Specifically, Julia, who had started out focusing her studies on linguistics and language, eventually obtained undergraduate and graduate degrees in metalworking. Along the way, she did study some woodworking, as it related to metal.

Julia’s now a jeweler and, over time, she has begun incorporating more wood into her work. “With metal, even if you do a hollow form, at a certain point, it just gets too heavy” for some uses, she said. Plus, wood provides her with more options for colors, without being limited to certain enamels or patinas.

That is, the wood provides those options when used appropriately. That’s a lesson Julia said she’s had to learn. She might have an idea for a particular project, or a specific color that she wants to create with stain, but depending on the way the wood was cut or its grain pattern, sometimes “it just has other ideas,” she said. “I have learned to not be so arrogant, to say, ‘I’m gonna do this thing to this piece of wood and it’s gonna work.’”

She has gained a better understanding of wood as she’s worked with it and imposes certain “rules” upon herself: using glue only on wood-to-wood joints and relying on mechanical fasteners for attaching different materials together, for instance. Some of those mechanical options might include pegs, tension fitting or prong fitting. Whichever method of joinery she uses, Julia said, she wants to understand its strength – whether it’s a glue joint or a rivet – before she sends her pieces out into the world.

She prefers to work with hardwoods – maple, white oak, sometimes walnut or cherry —  partly because she can use the same tools on them as she uses for her metalwork. Also, she said, they take an edge better and give a much cleaner look when she stains them. “For my purposes, I usually want a really even grain. It’s mostly a vehicle for color or structure,” she said.

Recently, she’s been working with ebony that came from reclaimed piano keys. Julia also has a bunch of wood she acquired from the factory that was torn down where her studio now sits, and pieces from the scrap bins of other woodworkers in the San Francisco area. “Something they cut off a shelf is like a year’s worth of earrings to me,” she said. Having stashes of such wood around, Julia says she doesn’t feel “precious” about any of it, and feels more free to use it as a sketching medium.

As for using reclaimed wood – including the scraps from the remodeling of her own 1920s era house – “I love that it’s green-ish,” but that’s not her primary motivation. “I’m more opportunistic,” she said.

Whether she’s making a year’s worth of earrings, or other items, “it goes in waves,” Julia said. “At the moment, I seem to be doing more necklaces than anything else.” For a while, she focused on brooches – “tiny works of art” that allowed her to explore surface and pattern. Earrings and necklaces, on the other hand, require figuring out “how does this work if you put it on somebody’s ears? How does this work if you put it on somebody’s neck?”

“A lot of it is technical and mechanical. What am I interested in? What am I excited about?” Julia said.

Sometimes, she’s also influenced in project choices by her working environment – a group of like-minded artists who use space in the building of the Heath Ceramics company.  A little over a year ago, Heath’s studio director  Tung Chiang, “said, ‘Why don’t we do a collaboration and make bells? I’ll throw the ceramics if you make the guts of the bell.”

“It’s basically large wooden jewelry hanging inside of an upside-down ceramic mug,” Julia said. “When the wind catches the sail, it goes against the side of the bell and makes a tone.” But the project was a little more challenging than that simple explanation. “I had never made a musical instrument before, and I thought ‘oh, it’s not that hard,’” she said. “40 experiments later, I finally got a decent tone, and I thought ‘now I can actually start working on the part of this I was supposed to be working on.”

The eventual result of that collaboration was very satisfactory, Julia said, and she and Tung are now developing the project as a multiple production item – as simpler pieces.

In this new year, Julia has shows coming up that will feature her work both in conjunction with others (at the Smithsonian Craft Show in April) and as a solo artist (at a San Francisco gallery in March and April). She continues her experiments with materials, forms, techniques and more

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-Jeff Dees
Ethel, Mississippi

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-David Thomson
Carson City, Nevada

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Despite its compact size, the 70-105 Pen Lathe has a 10-in. swing over the bed and a 7-1/4-in. swing over the tool-rest, so you can use it for faceplate and other turning purposes, too. And, it will accept longer spindles, with a capacity of 18-in. between centers.

It’s powered by a 1/2hp induction motor for long-term durability, with a safety On/Off switch. The spindle is 1″x8TPI, and both the head and tailstock have internal #2 Morse tapers. The tailstock offers 1-3/4-in. of ram travel, while the headstock rides on permanently lubricated ball bearings for durability and smooth operation. Large handles and wheels make it easy to adjust the machine for different turning applications.

The 10″ x 18″ Pen Lathe includes a 6-in. tool-rest with a 5/8-in.-diameter post, spur and live centers, knockout bar and wrenches. It has a suggested price of $299.99, and RIKON covers your purchase with a 5-year warranty.

For even more versatility, RIKON offers accessories for this machine that include a Lathe Stand (70-920; $159.99), Lathe Stand Extension (70-913; $109.99) and a 21-1/2-in. Lathe Bed Extension (70-906; $79.99).

Learn more about the 70-105 Pen Lathe and other RIKON power tools, by clicking here.

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Tim Inman: You can tint epoxy with dry rare-earth powdered colors. Do NOT tint with anything like oil paint pigments or acrylics. Do NOT use stains or solvents either. Do NOT add aniline dyes! They will turn the epoxy into rubber sometimes. Epoxy mixtures are critical. Do it right and you get what you want: a strong bond and an excellent hardness. If you mix solvents or other oily, gooey things into the epoxy, you might very well get something you do not want.

Personally, I usually default to a little very fine sanding dust from the wood I’m using as my source of color. It doesn’t take much to do the trick. Compare epoxy to glass. When you view through the glass the ordinary way — as if looking through a window — the glass seems clear. But, when you view through the glass the ‘’edge” way, the glass appears to be green. The color of the glass concentrates in the deep cross-section view. Guess which view will be the “ordinary” view with an epoxy repair? Right! You’ll usually be looking into the deep cross-section of the adhesive just like the glass — and whatever color you added will compound in its intensity. Go easy and always do a test before launching on your project. Epoxy, once in and hardened, will have to be sawed or cut out to be corrected.

Chris Marshall: I’ve have good luck using Homestead Transfast® powdered dye mixed with 5-minute epoxy as a wood filler/colorant. It’s cured hard enough for that application and seems to stand the test of time pretty well. But, I’ve never used that mixture as adhesive to bond wood together—just as a filler—so I can’t attest to its bond strength. Fellow readers, any advice for John you’d like to share? I bet the boat builders/restorers among us could add to this conversation! Please chime in.

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-John Rodgers

See the Gallery Below:

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“I just read your article regarding firewood and what does and does not make the final journey to the wood stove. Here are a couple examples of projects that were diverted from the wood stove. The birch bowl was carved on the edges by a wood borer, which made the natural edge even more interesting. The buckthorn not only was diverted from firewood but also showed there is a nice use for the larger specimens of this invasive species. And the three cedar vases were branch wood diverted from the cookfire on a Cub Scout trip.  You are correct: once a woodworker, always a woodworker, no matter what the task at hand is.”- Jim Sanders

Here’s one solution to this “problem.” – Editor

“I used to have that problem, too. Decisions, decisions! To get better heat and save energy, we replaced the wood fireplace with a gas fireplace. Nice, warm, no drafts, AND I keep all my wood!” – Carl Carter

“The last couple weeks I have been turning some of those surprise wood treasures you talked about in issue 412. I also burn wood for main heat source. While splitting firewood this fall, I was surprised by what I thought to be a near useless wood, hackberry. I had hauled this tree home just to get it out of the way at work. The wood has sat in a pile for about a year and a half. While splitting the hackberry this fall, I noticed spalting in the wood. I doublechecked to make sure it wasn’t maple. I must have hit the jackpot on the timing; the wood is fairly solid and turns quite well. Here are a couple pictures. Who would have thought, spalted hackberry?” – Todd Brooks

“I’m so glad that this subject came up. And I’m happy to reveal that in my shop there are treasures and heirlooms ‘waiting in the rough.’ I’ve got good pieces waiting to be turned and made into mallets (I have made six so far), knife handles, cutting boards, boxes and, and … Lurking behind trash cans, dark corners, rafters, etc include but not limited to: live oak, mesquite – oh, lots of mesquite —  some acacia, mulberry, persimmon, apricot, redbud and …!!” – Jack Stanford

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