walnut tealight holder with glass insert

i appear to have acquired a little stockpile of walnut spindles.

no complaints from me.

the more i turn different woods, the more i’m beginning to appreciate the particular character each one brings. english walnut has a warmth that i find especially appealing—the heartwood moving from soft mid-brown through to deep chocolate, sometimes with hints of purple or grey, occasionally interrupted by those wonderfully pale cream lines.

this piece gave me the opportunity to explore a couple of new ideas.

i wanted to use the skew tool to achieve a clean, refined surface without relying on endless sanding. it’s another small step towards understanding how much the right tool, used with a little more confidence, can do.

i also introduced a tapered internal opening to accommodate a glass insert. a small design change, perhaps, but one that completely alters the character of the piece—and, naturally, introduces another technical challenge.

even the final turning has become part of the learning process. i’m now making my own wooden chucks to support the bases while they receive their final cuts, which has opened up yet another small area of experimentation.

the finished piece was a pleasure to make from start to finish.

there’s something particularly satisfying about seeing an idea develop, solving the little problems along the way, and ending up with something that feels simple despite everything that went into it.

the learning curve is still very much there.

thankfully, i’m enjoying the climb.

height 11cm diameter: 7.5 cm