Mesquite Ribbon Forms

[Richard Madison]

No stave construction this time. The “bowls” or cones were cored end grain from small mesquite logs with the pith centered, thus avoiding the tedious work of making all those compound stave bowls. All glue surfaces were “side” grain, being radial planes of the log, but there are some cross grain joints between pairs of surfaces. Each piece is about 4”x6-1/2”x7”, about 5/16” thick, and is made from ten half cones. Clamping the glue joints and then cleaning them up can be “interesting” on such small pieces. One picture includes a typical 12 oz. beverage container to give some sense of scale. My sweetie says that these will not be for sale (at least not for a while). And they will be my last ribbons (hurrah!), at least for a while. I’m going to make some more weed pots now. C. & C. always welcome, and thanks for looking.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Beautiful work Richard. Really well done out of some really pretty wood. Sometime I am going to have to try one of those.

[Mike Golka]

I like 'em!! Very well done.

[Norm Zax]

Sweeeet. Well done.

[Paul Engle]

:DExcellent work, no wonder the LOYL will not let you sell . Nicely done for sure!!!

[charlie knighton]

very nice...

[Malcolm Tibbetts]

Richard, I've never done any ribbons with solid turned bowl components, but I've often wondered why someone didn't. Nice job.

[Harvey Crouch]

Great job Richard!

[George Guadiane]

Great thinking, nice results! I like to see things from a slightly different perspective. Good Job!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Richard - love the imagination! Excellent work!

[Christopher Zona]

Love the ribbons. It's very similar to Bob Rollings' work.

[Scott Gibbons]

That is awesome, how did you do that?

[Richard Madison]

Thanks to everyone for your generous comments. I appreciate your support.

Scott, Ribbon forms are typically constructed from half and quarter sections of compound stave, bottomless bowls. The "bowls" typically have a 45 degree slope, are of equal size and uniform wall thickness. Beyond that many variations are possible. The pieces shown have "bowls" of two sizes, and are not stave construction. The whole process is beyond a description here, and I would refer you to Malcolm Tibbetts' book "The Art of Segmented Woodturning", available from himself at www.tahoeturner.com (http://www.tahoeturner.com).

[Scott Gibbons]

Awesome Thank you!!

[Tom Giacomo]

Wow, really nice.