Stunning Root Ball Turning Transformation

I was given this Almond tree root ball from a member of my local woodturning club. This is my first attempt at turning a root ball. I was definitely a little nervous about this one, it was the largest and most unbalanced piece I have turned to date. Originally I had planned to not use any resin in this piece, but unfortunately there was no way I was going to be able to hallow it out and have it stay in one piece. I also had a bit of a scare when part of the root caught on the tool rest and broke. I’m sorry I didn’t catch it on camera. It was pretty intense. I set my lathe speed at 450 rpm for the majority of this turning (lowest speed my lathe will go). Only raising it to approximately 600 rpm once the piece was cut and better balanced. I think I lost about an inch of my 5/8” bowl gouge turning this piece due to the constant sharpening. The inside of the root had lots of rocks and dirt that I just couldn’t get to until I turned it down a bit. The simple woodturning carbide tools worked great as always. The Sumi black pigment powder from Eye candy pigments came out amazing and really went well with the grain color of the piece. I finished the piece with Danish oil and polished with carnauba wax. This was by far the most fun I’ve had turning a piece and plan on finding more root balls to turn. The fact every piece is original and one of a kind is what I think makes it so special. Thanks for watching! Hope you have a great day!
#woodworking #woodturning #resin
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@KerryHarrison-Woodturning

[@squareandlevel]

I was given this Almond tree root ball from a member of my local woodturning club. This is my first attempt at turning a root ball. I was definitely a little nervous about this one, it was the largest and most unbalanced piece I have turned to date. Originally I had planned to not use any resin in this piece, but unfortunately there was no way I was going to be able to hollow it out and have it stay in one piece. I also had a bit of a scare when part of the root caught on the tool rest and broke. I’m sorry I didn’t catch it on camera. It was pretty intense. I set my lathe speed at 450 rpm for the majority of this turning (lowest speed my lathe will go). Only raising it to approximately 600 rpm once the piece was cut and better balanced. I think I lost about an inch of my 5/8” bowl gouge turning this piece due to the constant sharpening. The inside of the root had lots of rocks and dirt that I just couldn’t get to until I turned it down a bit. The simple woodturning carbide tools worked great as always. The Sumi black pigment powder from Eye candy pigments came out amazing and really went well with the grain color of the piece. I finished the piece with Danish oil and polished with carnauba wax. This was by far the most fun I’ve had turning a piece and plan on finding more root balls to turn. The fact every piece is original and one of a kind is what I think makes it so special. Thanks for watching! Hope you have a great day! #woodworking #woodturning #resin Affiliate links Simple woodturning tools www.simplewoodturningtools.com?bg_ref=gkr80FMJN5 Limited time coupon code!!!!!!!!! Square3 Acrylic resin simple start turner and hollower www.simplewoodturningtools.com/knyydq Acrylic resin simple start roughing tool www.simplewoodturningtools.com/yio14f Simple hollowing system with laser kit www.simplewoodturningtools.com/ect9ii Super Clear Epoxy Partner Superclear epoxy resin www.superepoxysystems.com/ref/squareandlevel/ Eye Candy pigments 👁️ bit.ly/48vZNLf Coupon code: Squareandlevel Sumi Black Eye Candy pigment powder- bit.ly/3J5Qasr

[@TheNewJankyWorkshop]

I like this idea of duping the description in the comments... borrowing. :)

[@johnlivsey4146]

Thanx. New turner and new sub. Something about the rootball really speaks to me. Not sure why. Maybe you are giving new life to a 'reject' or something. Not sure. Keep up the good work. Going to call my shrink now....

[@squareandlevel]

@@johnlivsey4146 haha. I totally agree. It’s basically trash. Would either end up in a landfill or a bonfire. Kinda cool to make something unique and interesting with it. Thanks for watching. Hope you have a great day.

[@JamesCouch777]

I like turning stuff that shouldn't be turned, in other words, trash 😊. This one turned out great 👍​@@squareandlevel

[@wadihkarim4088]

Is this for sale and how much?

[@mdaley3102]

Rey nice, looks like an ancient pot that is in perfect shape and ready for display in a museum.

[@frankmurphy2776]

Beautiful piece! Thanks for posting! 👏👏👏🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@tgoldfisher]

WOW! That is beautiful. Thanks for posting!!

[@joebarrett4353]

Extraordinary skill. I was transfixed for the whole process.

[@fastjazz]

A WINNER, a thing of beauty!!!

[@octaviaria8081]

I love the contrast - beautiful !! 👍 from 🇨🇦

[@abdeslamakhrif9688]

You are an artist and I love the smell of wood

[@auntkaren12]

That is a beautiful piece of art. Thank you for sharing.

[@johnemmett2969]

Absolutely, a total pleasure to watch. Thank you.

[@leisongivangomo4478]

Gorgeous results! Well done!

[@minajones1635]

Oh My Goodness- it’s stunning! Such a delight to watch you create!

[@squareandlevel]

Thank you so much!

[@Sebastopolmark]

Very well done. Came out GREAT! !! !!!

[@racheldow4238]

Absolutely beautiful!!

[@dianefiske-foy4717]

WOW! Beautifully done 👩🏻‍🏫👵🏻👏🏻🥰‼️

[@leaannd.8786]

Fabulous! I love the black with the orange and red tones of the wood. Great job. 👍

[@squareandlevel]

Thank you so much. I appreciate the kind words. I hope you have a wonderful day! Scott

[@MikeHolton]

Beautiful Vase Scott, what a challenge!!! You did amazing, great work

[@squareandlevel]

Thanks so much Mike. Really appreciate it. This was a fun one. Hope you have a great day!

[@michaelcoslo6497]

Wow! Glad you kept up with that after the piece broke off. That thing is gorgeous

[@squareandlevel]

Thanks! Hope you have a great day!

[@littlecreekbowclub5288]

Beautiful piece!

[@johnsanders8168]

Magificant! Beautiful. Marvelous work!

[@squareandlevel]

Thanks John! Have a good one!

[@floydmayes4924]

All I can say is"WOW".

[@stevedoolanTacoma]

Stupendous, I was so surprised when you stopped the lathe at the end. Thank you for sharing this journey with us. 😎

[@squareandlevel]

Thank you!

[@GlennMartinPhotography]

Man look at that lathe shake rattle and roll!!! Beautiful piece, Scott!

[@squareandlevel]

Thanks Glen. It's really not good that the lathe is shaking so much, but that's the slowest setting mine runs at. Thanks for watchinf mate! Hope you have a good one!

[@sturdyboneswoodworking]

Awesome video Scott! This one turned out amazingly! Such a huge starting point too! Keep up the great work!

[@squareandlevel]

Thank you Cam. Maybe in ten years I’ll be able to make a video as good as yours. Thanks for watching man. Hope you have a good one.

[@steby123]

Very impressive, quite the job there !!!!

[@squareandlevel]

Thank you very much!

[@yall2743]

Wah wah whee wah ...!! ❤❤❤❤ Man, thats so beautiful !!!😮😮😮

[@cjspice6310]

Oh boy. I've never seen your shop this dirty 😊. First class work as always sir.

[@squareandlevel]

Haha. It’s still a mess. Deep cleaning time this weekend. Thanks for watching. Hope you have a great day!

[@bigboy9706]

That's absolutely beautiful

[@qapla]

Now that sure turned looking nice!! I also liked your zip-tie trick for keeping the wood from floating while giving you a handle to lift it out of the pressure pot. I have found that roots do not always turn the same as the parts of the tree that are above the ground. They also seem to dry a little faster.

[@scottcates]

I like the direction that this went. And the black.

[@valeriewilleto5583]

Wow, absolutely beautiful! 😊

[@squareandlevel]

Thanks, and thanks for watching. Hope you have a wonderful day! Scott

[@SarieMorris7-dh1fh]

Absolutely wonderful keep it up.

[@mikemccormick8115]

Masterful! 👍🏻 Beautiful piece!

[@squareandlevel]

Thank you very much!

[@stevehogg]

Love your work, please keep it up. I'm learning by watching.

[@squareandlevel]

Thanks, will do! Hope you have a great day!

[@yourtruereview3621]

Looking through the comments, I guess I'm the only one with my head in the gutter... because at about the seven-forty-five mark, things start to look a little funny. Besides that, like everyone else is saying, this is a nice piece of work.

[@user-mt7qr9ut6o]

Espectacular empecé a verlo para ver cómo quedaba muy bonito 😮

[@pennyclark6349]

Stunning, absolutely stunning.

[@squareandlevel]

Thank you so much! Hope you have a great day! Scott

[@davidpickens3117]

That is an AMAZING piece of work

[@squareandlevel]

Thank you David. Hope you have a great day!

[@alexclark6777]

Yeah, I happened upon one of your videos. That was over an hour ago. Now I have to subscribe because your work is just outstanding.

[@squareandlevel]

Thank you very much. Appreciate the compliment. I hope you have a great day!

[@lyndaowen2154]

just gorgeous! very nice work--- hope to see more from you

[@squareandlevel]

More to come!

[@uniqko]

Beautiful piece

[@MrErViLi]

Man that's beautiful. Whenever I mess with a root ball I usually break out the pressure washer and blast away all the dirt and rocks. Works great and all the mess is outside.

[@squareandlevel]

Did that twice before I started. Still full of rocks and dirt. These roots were wrapped so tight the stuff just wouldn’t come out. Thanks for watching. Hope you have a great day!

[@johnlivsey4146]

That's true. You can blast the outside all day long and then 7/8th of an inch in after 3 min of turning... there's a rock. 😢

[@debradavis9331]

Absolutely beautiful

[@larrylebowski8386]

That’s beautiful.

[@allamar9083]

Wow ,,,Stunning!

[@sharongiluso9227]

Good work man

[@oneminer]

All I can just beautiful keep up the good work

[@carolineecou]

I'm enjoying your videos. You are doing some fun pieces.

[@squareandlevel]

Thank you! I hope you have a great day!

[@VickiAndersonwoodturning]

Very stunning. Great job.

[@squareandlevel]

Thank you so much!

[@davidboettcher4367]

Stunning!!!

[@user-mi5cm1cm2z]

oh be still my heart!!!! heart ❤️ 💙 💜 💖 💗 sometimes....words just can't express ...... this is one of those sometimes. ✨️✨️✨️

[@johnbrereton4756]

New subscriber . .That was very impressive, never turned a root before. Think I will wait awhile before I try. I will be closely watching your channel in future. Keep it up.

[@squareandlevel]

Thanks John. I’m definitely going to try and find more. That was by far the most interesting bit of turning I’ve done. Thanks for watching. I hope you have a great day!

[@tombruno3986]

So nice to look at.

[@c.a.chambers68]

Beautiful 😊

[@ratsalad5054]

The prep work before it even gets mounted is crucial. I’ve hit a stone inside one root system before

[@jamesburnett7085]

Magnificent!

[@sittingbull4570]

Well done .

[@jeremyedwards5950]

Absolutely Stunning 👏👏👏✌️

[@squareandlevel]

Thanks so much 😊

[@user-gm1gm3tt3j]

FRUMOASĂ VĂZUȚĂ!🙂👍

[@Tinatortoise]

Beautiful x

[@shirleypowell6768]

Phil , that vase is beautiful, I can't believe that came out of that piece of wood.

[@squareandlevel]

Thank you, but who is Phil? Hope you have a great day!

[@Rose_2381]

La finale est magnifique le bois et une matière noble bravo félicitation pour ce que vous faites 👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌

[@raydriver7300]

Yep, got a like from me. A very interesting video and I thank you for sharing 🌞

[@moondog4313]

That's so amazing

[@jimrosson6702]

Absolutely amazing so very cool great job

[@squareandlevel]

Thanks Jim. Hope you have a great day!

[@jimrosson6702]

Thanks hope you have a great day also. Loving your wood turning stuff looks awesome . Keep up the great job

[@raghbirsingh6192]

Good work❤❤

[@squareandlevel]

Thank you! Hope you have a good day!

[@trjb-th8oj]

Beautiful

[@gordonshute8816]

Love it!

[@josephinebennington7247]

7.13. Mummy mummy! Daddy’s beard is growing faster and faster!

[@squareandlevel]

It’s about to get real hot here. Beard may have to go away for a few months. Thank you for watching. I hope you have a wonderful day! Scott

[@irisf.9355]

My husband loved turning wood. Pleasure to watch this. So much work and a little danger even! But a gorgeous result.

[@bradwiebelhaus7065]

Looks good.

[@scotter_dotter]

When you first start carving, it scares the 💩 out of me! But wow! The end results ❤

[@squareandlevel]

Thanks Scott. That was a fun one. Have a good day man

[@Chris-gk1vr]

Very nice indeed and a good length of video too! Some people like to talk more and make the video more about them then their turning 🙂

[@mariateresalatte5208]

Hermoso trabajo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@428Mario]

Well done

[@OlgaKn-tour]

Получилось великолепно....💜 Красиво и оргинально 💚

[@JamesCouch777]

I like the black, I use a lot of coffee grounds in my turning.

[@davidhunt7519]

Ha! I didn't know anyone else did that!

[@JamesCouch777]

@@davidhunt7519 lol, I really like the color and tone, smells good too

[@squareandlevel]

Sorry for late response. I’m intrigued by this idea and am most likely going to “barrow” it. Haha. Curious if you have any rough ratios you go by for coffee/resin. You’ve convinced me with the “smells good”comment.

[@harryrespass9473]

Didn’t know that was possible but I’m trying it.

[@yvonnepagan9912]

Boy, oh boy! That was one screwed up, pot bound tree! What type of wood was it? I used to dabble in marquetry and loved all the types of veneer available. I just loooove wood! This is like polishing a raw opal. You can’t wait to see what you uncover. It’s magnificent!!!!❤. From junk to jewels!

[@Limara64]

❤ Yes, yes I like that 👏🏽

[@LivingOurDream]

What do you do with the shavings that have the epoxy in them? I normally put my shavings out as mulch around the trees, but wouldn't do that with epoxy for obvious reasons. I am curious to see your method of reuse or disposal. Thanks for another great video.

[@lorenzocubilla1514]

Excelente trabajo realizado

[@Audie1234]

Lovely ❤

[@AllenOxendine]

Amazing is right, thanks for sharing. Full View and Like 👍

[@squareandlevel]

Thank you too!👍

[@Emilio-sq6gb]

Truly beautiful - made me think of antiquities - like you'd find in a pyramid.

[@pawpaw5717]

Awesomeness

[@franciscasoares1499]

Não me canso de ver seus trabalhos ,e as belezas que você produz ❤❤.

[@brucewatt2864]

Great looking piece Scott. Really enjoying your videos, please keep them coming. I thought that yu may have used the top piece you parted off as a lid (not that it needed it). Thanks for sharing Cheers Bruce

[@squareandlevel]

Thank you Bruce. I considered that exact thing with the lid but eventually decided against it on this specific piece. Will definitely keep it in mind for the future. As always thanks for watching and I hope you have a great day!

[@AdrianoMassi]

Bravissimo!

[@loisdamra9062]

Stunning

[@squareandlevel]

Thank you! 😊

[@LJ_Brooks27]

Awesome

[@bst278]

Nicely Done Brother! I would imagine it took a lot of effort to make this one happen.

[@squareandlevel]

Thanks! It did for sure, but well worth it. This was a fun one. Hope you have a good one!

[@BlueTurtleStudios]

This is my favorite of your pieces so far! Good job! I am wanting to do this with table legs for some of my pieces but a 16 inch tall pressure pot seems like what I will need to stop from waisting epoxy. I think your simple tool affiliation is a plus and if you could explain what each tool is and does on a video that may be a good video. I turn mostly legs and have no idea the techniques involved but do enjoy. thanks

[@squareandlevel]

Thank you sir! It's one of my favorites as well. I'm on the fence about doing a tool video for multiple reasons. We will see what the future brings. Thanks for watching! Have good one!

[@tonydavies3511]

I'm not a woodturner, but find it so relaxing watching a craftsman create something beautiful from something so mundane. I'm curious though how you ensure that the thickness is the same down the sides when you are hollowing the inside. Probably a dumb question I know.

[@squareandlevel]

Hi Tony. Not a dumb question. There is a laser attached to the hollower set up I use that points down on the outside of the vessel being turned. It helps to reference where the cutter is on the inside, making it fairly easy to obtain a uniform thickness throughout the piece. Thanks for watching. Hope you have a great day.

[@marycatherinelebouef-op4hf]

Absolutely gorgeous! Fantastic work on what I would have thrown out to burn!! You have great talent and a creative vision!!

[@squareandlevel]

Thank you so much!

[@nicktodoroff7836]

Had dinner with your in-laws Tuesday night and we're all in agreement regarding your skill and creativity as a craftsman and artist!!!!!!!

[@squareandlevel]

Thanks Nick. Think I have a ways to go on the whole artist thing. It sure is fun though. Appreciate you taking the time as always. Hope to see you soon. Have a good one !

[@stevenmellott574]

That turned out great! Good job. Do you prefer an inertia sander over a power sander? Thanks.

[@squareandlevel]

I use both just depending on the piece. I had the inertia sander out from doing the inside of piece and just kept using it. They both work great tho. Thanks for watching. Hope you have a great day!

[@jardablazek1]

Nádherný 😍❤💯👍💯❤😍

[@TheNewJankyWorkshop]

Dude, that came out amazing! Nice job Scott! Just getting into turning myself. I know you do some work with Simple - as a beginner, that has already dulled his cheap set from Amazon, what to you suggest for a set? Want to get the nice stuff that will last forever now :) Thanks brother!

[@squareandlevel]

Thanks for watching! As far as tool recommendations, it really depends on what you want to turn. I personally like the full size tools that are for turning with resin. They have negative rake cutters and still work good if just turning wood. They would not be ideal for small detail work though. I have little interest in making pens and very small pieces so the full size tools work best for me. Simple woodturning tools have multiple different sets available depending on what you’re looking to do. I personally bought the full size AR STH tool first because I wanted to make sure I liked it before spending money on a set. I now wish I would have just bought the set to begin with. They really are high quality tools that work great. Hope that helps. Have a good one !

[@TheNewJankyWorkshop]

@@squareandlevel Thank you my friend, much appreciated! I don't have much interest in the small things... although I do have a small lathe. Looking for full size tools to do both wood and resin (have a couple of resin handle projects I want to do). So I'll take a look at their sets!

[@billseggie4578]

Beautiful piece, have to agree with the comment below about color choice. With so many colors, why black?

[@forsythbmf6127]

Love this piece! Couple questions! What 5 gallon pressure pot do you use and what are your thoughts on it? It looks like a TCP Global. I’m wanting to buy one but keep reading how these pots don’t seal correctly out of the box and that has me hesitant to spend that type of money. Any advice/info will be greatly appreciated!

[@squareandlevel]

Thanks for watching! This is a CAT pot and this was the first time I used it. It was a little cheaper than the tcp global ones. So far I really like it. It was perfectly sealed out of the box. ( I pressurized it and sprayed all sealing points and fittings with soapy water to make sure). These things are wayyy over priced in my opinion but especially the ones for “resin casting “. They are the same as the paint pot ones with parts removed and then they charge more money for them. The first one I bought was a vevor paint pot that I modified. It was $70. It’s just a little on the small side. But I’m happy I now have two to work with. Hope that helps a bit. Have a great day. I’ll leave a link to the Cat 5 gall. One. California Air Tools CAT-365C 5... www.amazon.com/dp/B017BXZ8B4?

[@forsythbmf6127]

@@squareandlevel Thank you for the insight! Keep up the great work!