groove and the flame at the top (photo 13).

Using a riffler with some Velcro paper attached, sand the inside of the fire forms and the groove. This refines the shapes a little more (photo 14).

A split mandrel with Velcro sanding grits held in place with a small rubber O-ring (to stop it from flapping) refines the round part of the flames (photo 15).

Using a 3/4" barrel sander, carefully sand the inside of the flame and the part of the neck that was not sanded during the initial internal sanding, moving down through the grits to 400 (photo 16).

A small sander is used to refine the shapes and sand the edge of the groove (photo 17). This is made from a jewellery polishing tool called a floppy or silicon carbine rubber polisher. Attach sticky-backed Velcro and you have a very versatile sanding disc used at 9000rpm. I buy these burs from jewellery making suppliers, usually the green or brown grades. The remainder of the shaping conducted on the flame is carried out with this sander, supporting the tip through the entire process.

Once the sanding was completed, I decided to highlight the flames with pyrography, using a small 1mm ball at a medium temperature. This provided an extra focal point and highlighted the black fleck in the piece of jarrah. The piece was finished with a 30% satin spray lacquer inside and out.

Afterwards I asked myself if I was happy with the piece I had created, and would my friend Jack de Vos be happy as well? Had I done justice to the timber? How can I make the next one better? I was once told the piece I make today is practice for the piece I make tomorrow, and I think that’s a good way to think about what we do. I think my friend would be happy with the piece.

Neil Turner @neilturnerartisan lives in Western Australia. He makes to commission and often teaches at workshops and collaborative events all over the world. Learn more at neilturnerartisan.com.au