towards a hollow form

[Sean Hughto]

I'm mainly into bowls, but in trying new forms, I came to this, a proto-HF sort of thing. We'll see if the openings keep getting smaller or not ...

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4131/4996947539_1cb30069be_z.jpg

about 9" x 4" from found wood (curbside cuttings) - best guess is ornamental pear of some sort - very dense and fine grained. Finished with fine sanding and wax. Thanks!

[Dennis Ford]

Whatever you call it, it looks nice.

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Sean,
That shape is really nice. When you hollowed under the lip were you still able to use a gouge or did that amount of undercutting require a "hollowing tool" of some sort?
fmr

[charlie knighton]

very nice....

[Roger Chandler]

That is a really well done piece. A quality turning for sure. I like your work here on this one!

[David E Keller]

I like it. It does look like pear which I find is wonderful to turn and finish. Hollowforms won't be much of a stretch for you given how hard that shoulder area can be... Doing it through a smaller opening won't add much difficulty. Nicely done!

[David Christopher]

sean, thats a very nice hollow bowl..LOL....I like the shape and finish

[Sean Hughto]

Thank you all; you are very kind in your encouragment!


When you hollowed under the lip were you still able to use a gouge or did that amount of undercutting require a "hollowing tool" of some sort?
fmr

Faust, I did a good deal with the gouge, but the drastic undercutting I did with a scraper type tool. It's a fairly small one like this:
http://www.popularwoodworking.com/upload/images/converted_xml/December_2004_PW/image/P90-4.jpg

[John Keeton]

Sean, very crisp details on this one, and a great finish. I actually kind of like the form, and it is very well executed. My guess is that with your skills, you could take this a lot further!;):D They are fun.....but, addicting!

[Bill Bulloch]

I really like turning Bradford pear and the shape of that bowl. Great job.

[neil mackay]

Sean, very crisp details on this one, and a great finish. I actually kind of like the form, and it is very well executed.

ditto for me. sometimes simplicity of form can be the hardest thing to achieve well. In this case your well on the way, a great piece of turning.

[Robert McGowen]

Very nice form, Sean. I like it.

[Michael James]

Very nice piece Sean! Simple lines but elegant, and a nice chunk of wood.
Keep em coming!
mj

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I'm mainly into bowls, but in trying new forms, I came to this, a proto-HF sort of thing. We'll see if the openings keep getting smaller or not ...

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4131/4996947539_1cb30069be_z.jpg

about 9" x 4" from found wood (curbside cuttings) - best guess is ornamental pear of some sort - very dense and fine grained. Finished with fine sanding and wax. Thanks!

Nice looking wood Sean, fine grained it seems, you did a nice job with this form, and a silky looking finish, I do like undercutting the bowl walls and do it quite often on bowls, it makes for quite a different look, I've done some HF, but they don't appeal much to me, a hang-up of me I suppose of non-useable pieces, other than dust collectors ;)

[Sean Hughto]

Thanks, Leo. I too have that "hang-up" as a general matter. I have seen many non-utility/art pieces that I've liked a lot. A painting or a sculpture or a song for that matter don't really have separate utility except for the pleasure they bring us in making, perceiving, and living with them. Certainly a turned piece of wood might "function" in that way too. I'm not saying anything I've made to date fits that bill, but I'd certainly be thrilled to live with some of the things guys like Ellsworth and Bosch (and many folks here on SMC for that matter) produce with no utilitarian function. On the other hand, as I've said, certain forms do not stir the muse in me because of their impracticality in wood. For example, while I like goblet and vase forms, they seem more the province of glass as a medium. Anyway, you can see I'm pulled both ways. It's hard to generalize or make blanket rules; it really is something where I don't know if it "works" as far as being "good" until I'm talking about an actual piece that exists in front of me. Just follow the muse - pursue your own bliss - and the results of such a sincere pursuit can hardly help but be something meaningful and good that others will appreciate.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Nice looking bowl Sean! The undercut rim looks good!

Hollow forms are one of those things that I think some people do just to sat they've done it. For others, turning a hollow form opens another door in to more of the art world and you start to appreciate form for the sake of form instead of utility. Lots of folks when presented with a hollow form, seeing it is made out of wood, associate it with function and ask 'What is it used for?' Yet the turner who created the hollow form did so that others may enjoy the form and wood used - nothing more.

A lot of folks struggle with the idea of turned wood art. To them, if it is wood, it should be utilitarian. To others, wood offers a perfect and renewable medium that can be used to bring their imagination to life.

When faced with the question: What is it used for? I remember the answer a friend of mine (Vaughn McMillan) had. He countered with: What do you use a statue or painting for?

So, you have taken the first step towards hollow forms with a very nice bowl! Do not worry about what your HFs could be used for - just create and see where that leads you!

Have fun!

[Rob Cunningham]

I like the nice crisp lines of the form and the finish is perfect.

[Baxter Smith]

Very nice Sean, I like the both the lines and the finish!

[Tony De Masi]

Very nice piece Sean. Nice clean and very crisp lines too.

Very well done.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Nice looking bowl Sean! The undercut rim looks good!

Hollow forms are one of those things that I think some people do just to sat they've done it. For others, turning a hollow form opens another door in to more of the art world and you start to appreciate form for the sake of form instead of utility. Lots of folks when presented with a hollow form, seeing it is made out of wood, associate it with function and ask 'What is it used for?' Yet the turner who created the hollow form did so that others may enjoy the form and wood used - nothing more.

A lot of folks struggle with the idea of turned wood art. To them, if it is wood, it should be utilitarian. To others, wood offers a perfect and renewable medium that can be used to bring their imagination to life.

When faced with the question: What is it used for? I remember the answer a friend of mine (Vaughn McMillan) had. He countered with: What do you use a statue or painting for?

So, you have taken the first step towards hollow forms with a very nice bowl! Do not worry about what your HFs could be used for - just create and see where that leads you!

Have fun!

You are right of course in that a piece can have a use as a "pleasuring the senses" and I do appreciate form and always strife to fulfill that as well as I'm able to with good shapes and pleasing lines and not in repetition, for me making Birdhouses, one of the things that are used just for that (pleasuring the senses), in making each and everyone as an individual piece it allows me to create something artistic within the boundaries of it being a birdhouse, it is fun and challenging, but a one of a kind bowl or vase, candle holder, you name it, can/should/is in my opinion also an artistic expression, and can have a everyday use, in either as a decoration of the home or in dressing up a table setting and/or a just as a thing of beauty to look at.

But for whatever reason, the HF have never really appealed to me, I blame it on the upbringing that things should have a use, and of course they do, just as you say, so there's got to be some other reason for it, and I don't know what, maybe some day I will like to make them, as never say never :confused: :D
Have fun and take care :D

[David DeCristoforo]

I'm envious! My attempt at a similar form was foiled by the old "just go back and clean up the rim a bit" trap and it ended up in fragments! Not an easy shape to make. Your's looks immaculate.

[Dick Strauss]

Sean,
That is a very nice looking piece. I turned a piece of locust crotch into a similar shape a few years ago as my first turned piece.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=49486).

Maybe it is time to re-visit that shape...;)

[Sean Hughto]

Looks great, Dick. Quite a feat for your first!

[Joshua Dinerstein]

Wow. I like it. A nice twist on both the idea of a bowl and a hollow form. Very nice. I am going to steal... I mean borrow the idea and turn one of my own. :)

Joshua

[Allen Neighbors]

Sean, I really do like the shape, and the clean way you've undercut the rim! Very well executed!:)


When faced with the question: What is it used for? I remember the answer a friend of mine (Vaughn McMillan) had. He countered with: What do you use a statue or painting for?
Have fun!
That's a good answer that Vaughn had... thanks for posting it, Steve! Sometimes, I get some weird looks for my weird answer to that question: "It's a health item for your home... it collects dust so you don't have to breathe it."

[Michael Ginsberg]

Sean, I really like the simplicity of this bowl. It looks "shakerish" to me. Very simple and smooth. It wants to be held!

[Neil Strong]

Nice shape Sean.

And, yes, when does a bowl become a closed form?

Definitely a bowl...


161837

Still a bowl...


161838

Maybe a bowl or maybe a HF...


161839

Stretch it up a bit and it's definitely a HF...


161841

Maybe....:)

.

[James Roberts]

Simple, yet elegant form, Sean, along with a nice piece of wood and and a great finish. Another winner.

[Sean Hughto]

Great photos, Neil. Thanks for the tour.