Black Mesquite Goblet (With more captive rings!!!)
I had one friend tell me that I am obsessed with captive rings, and to that I’m not going to argue. Captive rings are fun! I found this gorgeous piece of mesquite on the turning blank shelf at work. It was a 3 x 3 x 12 blank and fairly cheap, so I nabbed it. It had a visible knot in it which is what is pictured below. Even though this was fun piece to turn, it also provided plenty of challenges. Like, when the piece is close to being the full length of your lathe and need the rest of the room for forstner bits to hollow out the inside. Admittedly, I do have a small lathe, but it’s an amazing little tool, and I love it to bits. For those curious it is a Laguna Revo 12|16. I also learned it’s easiest to start hollowing on a smaller forstner bit, maybe an inch, and then move up through sizes to the final diameter. All of the goblet’s I’ve done so far haven’t been finished, either. But from the way this piece looked after being sanded to 600 grit, i knew that I had no choice but to finish it. I’ve made a few black mesquite bowls and knew they finished brilliantly. I used my Doctor’s Wood shop pens plus finish or “Shel-wax” as i call it. The finish is a friction finish which means that it builds and shines up with heat caused by friction. So after nearly burning by hands from the heat build-up, I had this brilliant looking goblet.Â
