To learn how this bowl was made you can read
Making Eclipse here
Looking for Public Television Show Sponsors
 I am working with Channel 56, my local Public Television affiliate, to produce a program showing artistic techniques of woodturning. We are nearly ready to send out proposals to prospective sponsors and I'm looking for interested parties who would like to consider sponsoring this type of show. The first 13 episodes are scheduled to be produced this year. If your company or foundation would like to receive a proposal package please let me know by sending me an email at Dennis@DWMontville.com. I would really appreciate your consideration and potential involvement.

Dennis W. Montville

Artist, woodturner and builder of woodturning solutions

Sterling Heights, MI

email:  Dennis@DWMontville.com 
 

Artist Statement

"Wood is one of the most expressive fundamental elements on earth. Once part of a living organism, it still expresses the echoes of that life captured within its fibers. This is the "voice" of the material. Engineering is the "voice" that humankind uses to express itself with works of visual and functional presence. My work combines both voices to create a harmony of natural and man-made beauty"

You can see what I have on eBay by clicking on:
 MY eBay Store

You can see my Etsy shop by clicking on:
  MY ETSY SHOP.

Artistic Turnings Available Tool Hardware
Information		 Available Tools
and hardware kits		 About  My Tools See my videos here at my
 YouTube channel		 Link to Sonic Discordance, my "other" web site under construction
 

Update: April 22, 2012

Added 5 new tools to my Available Tools page.

Update: April 9, 2012

I added a link on the center bowl above that tells how I made it. It is a .pdf file so you should be able to click on it and have it come up.

Update: April 3, 2012

I've updated the listings on the Available Tools page and on Etsy and eBay.

Update: March 16, 2012

I'm posting more and more tools on my Available Tools page and on Etsy and eBay.

Update: March 5, 2012

Well, that's not SO bad. Only a month since my last update. That's only about 3 weeks longer than I should have waited. But, I have been busy. So let me catch you up a bit.

I'm working on a woodturning show with the local PBS affiliate. That's taking a lot of time as I prepare everything they need so that we can look for sponsors. That means I haven't been working on the lathe as much as I'd like. I have done a couple of commissions, but not much. Right now I'm making several new turning tools that will be available on Etsy. I'm also cleaning up my Available Tools page so that it will be current.

Here are photos of one commission I did of a 30-06 bullet. It is 41 inches tall.

       

The last photo is one the customer sent me showing how it will look in the rack. I like it.

Update: February 5, 2012

I've just finished two new jewelry items. They are listed in my Etsy store. Here are some photos:

        

I've also finished that bowl I mentioned in my last update with the thin section. I'm happy to report it came out as I had envisioned it. Here are some views:

     

I also have a YouTube video of it that show it very nicely. Just click HERE.

I'm staying busy with new work and some welcome commissions. I hope to have another update soon.

Update: January 12, 2012

2012!! I never thought I'd make it this far. Well, since I did I guess I'd better get busy. Remember, the World will end this December. So buy that Rolls Royce around October and enjoy it for a few months. They'll never have time to repossess it. Let me know how that works out for you.

I have been very busy lately. The woodturning is going a bit slowly but other things are keeping me hopping. I have a new bowl with an extremely thin section running straight through it from side to side that I'll be posting here in a couple of days, provided I don't mess it up. I'm concerned every time I pick it up to work on it. No kidding, that section is about the thickness of a potato chip. You'll see what I mean later.

I'm enjoying this Winter without snow here in Michigan. However, I know the "payback" will come. My snow removal guy has a broken truck and can't get it repaired so now I'm searching for a plow guy to hire for the inevitable storms to come. If you know of a good one send them my way.

Update: October 27, 2011

I just released a new product today. You can see it on my Available Tools page. It is a kit of tall Cole jaw grippers to use with Nova and other scroll chucks. Here are a couple of photos of them:
   
These can really work well when you have a bowl with a rolled-over lip that you want to turn the base on. Check them out.

 

I've posted several videos on YouTube. Click the link you just read past to see them. I've taken the ones I had on the site page off because they work much better through YouTube.

 

 

Artist's Statement:

 

 

 NEW WORK

Below are photos of the some recent work. Some of these are entered into shows and are not yet available for sale. Others are already sold. I'll keep you posted on shows that I've been accepted in. As work becomes available for sale I'll be updating the Available Pieces page.

I call this piece "Intrusion"
It is made of black walnut, maple, purpleheart and oak. It measures 8 3/4 inches in diameter by 5 inches tall.

Sold

Artist Statement: An intrusion is usually considered to be a bad thing. But here the intrusion adds character, beauty and strength. Don’t always think of an intrusion as a negative. Give it time to show itself. You may be surprised and pleased.
                             
This one is called "Life Menu"
This one is made of Narra and measures 5 inches in diameter by 1 3/4 inches tall. It is the same piece I show being faced off in the upper right video above. It's come a long way, hasn't it?

Available

Artist Statement: When life presents choices you might consider all options in detail, giving careful consideration to every aspect. So many shapes and designs. How do you decide? Who ever said that you couldn’t choose them all? Take all that life has to offer.
Here is "Eclipse"
This one is made of chechen, bubinga, oak, maple and narra with veneers. It measures 9 inches in diameter by 5 inches tall.

Artist Statement: An eclipse is an exciting event. This piece captures some of that excitement with it's design and presentation. But it's the hidden feature seen when held to the light that truly captures the glow of the real thing.
"Black Tundra"
This one is made of black locust with piercing. It measures 7 inches in diameter by 4 1/2 inches tall.

Artist Statement: It was simply cold outside while I worked on this. The tundra came to mind, along with the black from the wood name. I incorporated black as a contrast to the void of piercings. The contradiction of a black tundra seem appropriate.

 
     
 
     

 

Here's the piece I just finished on Christmas Eve, 2009. This is going to be a gift to the neighbors across the street from my dad. They take care of him and involve him in their life so much that I'm lucky for their concern and care.
 
This is a piece of elm that was turned thin and then I used pyrography and acrylics to produce the detail areas you see here. It measures about 6 1/4 inches in diameter and is about 3 inches tall.

Click on any photo to see a full-sized image in a new window.

Below are photos of the lamp I made for a client out of a prototype GM rotary engine cylinder and piston.

 

The Story Behind This Lamp

A good friend of mine is Mike Paradise. He is the Media Coordinator at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, MI. Back in the 70's I worked at the General Motors Tech Center. While there I had a friend that worked on the rotary engine development program and used to talk about his vacation home on Grand Cayman Island. I was working as a technician and did emissions tests on that engine with him. That guy was Mike Paradise's father, Bob Paradise. Flash-forward to today and a conversation that Mike and I had where he mentioned that a lamp that had been started as a retirement gift for his dad was never completed. It was to be made from a rotary engine block section and piston. This conversation was after my dad fell and broke his neck, which got Mike to think how fleeting life can be and made him wish he could finish that lamp while his father was still alive. I told him I'd like to do that for him and so he brought it in, along with the emblem that was made for the car that never actually got built. What you see in the photos is the completed lamp made with those parts. The shade frame is to be covered with some sort of material yet to be decided on. Mike wants to get that done himself so I just designed and made the frame. The only things Mike gave me was the metal parts of the engine and the shiny emblem. The base is from a larger board of curly bubinga. You should see it in person. It's really hard to get a truly good photo of it, but it has a lot of character. The small teardrop-shaped element that holds the emblem is reminiscent of 50's and 60's vintage futuristic designs from GM.