Remains of the Day

You may have heard me talk or write about how I make my shades from these big log sections, sometimes weighing as much as 250 pounds when I start, and ending up around a pound or less. Even the smallest shades begin as 70 pound chunks, and when I am done with all the carving, there is only few ounces. Have you ever wondered about what happens to the other 99% of the log? 

The rest of the log becomes:

• slabs from using a chainsaw to cut off the corners of the log
• shavings, shavings, shavings
• a cone-shaped piece that comes out of the center of the log
• a round piece, flat on top and bottom, that comes from the other end

The picture at the right shows the slabs. I cut off these parts before bringing the log chunk in to the shop for two reasons. One is that it makes the piece lighter, easier to manage and lift. But the more important reason is that I get an early look inside the log. Sometimes I discover a hidden defect that means I will not use that piece of wood. Other times, I see the hint of a grain pattern that can be featured by choosing a particular shape for the shade. The slabs end up in my organic, long-term composting pile behind my garage.

Most of the log ends up in shavings, produced by carving away the wood on the lathe, little bit at a time. I am using hand-held gouges, and there are no shortcuts. If the log started out at 200 pounds, there are probably 175 pounds of shavings, and when they are cut away from the log, they get bigger! The pile of you see in the second picture is from making four medium sized lampshades. I haul these out of the shop in a big Garden Way cart. Some of them go in to a compost pile used in our gardens, and the rest go out in to that giant pile behind the garage, filling in between the slabs mentioned above. People ask me all the time about alternative uses for these shavings, like animal bedding or burning for heat. The problem is that the shavings are straight from the log, and very wet - not at all suitable for the proposed alternatives. The fact that they get turned in to compost, returned in to the ground from which the tree grew, is a use that seems very appropriate and environmentally sound.

There are two solid chunks of wood that come from the turning process. On the medium and larger sized shades, I remove a cone shaped piece from the center of the wide end of the shade. Most people would assume that this is a time saver, but the real purpose for leaving the column of wood inside the log for the first phase is that it helps ergonomically. The cone/column provides a point where I can touch the "tailstock" of the lathe to the heavy, spinning log. That greatly reduces vibration in the wood and my body as I rough away the waste wood. 

The other end of the log is attached to the lathe with a faceplate, which is a thick flat disk of steel through which long screws embed in to the wood. When the shade is completely made, the only part left on the lathe is that round chunk. I stack these parts up to make interesting towers that I call "totem poles." Some of these are taken away by my clients, others are in our gardens, and some have ended up at the local elementary school, utilized by the art classes to make fun sculptures, decorated with colored markers.

In the end, what matters most is that the big chunk of log is made in to the remarkable lampshade. There is a lot of leftover material. But it would be a mistake to focus on this as wasteful and environmentally suspect. Remember, these shades are made out of Aspen wood, a kind of wood that is considered a junk species from a forestry point of view. It is never made in to lumber, it is not desirable for firewood. One of the many things I love about my work is that I am taking such an unloved species and making well-crafted pieces of artwork that serve a function, and are deservedy loved by their owners.