# Need some input



## Lou Currier (Jun 8, 2021)

I started this piece of NIP and getting ready to flip it. Not sure where I want to go from here. Should I do straight walls, waste a lot of wood and make a shallow bowl or something else  I would like to show off the angled branches from the inside whatever I do with it.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Reactions: Like 1


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## Mr. Peet (Jun 8, 2021)

Can't nest and ashtray or saucer out of it?


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## Lou Currier (Jun 8, 2021)

Mr. Peet said:


> Can't nest and ashtray or saucer out of it?


I don't have a coring system.


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## Nubsnstubs (Jun 8, 2021)

Lou Currier said:


> I don't have a coring system.


You don't need a coring system to get two pieces out of that piece. An ash tray, or shallow bowl could be done with a 1 1/2" thickness. Use a parting tool and go in at an angle not as steep as the one you already have.. When it cuts through, set up a tenon and finish both pieces, then show us the results. I've done it a lot of times before I was loaned the system I currently have. ............... Jerry (in Tucson)

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Agree 1


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## DLJeffs (Jun 8, 2021)

That's a cool looking blank. Looking forward to seeing what it turns into.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Tim Shettlesworth (Jun 8, 2021)

Go to woodturningblanks4u dot com. he has tips on turning NIP and does some cool stuff. Lots of good info on it there. I am sure you will come up with something from there.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Mike Hill (Jun 9, 2021)

Which direction do the branch knots angle? Have only turned one piece or NIP, but our 5-needle Eastern White Pine often exhibits much the same attributes and I've turned that often. Most often the branch knot angles down from the outside in. I will usually place the middle of the branch knots along either a top of a hollow form or the bottom of a bowl or platter to show them off. Not mine, but something like this



or this



or this

Reactions: Like 2 | EyeCandy! 1 | Way Cool 3


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## Lou Currier (Jun 9, 2021)

Mike Hill said:


> Which direction do the branch knots angle? Have only turned one piece or NIP, but our 5-needle Eastern White Pine often exhibits much the same attributes and I've turned that often. Most often the branch knot angles down from the outside in. I will usually place the middle of the branch knots along either a top of a hollow form or the bottom of a bowl or platter to show them off. Not mine, but something like this
> View attachment 210606
> or this
> View attachment 210607
> ...


The last 2 pictures have the look that I am hoping to achieve or at least something close to it.


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## Mike Hill (Jun 9, 2021)

Can usually tell which way they angle. Find the top (or bottom - whichever is appropriate and inch your way carefully toward the branch near the pith. Once you know the ends, it's just wood turning from there. The prettiest ones, in my opinion, are turned thin (1/16 to 1/8) and then soaked in some sort of polymerizing oil. Ron Kent who came up with the process used Varathane Danish type oil and applied it with 400 grit sandpaper. Multiple times. Secret, according to him, was not how long it soaked, but how many times it was applied. Others say that they have gotten good results in soaking in a bucket of the mixture for a day or few in 1/2 BLO or Tung and mineral spirits.


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## CWS (Jun 10, 2021)

Lou Currier said:


> I started this piece of NIP and getting ready to flip it. Not sure where I want to go from here. Should I do straight walls, waste a lot of wood and make a shallow bowl or something else  I would like to show off the angled branches from the inside whatever I do with it.
> 
> Anyone have any suggestions?
> 
> ...


Send it to Ripjack13. I think he can show you what to do with it.


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