First Hollow Form-Critiques Welcome

[Rob Cunningham]

I finally finished my first HF. It's turned from Sycamore from my neighbors tree that came down Memorial Day weekend. I hollowed it out using my homemade hollowing rig. Soaked it in DNA overnight and allowed it to dry until it stopped losing weight, about 4 weeks. The wood was a little bland looking so I tinted it with medium brown TransTint dye and sprayed 6 coats of Target EM 6000 semi gloss. It measures about 6" high and 6" in diameter. I wanted the shape to be a little rounder but my turning skills wouldn't cooperate. :o
When I showed it to my wife she was impressed and said we should give it to her parents for their 50th wedding anniversary (this past weekend). So the finished product was only in my possession for about 1 1/2 weeks.
Please feel free to critique. Thanks for looking.

[Bill Bolen]

Beautiful job. Like the form and a fine finish. The Dye job adds a lot to the feel of the piece...Bill..

[George Guadiane]

Excellent first effort, and a great gift!

[David Christopher]

Rob, thats a nice looking HF. the finish is outstanding...did you buff or just spray

[alex carey]

looks like a nice finish, good job on that, i know pretty much nothing about dying wood.

I think you hit the nail on the head with your own critique, it needs to be more rounded and the bottom should be smaller.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Rob - the first one is always the hardest - but you got it off the lathe without blowing it up! Form is always a matter of personal taste and you will find that changes over time anyway. This form has a very organic feel to it and reminds me of a small jug - which is really kinds cool! I think adding color enhanced the piece and also think you did a really nice job on the finish!

The fact that your wife liked it enough to give it to her parents on their 50th says a lot about your turning! Nice work! Looking forward to seeing HF #2!

[Jeff Nicol]

Rob, I really like how the transtint added some nice warmth to the "Bland" wood as you say! Just as Steve says the first one is the toughest and now it is all down hill from here! The finish is outstanding, soon you will be doing larger and larger ones.

Thanks for sharing and keep on a spinning!

Jeff

[Bernie Weishapl]

Very nice first piece and the transtint sure gives it a nice warm look.

[Wayne Leach]

Good job Rob, I like the "jug" shape and the color is neat.
Wayne

[Rob Cunningham]

Thanks for all the comments.
Dave, the finish is just off the gun, no buffing. EM 6000 is a very user friendly finish to spray. I use it on most of my furniture projects.

Alex, I started using TransTint dyes after taking a finishing class taught by Jeff Jewitt. They are a great addition to the finishing toolbox. They are pretty easy to use and can be used in a lot of different ways. I like them for making toners to tweak the final color on a project.

[Brian Novotny]

me likey. looks very native american to me. nice, original shape, and pleasing to the eyes, or buyer, for that matter.

[Walt Caza]

Hi Rob,
Sorry for coming late to this little party...
this one musta snuck right past me.

Sweet effort for a first HF.
I'm intrigued by several things you mentioned:
-homemade hollowing rig?
-DNA soak?
-tint?
-sprayed finish?
Thanks for demonstrating that I have tons to learn!

Good work and thanks for the sharing a peek with the Creek.
be well,
Walt

[Rob Cunningham]

Hi Rob,
Sorry for coming late to this little party...
this one musta snuck right past me.

Sweet effort for a first HF.
I'm intrigued by several things you mentioned:
-homemade hollowing rig?
-DNA soak?
-tint?
-sprayed finish?
Thanks for demonstrating that I have tons to learn!

Good work and thanks for the sharing a peek with the Creek.
be well,
Walt

Walt,
Thanks for your compliments.
-My homemade hollower, is an articulated arm setup similar to a Monster Hollowing System. Someday I'll get some pictures of my shop posted here.
-DNA soak- After rough turning the outside shape and rough hollowing the inside, I soaked the HF in a bucket of DNA for @ 24 hours. I then wrapped it in brown paper and let it dry for a few weeks. I then remounted it on the lathe and finished turning it.
-I used TransTint dye (from Homestead Finishing) mixed with water, to add some color to the piece. I like to use dye rather than stain.
-EM6000 (Target Coatings) is a WB finish that sprays better than applying by hand. I spray finish all of my furniture so it just it just seemed the easiest thing to do for me. I would like to get into hand applying finishes on my turnings.
Hope that answers your questions, if not, just ask for more info.

[Mauricio Ulloa]

Very nice piece of art! It has your own touch in the shape! Looks great. Congratulations! Which tool ( or tools) did you use for the hollowing?

[Wally Dickerman]

A very good first effort on HF's. You should feel proud.

You did ask for a critique, so.....When creating forms there is something called the rule of thirds. It works well when applied to bowls and HF's. The widest part of the piece should be 1/3 from the top or the bottom, depending on the form. Just gives a better balance to a form. Your piece appears to be about on center. The foot should be close to 1/3 the diameter of the piece. You have a nice curve going and it would be even better if it contiued in to a smaller foot. There are exceptions to most rules of course.

Wally

[Rob Cunningham]

Wally, thanks for the info on the 1/3 rule. That's the kind of stuff I don't know yet.

Mauricio, I hollowed out the form with an articulating arm set up, using a straight bit the center areas and a 45* to get out near the edge of the form.