Turkey Hollow

Detail of Turkey Hollow

 

This time around I'm presenting a "return guest" blog by Frank Lyne. He's continuing the saga of the making of  "Turkey Hollow". Oh.....and there's a kitteh involved!

  

A while back, I did a guest blog for Alison on wood selection. I chose a billet that had the beginning of a limb branching off because I knew that where it branched off it would include burl. Burl consists of lignin fibers that run at a different direction from the surrounding grain. Burl gives additional strength to the part of the wood where it appears, making it more like plywood in strength. I made a turkey head in the burl portion. Kitteh approved of the head and made recommendations on what to take off next. 

 

After the head and body were done, Kitteh didn't seem too concerned about whether it had any feet and kept asking, “When will it be ready to cook?” 

 

Deferring to Kitteh's impatience, I skipped making any feet, instead making it appear that the feet were hidden within the hollow where it is perched. It didn't seem like a complete lie when I told Kitteh that I had to take it inside to baste it before cooking it. Applying tung oil is sort of like basting.

  

I told Kitteh another lie that a bit of left over chicken thigh was her portion of Turkey and put Turkey on a shelf in the dining room.