I made a hot air balloon that floats!

The balloon is a cottonwood hollowform, colored with dyes. The basket is black palm wood. The base is also colored cottonwood.
The base supports a vertical pole, and the balloon has a tube running through its middle. The balloon just slides onto the pole.

I put strong magnets in the basket and the base, and that’s what makes it float.
I’ve been enjoying making hollow forms recently. This is just a sampling of some of the recent ones.
Beetle-Kill Pine:

Maple, with a bit of spalting on the top:


Aspen:

Cottonwood:

Another cottonwood form. I like how layering various colors of dye brings out the figure in cottonwood.
This hollowform really shows off some nice Aspen grain figure.
5″ diameter, 5.25″ tall, with about a 1″ opening.


$55 – Sold
This is a small hollowform – just 2.5″ diameter and 3″ tall. It is Aspen, with a cap (attached, not a lid) of ebonized Walnut.

Not for Sale
Wood Turning by Dave Landers