Turn a Small Bud Vase

Turning a small bud vase is a simple spindle turned project. Sometimes called a weed pot but this small bud vase has a unique feature. At about 4-1/4” tall and 1-3/4” wide it is simple and quick to turn and they make a great gift. They also allow for experimenting with different woods and finishes. Add some color or pyrography or both. Very few tools are needed for this project – typically just a skew, spindle gouge and parting tool.

The interesting feature is that a standard size 10mm x 75mm test tube will fit in the drilled hole which allows this weed pot to hold water and thus can support a small living bud, such as a flower.

Tools and Materials Needed

• a square spindle blank approx. 2” in diameter and 5” long
• any lathe will drive centers and a four jaw chuck
• Jacobs chuck and a 13/32″ drill bit (or a drill bit sized for the available test tube)
• spindle roughing gouge
• skew
• 3/8” to 1/2” spindle or detail gouge
• thin parting tool
• face shield
• dust protection
• Any decorating and finishing supplies needed such as pyrography, carving, spiral texture, chatter tool, knurling tool, sandpaper, sanding drills, sealer, dyes, paints, guild cream, waxes, oils, etc.

Dimensional Drawing of the Small Bud Vase

Step by Step Guide

Use the following steps to turn this ‘small bud vase’.

1. Choose a spindle blank that is approximately 1-3/4” to 2” in diameter by about 5” long.
2. Mount the blank between centers. I use cup centers with the center point protruding only about 1/8”.
3. Turn the blank to a cylinder and create a tenon on one end to fit your chuck. I use a spindle roughing gouge or a skew to rough from square to round and to rough shape the tenon. I use a pointy spindle gouge to cut a dovetail tenon which fits my chuck. I try to get the size of the tenon to closely match the minimum size of the chuck jaws as this provides the healthiest grip.
4. Re-mount the blank in the chuck along with tailstock support and re-true the cylinder.
5. Clean the end of the cylinder using either a skew or spindle gouge all the way down as close to the live center point as you can.
6. Remove the tailstock and use the spindle gouge, with gentle cuts, to clean up the final bit at the center end of the cylinder. Use the point of the skew to create a small dimple in the center of the end. This will provide the drill bit a place to locate to prevent it from wandering.
7. Use a Jacobs drill chuck with a 13/32” drill bit and drill to a depth of 3-1/4”.
8. Clear the sawdust from the hole and test fit the test tube. Note how the flanged area leaves the test tube protruding from the hole. Remove the test tube and turn away the lip of the hole so that the test tube sits flush with the top of the ‘soon to be’ vase.
9. Add a cone center to your tailstock live center and re-engage the tailstock into the drilled hole in the end of the ‘vase’ cylinder.
10. Using a pencil, mark the cylinder at the important transition points as shown in the drawing above. As an option, use a parting tool to cut close to depth at these transition points.
11. Start at the top and turn away the excess down to 1”, which is close to the 13/16” final dimension. The length of this section can be 1” or slightly more.  The slightly tapered top is 5/8” long. Since the minimum diameter is 1” from the top with about a ½” diameter, this gives room to complete the tapered top.
12. Remove more material between the large bulb area and the neck. The large bulb reaches a max diameter of 1-3/4” at about 3/4” from the bottom (see diagram). Make the cove of the neck a tighter radius near the top than it is towards the base. This give the form some visually pleasing lift and it accentuates the top taper.
13. Start to cut and round the bottom. This helps to give a reference to the overall flow of the curve from the bottom up to the max diameter and down the other side to the neck. The idea is to have a smooth flowing curve with an ever changing radius without any flat spots.
14. Work to blend and create that smooth curve. Keep looking for the high spots. Since woodturning is a deductive art we must always look at the high spots to see where to cut. We cannot add wood back – at least not in this project.
15. Use the parting tool to start the parting off process at the base. Part down leaving about a ¾” tenon. Be sure to slightly undercut the base so that it will sit properly.
16. Sand and finish as you like. Be sure to pull the tailstock away and gently sand and finish the top of the vase. I tend to sand to 400 – 600 grit and then use a vinyl sanding sealer. I will rub the sealer out with 0000 steel wool and then apply my finish of choice. Options here are shellac, wax, lacquer, polyurethanes, varnishes, paint or anything you want. This is also the time to be creative and try some new decorative embellishments.
17. Now cut the parting tenon down to ¼” and use a small hand saw to cut the vase free.
18. To finish the bottom, you can sand it off, carve it off or cut it off using a small jam chuck.

Decorating the Small Bud Vase

To give you some inspiration for decorating your Small Bud Vase, here are some of my favorite finishing techniques and wood species to help you get started on your project.

I hope you get inspired here and have fun turning your own Small Bud Vase. Here is a link to my live stream were I go through making a Small bud Vase. Happy turning!