"Still Free" is the featured art piece shown on the homepage of the Wood Turning Guy. It is the second in a series of Eagles.

Each time I make an oval hollow form for someone, I get to design an image that is special to them. Woodturning in retirement does not get any better than this!

This is art piece is completely over-engineered.
My father-in-law, Glenn Ziegle, once told me there comes a time in every project where it's necessary to shoot the engineer and make the damn thing!

Well, it's made. The wood is Mahogany with a Gaboon Ebony base. The Ebony is pitch black throughout and the sawdust is like lamp black. The design is woodburned following a sketch I made placed next to the art piece.

The whole art piece is sanded to 1200 grit, coated with a paste wax, and buffed to a satin finish that will last a lifetime.

The inside is sanded to 1200 grit, paste waxed, and buffed to the same satin finish as the outside.

The front and back, inside and out, has matching grain - as it should, it's made from the same piece of wood.

The backside of the artwork is also finish sanded to 1200 grit, the same as the front and insides. At this surface finish it does not need a high gloss top coat, just a coat of paste wax buffed to a satin finish that will not change color and lasts a lifetime.