Big Leaf Maple HF

[Dennis Ford]

Total height ~ 12" with finial.
Pedestal & finial are katalox, the HF is big leaf maple burl and the accent ring is hard maple.

[John Keeton]

Dennis, one of my favorite woods to turn!! Beautiful piece, and you did a great job with it. I am not familiar with katalox, but it certainly makes for a nice finial and stem.

[Matt Ranum]

What tool do you guys use for making those finials? They look so delicate, I don't think I can turn anything that small without breaking it.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Great looking HF Dennis. Finial and pedestal look great.

Matt I use a 3/8" detail gouge and a 1/4" round skew to do mine. I always have my left hand index finger behind the finial to counter the pressure from the skew or gouge. IMHO Cindy Drozda's DVD on elegant finials is a good one to get if you want to seriously do finials. I also made or sharpen a couple of gouges for tight places plus her vortex tool.

[Baxter Smith]

Nice work!

[Matt Ranum]

Great looking HF Dennis. Finial and pedestal look great.

Matt I use a 3/8" detail gouge and a 1/4" round skew to do mine. I always have my left hand index finger behind the finial to counter the pressure from the skew or gouge. IMHO Cindy Drozda's DVD on elegant finials is a good one to get if you want to seriously do finials. I also made or sharpen a couple of gouges for tight places plus her vortex tool.


Thanks Bernie!

[Roland Martin]

Very nice piece, from top to bottom. I need to find more time on the lathe, so many things to try!

[David E Keller]

Very nice. I like the choice of katalox... It has such a rich, deep purple color which I think looks great with the creamy color of maple burl. Great job.

[John Keeton]

Matt, similar to Bernie, I use a Thompson 3/8" detail gouge, a homemade Vortex tool, and I just ordered a Thompson 1/4" detail gouge to get in tight places - sometimes the 3/8" is a little large.

Dennis, what did you use on this one?

[Dennis Ford]

John
I used a 3/8" spindle gouge to remove most of the wood, a 1/4" spindle gouge to get in a couple of tight spots and a 1/2" skew to clean up the surface.

Matt
Watching a video or a demo would help a lot. The sequence is;
Start at the top (bottom end in chuck) and cut it down to size.
Work your way down cutting to finished size as you go, do not attempt to go back and cut on a thin section once it is no longer supported by a thick section close by.

[Thom Sturgill]

Dennis, great job on the HF, base and finial. Only point is I'm not sure I would have gone that tall on the finial (even if I could:o). Looks a little like an antenna aerial.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Very nice work Dennis! Beautiful maple! Nice detail work on the finial!

I'll agree with Thom - the finial does seem a little long but still works well with the form!

[Craig Powers]

very nice work.

[George Morris]

Very Nice! Great Work! I love the form final is well done! G