Paul Barton: Turning a vessel within a vessel

Above: Main: Paul Barton’s Vessel in a Vessel made from sheoak and box elder.

Words and photos: Paul Barton

Firstly, a little bit about myself. I have been turning wood off and on now for over 20 years. I am drawn to the hollow vessel, its form and its simplicity. I specialise in thin-walled vessels that highlight the beautiful imperfections within natural timber.

Trees are special, they mean a lot to me. I feel honoured to be able to work with a material that is beautiful when it is living and is equally beautiful when its life has ended.

I turned my first piece of wood in a year 8 woodwork class. It was a rolling pin and my mum still has it to this day. Turning is something I have to do. I feel that I can truly express myself through the wood and what I create.

In this article I will attempt to describe the processes that go into the creation of my vessel within a vessel piece. I stumbled across this idea several years ago, but it hasn't been until recently that I have tried to really explore the idea and see how far I can go with it.

From firewood

1. From the firewood pile. Hollowing through the crack will give an opening longer than its width, perfect for this project.

Firstly, sourcing the timber is one of the most important steps. The piece I have chosen for this project was salvaged from a friend’s firewood pile. It is a dry piece of sheoak (photo 1). The timber needs to be dry as the vessel needs to be stable once it is turned. From the photos you can see the large crack running through the log. By hollowing through the crack, the vessel will have an opening longer than it is wide which is perfect for this project. I am constantly on the lookout for logs that have natural defects which will allow me to hollow through.

2. A piece of wood wedged in the crack becomes a mounting point.

3. Mounted on the lathe, roughing the form out can start. The form is ready for hollowing.

Hollowing, first stage

The hollowing process is the same for all my vessels. After mounting and initial roughing (photos 2, 3), I turn the log to the desired form using standard bowl gauges (photo 4). I then turn a spigot at the base to reverse the bowl so that hollowing can be done. I initially hollow my vessels to about a 25mm wall thickness (photo 5).

4. Refining the exterior shape.

5.  The form is ready for hollowing.

6. Using Vermec’s deep hollowing tool for the interior.

For this I use the Vermec deep hollowing tool (photo 6). I find it easy to use and it removes material relatively quickly. Once the initial hollowing is done, I then head back and re-turn the exterior. This removes any wobble which may have been caused through the first hollowing stage. It is also the time that I refine the vessels form to get it just right.

7. The sheoak grain tended to feather on the trailing edge.

Photo 7 shows how this piece of sheoak had a really bad tendency to feather the grain on the trailing edge of the rim but this was removed later.

Hollowing, second stage

The exterior is then sanded. Once this is done, I start the second stage of the hollowing. For this I use the Robert Sorby RS system with the arm brace. This allows me to take fine scaping cuts and also leaves a clean finish. The piece is then hollowed to a wall thickness of approximately 2–3mm thick. This is done in stages starting at the top and gradually working towards the bottom.

8. Duct tape helps to support the piece and the natural edge while turning.

9. You can add more tape if needed as the walls are thinned.

10. After the initial hollowing, I switch to the Sorby RS system with the arm brace.

The wall thickness is important, it needs to be thin to reduce the variation between the interior and exterior of the vessel’s shape – the thicker the wall the more variation which will cause problems later on. Just a quick note; I use duct tape to hold my vessels together and to also help maintain the integrity of the natural edge (photos 8, 9, 10).

The trick to turning my thin pieces is not to worry about breaking the piece. I break them quite often, because you’re on the limits. If you don’t worry about that then if you do break it, you break it, if you don’t worry about that, then it’s a bonus.

11. Once the vessel is turned it is reversed and held between centres. The spigot can now be removed and now the exterior finished.

12. Sanding the finished outer form.

13. Trimming the feathered grain on the edge with a Stanley knife.

Once the vessel is turned it is reversed with the use of a dolly and held between centres (photo 11). The spigot can then be removed and now the outer vessel is finished (photo 12). It was also time to clean up the feathered edge of the rim with a Stanley knife (photo 13).

The vessel within

14, 15. A piece of box elder was mounted on the lathe to start on the inner form.

The next stage is to turn the inner vessel. The inner vessel is basically an open bowl turned upside down. I like to have a contrast between the timbers of the inner and outer vessels. I chose a piece of box elder for this and mounted it on the lathe (photo 14, 15).

16. A profile gauge is used to match sheoak form.

The first thing is to get the profile of the main vessel. To do this I use a profile gauge and press it down to get the shape (photo 16). This is where the thickness of the original vessel is important. If it is too thick there will be too much variation between the outside and inside profile.

17, 18. Use the gauge to measure and check your progress.

Once this is done it is just a matter of turning a basic open bowl where the outside profile of the bowl matches that of your profile gauge (photos 17–18).

19. The inner form is then hollowed to 2–3mm thickness.

The bowl is then hollowed with a standard bowl gauge to about 2–3mm wall thickness (photo 19). The same wall thickness will keep the finished piece nice and balanced.

20. After hollowing, the inner form is reverse chucked using the jam fit technique.

21. Here, the bottom of the bowl becomes the top. The spigot is removed and an opening turned.

The bowl is then reverse chucked using the jam fit technique (photo 20). Keep in mind when removing the spigot, the bottom of the bowl will become the top of the internal vessel so it needs to be shaped accordingly and a hole needs to be turned into the centre to create the vessel opening. This is one of the few times it is okay to turn through the bottom of your bowl (photo 21).

Fitting the insert

22, 23. Showing the completed inner and outer parts. The sides of the inner form are sawn off so it will fit through the opening.

24. Fitting the insert can be tricky. Once it’s in it can be superglued in place.

The last stage of the process is to remove material from the sides of your bowl. For this I use a handsaw. This is so it will fit through the opening of the outer form. This is why the opening needs to be irregular otherwise it wouldn’t be possible to slide the piece in, (photos 22, 23, 24). Once the piece is inside it is just a matter of spinning it around and pulling it up into place and if everything has worked properly, the two profiles should match each other and then the piece can be glued in. I use superglue.

I have spent many hours trying to get the insert inside the outer vessel and with some of my pieces it can be very frustrating especially when it gets stuck halfway and I can’t get it in or out.

One last thing to note. On vessels that have the opening past the widest point of the form the full profile cannot be done with a profile gauge. You must guess the lower section simply by eyeing it off and hoping that it follows the shape.

That is how I make my Vessel in a Vessel piece. A little bit fiddly but I think it is worth the effort!

First published in Australian Wood Review, issue 127, March 2025

Paul Barton @paulbarton_woodartist lives and works on the Bellarine Peninsula, Victoria . He has exhibited his work throughout Australia and was awarded the Tasmanian Premier's Award for Excellence in Craft in 2023. Paul was also selected as a demonstrator for Turnfest in Queensland in 2024. His philosophy is simple, respect the material you work with. He believes that trees are truly beautiful things because they give us life. He is drawn to them and feels incredibly honoured to have the ability to use such a beautiful material. Paul highlights the natural defects that exist in all trees to varying degrees which give his pieces a natural organic look. Bark inclusions, decay, insect damage and fungal attack become focal points and in a simple way portray part of the living trees life. He turns wood as it is part of his life, and he does not see that ever changing.