Association of Woodturners of Great Britain
Los 56
Kip Christensen (USA) mountain mahogany natural edge bowl 6x13cm. Signed
Prior to my receiving the bowl blank, Ray had turned and rough-sanded the outside. The inside was rough-turned leaving a wall thickness of about 1”. Most of the bark was still clinging tenaciously to the rim, but there were sections where the bark was missing. I felt this was best resolved by removing the bark altogether. There was also a faint hair-line crack up one end of the bowl, which warned me to not turn the walls too thin. The outside line of the bowl is very near Ray’s original shape. I reduced the diameter of the base somewhat and added a foot with an understated, tapered cove.
Mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus) is a shrub or small tree in the rose family that gets its common name from the color of the heartwood, not from any relation to the mahogany family. The plant is deciduous and produces a very hard wood with a tight grain that can take fine detail such as chatter-work and rose engine cuts. It is native to mountainous regions of western United States from the Rocky Mountains west to the Pacific Coast, and from Oregon south to Mexico. It is quite likely that Ray would have obtained this piece of wood during one of his trips to the Utah Woodturning Symposium. There is also a possibility that he could have obtained this wood from me, as I have often taken mountain mahogany to the symposium to trade for other species. While the wood is sought after by woodturners, it can be a challenge to harvest as it grows at elevations from 2,000 to 10,000 feet.
I have been fortunate to know Ray since the 1980’s when he first presented at the Utah Woodturning Symposium. I have fond memories of long conversations with Dale Nish and Ray, including some at Dale’s residence, at Craft Supplies USA, and at my home in Springville, Utah. Ray was an excellent demonstrator who never tired of turning wood or of telling stories related to woodturning. His forms were simple and pure, and his finished pieces were without blemish. His influence on woodturning in the United States dated back to the late 1970’s and continues to this day. I am fortunate to have a few of Ray’s pieces in my collection of woodturnings, including a lidded container of cocobolo, an Indian rosewood bowl, an vessel of locally (Utah) harvested apricot, and a platter he turned from a spectacular piece of birdseye maple.
The Ray Key Collaboration Auction
