Claro Walnut Contest at Woodcraft

Maker Talk Events
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From the email Woodcraft sent:

Competition:

  • May 1-7 Come by Woodcraft and receive A Claro blank. (Max 2 blanks)
  • Each blank is approx. 2”x 2 5/8”x 5 ½”
  • May 8-21st Create something using only the Claro Blank.
  • May 21st – 25th Drop off the finished product.
  • May 26th – 31st Voting by customers and employees, only 1 vote per person.
  • Jun 1st The winner will be chosen along with 2 runner ups.
  • June 3rd The winner will be announced.

Rules:

  • The entire project must be made only from the claro block.
  • Must be made by hand;
  • CNC or Laser work is not allowed (Future Competition).
  • Any finish or painting is allowed.

The winner will receive a $100 Woodcraft Gift Card

The two Runner ups will receive $25 Woodcraft Gift Card each.

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Thanks for the heads up on this. Sounds like fun.

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Image from another post about this
image

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Picked up two blanks today, all you need do is fill out a short form then pick out your blank(s). These banks are rough cut and vary in size.

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Here is my first pass at my entry:

From this -

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To this in a little less than two hours -

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I guess there’s a reason they give you two blanks… The inside of the first one:

media-1683602547014-May_8_2023_8_15_PM
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It’s got character!

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Much like with my ankles, I’d happily trade that kind of character for a bit more structural integrity…

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Claro is known for having internal voids like this. Usually you will not see them until it is too late. When approaching the final thickness I usually stop the lathe periodically and feel the surface to check for soft spots.I have extra blanks if you need one. The demo piece for the vase class was from this bin at Woodcraft and my partner picked up several after visiting Woodcraft back in October.

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Thanks for the offer, @David :slight_smile: The second blank I got is still intact, but I might ping you if that one also turns out to be the Swiss cheese subspecies of walnut.

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Here’s what was hiding in the blanks I got – two turned teardrop boxes. The shorter one was from the blank I posted upthread, full of voids. The taller one is closer to what I was trying to accomplish:

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About 2" at their widest points. Next versions will probably be taller still, but I’m choosing to call these trial runs a success :smiley:

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Those are so very lovely. Excellent work!

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