Miniature vase

I turned a miniature vase from maple. I mounted it endgrain (grain runs vertically when it stands up) and turned it wet. It's about 3 inches high and 1.5 inches wide. The wall thickness is about 3/16". With the grain orientation and the wall thickness it shouldn't crack as it dries.

This was a bit of a "proof of concept" since I've never turned a vessel with that grain orientation before. Because of the orientation and size I got to crank up the lathe speed and use the spindle gouge instead of the bowl gouge, which was a nice change of pace.

Lately my time has been put towards rough-turning lots of bowls and putting them on the shelf to dry (some with DNA, some without, so I can compare drying methods). But... I want to learn to turn other objects too. So this weekend I ordered some dried wood pieces from ebay, including some zebrawood, rosewood, ebony, and some others. I want some dried exotic pieces to make ornaments, toys, etc. I was even eying plans for a chess set, but I'll do some other simpler projects first. I'll post photos of the blanks when they arrive so you can see the variety.