Beech Wood Flash Light

I'm not a woodturner, so I may not be totally up to date on the latest turning projects. But this one made me smile.
While it's not for sale as a project or a kit (that I know of), I thought it was an interesting use of turned wood.
I have no clue how difficult it would be to hollow out the inside to accommodate the batteries, and you'd have to make a tight fitting (screw-on) cap to keep the batteries inside. But those are the kind of challenges woodworkers usually enjoy.
If you like the idea and don't have a lathe, you can visit the Generate online catalog and decide how badly you want one. They're US$49.00. Ouch.
[Thanks BoingBoingGadgets]

591 Pieces

Member Captainkrusty in the WoodNet Forums has posted a couple photos of his latest turned pot. But he says the wood turning was a small part of the job. From his post:

Segmented wood turning is 10% lathe work and the other 90% is done on the jointer, table saw, drum sander, planer, and disc sander. It isn't an inlay and
the design (except the turquoise) goes all the way through to the inside. It is a Native American shape and I call it "Rain Dance". It does contain 591 pieces of Paduak, Bubinga, Purpleheart, hard maple and what I think is a beautiful figured big leaf maple. It stands 13" tall and 10" wide at the middle. The turquoise is a product called "Inlace" and is a imitation stone that can be turned. The finish is waterlox.

Another photo and lots of comments in the Woodworking forum.

From Log to Bowl

There's something mesmerizing about woodturning. I can watch people turn wood all day. Here's a series of short videos by Joe Fisher that shows the process of starting with a log and ending with a cherry bowl.

Joe is, among other things, one of the moderators at WoodNet.net, riding herd over WoodNet's Woodturning Forum. He's also responsible for the beautiful cherry bowl in the photo, although it's not the one turned in the videos. That one was offered up for ritual sacrifice -- the value of which is known only to practitioners wearing strange hats and brandishing sharp tools.

See more of Joe's work at his website.