Bill Haskell

  Since his early years, Bill has had a keen interest in creative expression. He has pursued that interest in many mediums, but mainly in wood. He has fashioned wood into various forms, including furniture, household items, and sculptural shapes. He also has created his own designs in sterling silver and metal. Artistic expression in turned wood has come alive in the last 25 years, and Bill is excited about being a part of this creative direction. In his turning, Bill seeks to explore the relationship of shape and form in turned objects, often with woods that offer rich figure, color, and unusual character. While finished wood is a warm, sensuous, and inherently lovely material, creating a beautiful form in each piece is his primary goal. 

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October 07 Carob	October 07 Juniper	October 07 Myrtle
Three pieces with a pierced pebble mosaic carved design I have been doing recently.  The center piece is an ash bowl with broad rim.  The other two pieces are what I call a fountain plate form: the left piece is carob and the right piece magnolia.	The piece on the left is a box elder vessel with carved rim and overlapping front, the center piece is a mesquite bowl with enclosed rim with carved textured ebonized band, and the piece on the right is a California buckeye burl hollow form.	Large low hollow form done in claro walnut with a free-form design carved on the top surface
Two of the three pieces are an example of the pierce pebble mosaic patterns I carve to give the piece a unique dynamic quality.  The piece on the left is a mountain ash hollow form, the center piece is a purple heart fountain plate form with carved free-form rim, and the right-hand piece is California buckeye burl hollow form.

The turned pieces shown here were turned on my OneWay lathe.  When turning, if the starting blank does not have any extra material on the bottom, I will attach the blank to a waste block on a three-inch faceplate.  Otherwise, I use a VicMarc four-jaw chuck to attach the work to the lathe spindle.

 For pieces that I do carving on after the work is turned, I leave the piece attached to the faceplate or chuck and screw one or the other onto a carvers swivel on the work bench.  In this manner, the item can be rotated and swiveled to most any position to do the carving, sanding, etc. when adding design elements.  After all the carving is done, the piece goes back on the lathe to be parted off or to turn the bottom.

I typically use lacquer as a finish, applying numerous coats.  The first coat or two are applied with a brush using lacquer cut with about 30% thinner.  After sanding out with 320 grit, I will apply a number of coats with spray can lacquer.   Before the last coat or two, I sand the surface smooth with 320 grit sandpaper also.  In some cases when a glossy finish is undesirable, I will rub out the finish with 0000 steel wool and then rub with a soft cloth.  In other cases, I will buff with a soft cotton wheel and white diamond compound to achieve a final glossy finish. 

last updated 04/16/2008