Cool!
Looks fantastic! The knob is very complimentary! ChuckY'all provided some great input and over the last 2 weekends I've put a lot of wood chips on the floor experimenting. I've attempted a few things, most ended up in the round file but each has been an improvement in technique over the last.
This little salt cellar turned out the best. It started from a 3.5" piece of walnut. I drilled a 3/16" hole for and the brass hinge pin prior to parting the lid off so that the grain would stay aligned, and turned a box elder pen blank down for a lid knob for contrasting color. I tried to shape the knob similarly to the shape of the bowl. The proportion seems OK and the wife likes it.
Finish on this one is 5-6 coats of wax-free shellac followed by 5-6 coats of spray can pre-cat lacquer. Did some light sanding in between coats.
The brass pin is sanded to 2000 grit and then buffed.
View attachment 233440
View attachment 233441
Came from Northern California. Actually spent a lot of years in the Sacramento area, a few years near Grass Valley, and just before moving to Texas I was in Redding for about 11 years. The chunk of Almond I used was from a friend in the woodworking club I belonged to in Redding. Always wanted to snag more Almond, but never ran across any more. If your wife can convince her relatives in Escalon / Modesto to save her some logs for you, jump on it!We had high winds over the weekend so was able to get a few pieces of another Bradford Pear branch that fell over in the neighborhood. There is half a tree left so when it is cut down I'll try to get the trunk portion. This should be more good practice wood.
That is a sad bowl story. Do you have a picture of it intact?
What part of CA were you in. My wife has relatives in the Escalon / Modesto area. There yard is actually surrounded by an almond grove. It was cool to visit. The trees had just been harvested and there were still a few ripe almonds here and there. It doesn't get fresher than that.