Help please - how do I salvage this HF

[Mike Spanbauer]

Been working on my HF skills and as you can see below, I've still got room to go :-p

I turned this last weekend and became a bit too aggressive on the bottom - ending up hollowing into the glue block and as a result the hole to fill w/ finial or other is larger than intended. The finial and pedestal will be permanently attached on this piece, so the minor defect on the top hole won't matter - but the bottom... well that hole is 3.5-4" in diameter :/

So - I could either glue a "plate" of ebony or Cocobolo on for an accent between the piece and the coco base (and finial) that I was planning on or... well, I don't know what else I can do.

Thoughts? Thanks!
Mike

Top: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4111/4972935656_2bb8342a39.jpg

Bottom:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4129/4977146628_0a538e4d34.jpg

[John Keeton]

Mike, first of all, that is one fine looking piece of wood!! And, it appears you have done a superb job of getting a smooth finish, and the walls look very thin.

You don't show the profile, and I wonder if the form is uniform in profile such that it can be flipped? If so, then I would be inclined to inset a piece in the smaller hole, and see if I could get it chucked (vacuum chuck would be nice!) to turn the plug into the top of a pedestal stem.

Then, for the larger hole, which would then be the top, I would do a lid, perhaps with a contrasting band/collar - not sure what wood you have available. If you have anymore of this burl, then there are other possibilities.

A profile pic would be helpful. This piece is too good to trash!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Mike - sorry to hear about the mishap - but that's how we learn.

Hard to judge the actual form of the piece from the photos.... is it possible to flip the HF such that the bottom is now the top? Would be easier to glue the pedestal into the smaller hole and then create a collar for your finial that will fit the larger area. Would be nice to consider using a band of black and then the interior out of the same wood as the HF. Just a thought.

Good luck with this as it is a very nice looking hollow form! I look forward to seeing the piece once it is completed!

John - I just read your comments - must have been typing at the same time! Looks like we agree on a corrective course of action!

[John Keeton]

Steve, you should be seriously concerned that your mind entertains thoughts similar to mine!!!:eek:;)

[bob svoboda]

Steve, you should be seriously concerned that your mind entertains thoughts similar to mine!!!:eek:;)
We're ALL concerned about that John.:D
Mike, I agree with Steve and John:eek: Much too nice to trash and that sounds like a good save approach. Good luck.

[Steve Schlumpf]

John... actually, I thought it first - it's just that you type faster. ;) :D

[Mike Spanbauer]

Thanks guys - the form is nearly perfectly uniform (I'll snap a profile this evening) so I can easily flip it. It's a uniform 1/8" around too. I have plenty of the wood John - but it won't be a perfect match as the grain is crazy on every piece (this is the same stuff I've been selling in the classifieds). It's never possible to determine exactly what's inside until you spin it of course, but I was pleased with the grain on this piece... a little "too" excited as you can see given that I went right through to the glueblock.

What about species? I was originally thinking Coco (I have quite a bit of 2.5"x2.5" x 12" blanks) The lid would be a combination of both the Claro / English walnut (that this is) and the complimentary pedestal species. If I had some KD blackwood I'd probably go that route, but I do have 4-5 ebony bowl blanks which I could snag a piece from.

Available species: Claro / English / French walnut, Eastern Black, Cocobolo, Maple (not certain how much here though), wish I had some honey locust...

Anyone interested in trading some of this for some of.... ?

Mike

[John Keeton]

Mike, I would think you would want a significant contrast for a collar. Since the English walnut will darken some with the finish, the ebony sounds good to me, with an English walnut lid - with this kind of grain, an exact match wouldn't have been possible even from the same piece. The finial and pedestal of ebony would look great!

[David E Keller]

I think once Steve and John weigh in, there's probably little else to add. Sounds like you've got the wood to fix this piece up, and it certainly looks like you're up to the challenge.

That's a beautiful piece of wood, and I'm looking forward to the finished form.
Just out of curiosity, what was the original game plan before the design opportunity?

[Mike Spanbauer]

Original design plan was a Coco pedestal and finial as a closed form. However, the recovery plan is an attached pedestal and an open form / lid.

I'll see what I can come up w/ this weekend :) Stay tuned...

Mike

[Scott Hackler]

I concur. I think this is easily saved with a pedestal attached to the smaller hole side and a large collared finial on the large hole side(top). That wood is fantastic, BTW. If you turn the pedestal tenon the same thickness of the bottom of the form (1/8") noone would ever think that you didn't plan it that way!

[Jim Underwood]

Whatever you do, please post the pix of the rescue job...

Looks great from my house. If you just left it alone and put finish on it, it would be a great conversation piece....