Mohagany Vessel

[Larry Marley]

9" tall by 5.75" wide
Segmented 193 Pieces.
Made from furniture project cutoffs.

[Brendan Stemp]

Sensational Larry, well done.

[Michelle Rich]

what an interesting shape..:) Thanks for sharing it with us

[Steve Schlumpf]

Larry - love the form! Great job on the joinery!

[George Morris]

Larry love the form looks very uplifting! Great work!

[Bill Bulloch]

I'm not to fond of that small bottom, it seems to distract from the overall shape, but that's just me. Like on all your work, the joinery is outstanding.

[John Keeton]

Larry, those sure are some TIGHT joints!! Very nice work, and excellent alignment.

[bob svoboda]

Just beautiful. Nice work.

[Roland Martin]

Larry, does this really stand on its own?:eek: Very nice work.

[Cathy Schaewe]

That wood is gorgeous - nice job!

[Larry Marley]

Thanks everyone

I made this one for the monthly club turning challenge.
This month's challenge was form. The critique was to hold on to the diameter a little lower to allow enough of an under cut to give it some lift.

[David E Keller]

that's beautiful. I love the long, graceful form.

[Tim Rinehart]

I keep wanting to do some segmented work, but have terrible visions of gaping joints...not like yours.

Beautiful and well balanced, nice size opening. What kind of hollowing system did you use, and then finish, if you don't mind elaborating?

[Mark Burge]

Not to diss your turning club or anything, but I think the form is right on. To me the form is not about lifting but about expanding. It looks like a balloon swelling up. I think it's great the way it is. I also like the way the bottom and top mirror each other in size. I wouldn't change a thing. And, yes, the joinery is exceptional.

[Kurt Barker]

I'm with Mark - wouldn't change a thing.

I'm going to print a copy of the picture and hang in my shop as a constant reminder of what joinery should look like!

Like an earlier poster, I'd enjoy knowing more about how you hollowed it.

Thanks for sharing!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Really great form, joints and finish Larry. Well done.

[Larry Marley]

To answer the question on how I hollowed it...
The nice thing about segmented work is that you can turn as you go.
I built it up about 2/3 of the way, then made the top separately.
I attached them with carpet tape and turned the exterior between centers, then pried them apart and turned their interiors separately, before gluing them together.
The top opening is 1/2 inch. I hot melted a plug there so I could mount it in a vacuum chuck to turn the interior.

The finish is just several coats of shellac, then wet sanded with mineral spirits. I was going to paint it black until I showed my wife and she said " the bottom is too small, but I like the wood, it's pretty."
So, I left well enough alone.

For the joints, if you hold the ring up to a back light and you see any light in the joints, you are not ready to glue. I make the rings in halves separated by 3/8" in dowels and usually hose clamp them. That forces any error in alignment to the unglued dowel section. Then just touch the halves on the disk sander, checking for light in the joint before gluing the two halves together. I run each ring through the drum sander before adding it to the turning. I also hold a 3" by 24" board covered with 80 grit against the ring on the lathe before adding the next layer.


It sounds like more work than it really is. If you get a little lazy on one ring, you can have a turning that has 300 or 400 perfect pieces with hundreds of glue joints in it and that one bad joint will jump out from across the room and scream, "missed me!" I have a story about that but I will spare you.