Many of you have followed my blog on woodturning here on berserkers (https://www.wineberserkers.com/t/woodturning-thread/295130) over the last two years and I was asked to sell some of my turnings. Woodturning is a process where a lathe spins an attached piece of wood, called a blank, and it is then shaped with metal tools, hollowed, then sanded, and a finish applied, cracks and defects sometimes highlighted with wood inserts or colored epoxy. I have listed 30 turnings for sale, prices varying depending on the cost of the wood, the size and complexity of the turning, and the time involved in creating the piece. One piece, number 16, will be auctioned. There are bowls and hollow forms, the latter a term for a turning with an opening too small to be used as a bowl. Only the fruit bowls are functional; the other turnings are just “art” and can have a dried flower arrangement inserted or be left as is. The fruit bowls have a food safe finish that has cured or polymerized. Click on a picture to enlarge it.
I was asked how I got into this “hobby.” I did surgery for about 40 years, retired recently. I’ve collected artisan woodturnings for that 40 years and wanted to see if I could make them. So I took some classes, read over a dozen books, subscribed to woodturning magazines and associations, participated on woodturning forums, watched countless YouTubes, found a mentor, joined a club, bought a used professional lathe that lets me make pieces up to 20 inches in diameter, and started turning almost full time. I’m relegated to turning on the side of the house, not the garage, so turning time is weather-dependent, but fortunately weather in southern California is usually pretty good. Woodturning is a lot like surgery–the lathe is my operating table and the wood is my patient. The only bleeding now is mine! Hope you enjoy seeing the pieces even if you don’t purchase one.
If you want to purchase a piece, PM me, first come first served. After I confirm, you can PayPal (Friends & Family please) or Zelle me at alancweinberg@gmail.com. I’ll then list the turning as SOLD. (FYI, Monopole Crü members have a special discount code, so join up to see that, and other Monopole Crü-exclusive BerserkerDay deals!) Shipping is included in the price, continental United States.
I am also open to commissions and would need to discuss wood variety, size, shape, and prices. Much thanks to Todd and the gang for the chance to participate. It’s a thrill.
SOLD1. Elm burl fruit bowl, 8 ¾ inch diameter and 2 ½ inch height. A burl is a tumorlike rounded growth on a tree that has a unique and wild haphazard grain, probably a reaction to stress or injury. This turning was just awarded “Turning of the Week” on the prestigious American Association of Woodturning site (Turning of the Week for January 27, 2025 | American Association of Woodturners). $425
GONE2. Figured fruit bowl with 3 pewa, 9 ½ inch diameter and 3 ½ inch height. Figure is a unique grain pattern that may look wrinkled, bent, or interlocked, adding character to the wood. Pewa or bowties are a traditional Hawaiian patch used to highlight or repair cracks and wood defects. $400
SOLD3. Walnut fruit bowl, 10 ¼ inch diameter and 3 ½ inch height. This was turned from green or “wet” wood and has warped somewhat, a natural occurrence, noticeable from certain angles. $375
SOLD4. California buckeye burl hollow form, 7 inch diameter and 4.5 inch height. There are voids and unusual toothlike projections in this piece, named, “Know a good orthodontist?” Burl is a tumorlike rounded growth on a tree that has a unique wild haphazard grain, probably a reaction to stress from injury. $500
SOLD5. Koa hollow form, 8 inch diameter and 3 ÂĽ inch height, 2 inch opening. Koa is a Hawaiian wood, becoming rare and costly, traditionally used by Hawaiians for surfboards and bowls such as a calabash or umeke. $400
- Spalted sugarberry hollow form, 4 ½ inch diameter, 3 inch height, 2 inch opening. This Tennessee wood is sugarberry, sugarberry and its cousin hackberry found in the Eastern US. Spalting is an attack by fungus after the wood is cut, leading to rot, but if captured in the right time frame, beautiful black meandering lines are found in the wood that do not follow the grain. After treatment, the fungus is dead and the rot and spalting do not progress. All the spalted sugarberry wood comes from a fellow woodturner in Tennessee I met on a wood forum–just like commerce corner on berserkers. $300
- Spalted sugarberry hollow form with bar inserts, 5 inch diameter and 2 ½ inch height, 1 3/8 inch opening, walnut bars stabilizing a crack. Spalting is the haphazard black line discolorations left by fungus. $200
SOLD8. Spalted sugarberry bowl, 7 3/8 inch diameter and 2 ÂĽ inch height. Spalting is the haphazard black line discolorations left by fungus.$250
SOLD9. Large spalted sugarberry fruit bowl, 10 inch diameter and 3 inch height. Spalting is the haphazard black line discolorations left by fungus. $325
SOLD10. Spalted sugarberry bowl, 7 inch diameter and 2 Âľ inch height. Spalting is the haphazard black line discolorations left by fungus. If you enlarge and look closely in all these sugarberry turnings, you can see the wood grain, different from the spalting lines. $225
SOLD11. Olive hollow form with coin inserts, 6 ÂĽ inch diameter and 5 Âľ inch height. Olive wood has wild grain and this piece has cracks highlighted with sassafras coins and darkened epoxy. $500
SOLD12. Classic hollow form with neck, 6 inch diameter and 4 ¼ inch height, 1 ½ inch opening. This is a classic turning shape hollowed through a small opening, the wood variety unknown. My wife didn’t want me to sell this one and she rarely lets me keep one! $450
SOLD13. Ash hollow form, 5 Âľ inch diameter, 3 Âľ inch height, 2 inch opening. Shape is classic and wall thickness is very thin. The wavy grain of ash can be quite amazing. $250
SOLD14. Natural edge eucalyptus hollow form with coin inserts of sassafras, koa, and mango, 5 ½ inch diameter and 3 ½ inch height. Natural edge refers to orienting the blank for turning in such a way that one leaves intact the bark of the tree. $290
- Pecan hollow form with beaded rim, sapwood and heartwood present, 6 inch diameter and 4 ½ inch height. The sapwood is lighter, the living part of the tree, the heartwood the darker dead inner part offering support. I got this wood in Anaheim, CA when a friend called me to tell me his neighbor had just taken down her 100 year old pecan tree. $300
- Small figured hollow form, 4 ½ inch diameter and 3 1/8 inch height, 1 ¼ inch opening. This small piece was hollowed through a very small opening, the rim sloping inward. Figure is a unique grain pattern that may look wrinkled, bent, or interlocked. This turning will be auctioned. Valued at $225.
- Large figured ash bowl, 8 ¼ inch diameter and 4 ½ inch height. Figure is a unique grain pattern that may look wrinkled, bent, or interlocked. $300
- Small hollow form with cracks, 5 Âľ inch diameter and 4 inch height, hollowed through a 1 ÂĽ inch opening, the cracks highlighted with black epoxy. The wall thickness is only a couple millimeters. $225
- Magnolia hollow form with sassafras coin inserts, 7 inch diameter and 4 ½ inch height, hollowed through a 2 inch opening, some burl present. A burl is a tumorlike rounded growth on a tree that has a unique and wild haphazard grain, probably a reaction to stress from injury. The wood came from San Marino, CA where an old magnolia tree was taken down. I had my baby grandson in a stroller as I rushed to the sound of a chainsaw and had them save me some wood. $275
- Small hollow form, 5 1/8 inch diameter, 4 ½ inch height, small opening of 1 1/4 inches. $175
- Blue gum eucalyptus hollow form with figure and many sassafras coins, 8 ¾ inch diameter and 4 ½ inch height. Figure is a unique grain pattern that may look wrinkled, bent, or interlocked. $350
SOLD22. Small spalted maple bowl, 4 Âľ inch diameter and 1 5/8 inch height. $90
SOLD23. Small maple burl hollow form named "Storms on Jupiter,” 5 1/8 inch diameter and 4 ½ inch height, 2 inch opening. A burl is a tumorlike rounded growth on a tree that has a unique wild haphazard grain, probably a reaction to stress from injury. The grain on this piece is just crazy. $500
- Small hollow form with black painted interior, 5 inch diameter and 2 ½ inch height. $80
- Cypress hollow form, 8 ¼ inch diameter and 4 ¼ inch height, hollowed through a 2 3/8 inch opening, the rim slanted inward. This wood was “found” by following the sound of a chainsaw to its source in San Marino, CA. $300
- Hollow form with wenge coin inserts and black epoxy, 7 inch diameter and 5 inch height, 2 inch opening. Wenge is a dark tropical wood. $325
SOLD27. Figured hollow form with wenge coin inserts and black epoxy, 7 ½ inch diameter and 5 ¼ inch height, 2 ½ inch opening. Wenge is a dark tropical wood. Figure is a unique grain pattern that may look wrinkled, bent, or interlocked. $325
- Ash hollow form, 7 ÂĽ inch diameter and 5 1/8 inch height, 2 ÂĽ inch opening. Some gray tones to the wood can be seen. $325
SOLD29. Koa bowl with a pewa, 4 ÂĽ inch diameter and 2 3/4 inch height. Pewa or bowties are patches traditionally used by Hawaiians to highlight or repair a bowl. Koa is becoming a rare and expensive wood. $150
SOLD30. Small spalted sugarberry hollow form with base insert, 4 Âľ inch diameter and 2 3/8 inch height. Spalting is the haphazard black line discolorations left by fungus. $90
