My first Christmas Ornaments

My first attempt at Christmas Ornaments. Both turned out different than planned. Mistakes I made forced design changes along the way. Both felt like an exercise on what not to do next time. In the end, both actually turned out better then they should have... all mistakes considered.

This is Bay Wood finished with Qualalacq Lacquer applied with an airbrush.



My second attempt was a classic globe & pendant style ornament made from Redwood and Spalted Oak again finished with Qualalacq Lacquer applied with an airbrush. The globe is hollowed out to a 1/8" to 3/16" wall thickness. I used a hollowing tool I made from an allen wrench. I left about a 1/2" of material in the base of the globe to support a jam chuck. It's very light and probably very fragile. I'm surprised I haven't dropped it yet. This one was very difficult and very frustrating but well worth the effort. Turning a pendant this thin (thickness equal to three round toothpicks maybe) with a skew took a few tries but I finally got it right. Sorry for the so so pic. Lighting wasn't the best and I was too tired to play with the lighting for a better pic. Plenty of other projects on the burner.





Any critiques or comments are always welcome.
Thanks and have a great Christmas!
Dave

Great mistakes! Remember how you did them and then perfect the process. Two beautiful tree hangers.
Charles

Those are great. Wish I knew how to do them. Maybe someday there will be time to learn.

Dave, these are amazing. Really like the globe.

They are awesome. Nice work.

The first one kinda looks like someone split a banana open, ate the insides, and then sealed the rest with shiney(wife thought it was a banana).




How many coats of Lacquer did you spray? And I'd really like to see the set-up you use for doing the spraying.....hint, hint....:biggrin:








Scott (super shiney, like my head) B

did you have to polish the lacquer to get the smooth gloss or did that happen because of the airbrush?

Amazing work. Great job.

Very very nice work. I really like the first one. It's a very interesting shape. The second one is sweet as well. I love the contrasting woods. Good stuff.

2 very nice ornamates.

Thanks for all the comments.

I always lightly wet sand with 800 then 1200 grit sandpaper to ensure the finish is completely smooth with no uneven spots. It doesn't take much work to get it completely smooth & level then I hit it with white diamond on the buffing wheel to bring out the shine.

Dave

grz5 said:

did you have to polish the lacquer to get the smooth gloss or did that happen because of the airbrush?

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Wow, those are really nice!!! I would love to see pictures of the process for both!!!

Yes, those are very nice.

Beautiful. This give me some ideas for next year.

Would like to see a picture if your hollowing tool.