John Hart Challenge Piece

[David E Keller]

A while back I was the lucky recipient of an act of kindness by a fella named John Hart. You see, this part of the country is devoid of cherry trees(and trees in general). John was nice enough to send me about 6 metric tons of cherry. Included in that batch was a piece of cherry burl that John sent with the idea that we would have a friendly little competition, and he kept the sister piece to this one. Thanks, John.

Here's what I came up with. The wood split and cracked along the pitch lines so it was filled with epoxy mixed with blackwood dust. The funial is my first attempt at carving anything, and I have a new appreciation for carvers. The collar and base of the funial are African blackwood with hand chased threads. The floral part of the top is holly that was ebonized with India ink. I'm guessing the whole thing is about 5 inches tall and around 4 inches in diameter but I could be off by as much as 6 inches in either measurement.

Comments and criticism greatly appreciated.
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[alex carey]

totally love the cracks filled with dust, it works really well. Nice job.

[David Christopher]

Man, that is just beautiful

[Baxter Smith]

Very neat David. The cracks filled in very nicely and added to the look of the piece. I like the top as well. I have only tried carving once and it was very simple(and crude). Looks like you did a great job with that as well.

[Richard Madden]

Looks good, sir. For your first time carving, the funial looks nice, and threading adds to the whole thing. Just curious, how many revolutions to thread that funial fully in place? I read somewhere (I think Fred Holders book on threading wood) that around two turns is ideal. Around 2-1/2 to 3 is as close as I've been able to get. Good job!

[David E Keller]

Looks good, sir. For your first time carving, the funial looks nice, and threading adds to the whole thing. Just curious, how many revolutions to thread that funial fully in place? I read somewhere (I think Fred Holders book on threading wood) that around two turns is ideal. Around 2-1/2 to 3 is as close as I've been able to get. Good job!

30 or 40 it seems! I'm happy if I can make male and female threads that actually go together... I've only got the 20 TPI tools, and I'll bet the smaller TPI tools would be a little easier to get the perfect number of rotations.

[Roger Chandler]

Really fine turning, Doc. This is a special piece in many ways for you, as it was a gift, and you did it up really nice. I do like your "funial" and think you did an admirable job with the carving, and the threads just add all the more to the overall work.

Thank you for sharing with us, David! This one is a looker for sure, and should have a "prominent" place for display.

[Michael James]

David, that is a beautiful piece. The patch, the wood, the finish, the threads, the form. You sir, have apparently "arrived". Congratulations on very nice piece!:)
mj

[William Hutchinson]

Very nice piece and you did an excellent job with the 'funial'.

[John Keeton]

David, obviously a lot of thought and effort went into this piece, and I really like what you have done. The black filler is a wonderful contrast, and the funial is whimsical and well done! The overall look of the piece is art - I would call this one a success!

[David DeCristoforo]

That's totally keller!... I mean killer. It's very different in so many ways, the shape, the wood and, most of all the "funial" which manages to not take itself too seriously. Great piece all around.

[Ray Bell]

Very nice David. I love the form, and what you have done with the cracks.

[John Beaver]

Does Hart know that he lost the competition ???

[David E Keller]

Thanks for the kind words everybody. It was a fun piece to turn.


Does Hart know that he lost the competition ???

He's been deviously holding his piece until I posted mine.:cool::D He's too good a guy to lose... I'm hoping for a tie.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Really nice piece of Cherry David, and those pitch lines do add to the wood, on some woods you wouldn't want any defects, but I find it adds a lot to Cherry, you made it look even better by filling the splits up so well, nice work on the form, I like the shape.
The first time I looked at the pictures, the finial looked kind of funny, off in a way, but after having come back to it a couple of times, I think it does actually go well with it, I guess more like an acquired taste, thanks for posting :D

[bob svoboda]

Very nicely done!

[Tim Rinehart]

Shhh, don't tell John...I've heard he may be sensitive about this competition.

Well done David. Nice approach to the finial, I've thought about that, but my carving doesn't support that kind of work yet...not that my turning supports much of any kind of finial yet.

Well done sir, well done. I really like the cherry and black colors together, and the filler worked out well.

[Mark Hubl]

David,

I really like this piece. Had to look twice, the filler works well and looks good in the pics. I like the way the form looks with the "funial" on. Proportions are spot on for me. Carving and the hand chasing are nice touches.

I would say the gauntlet has been thrown down. Can't wait to see Mr. Hart's response.

[Frank Van Atta]

Beautiful and innovative piece. I like it.

[Bernie Weishapl]

That is one beautiful piece David. Wow I really like that piece.

[Rob Cunningham]

Beautiful piece David. There's a lot of character in that wood. The carved top is really cool.

[Michael James]

He's been deviously holding his piece until I posted mine.:cool::D He's too good a guy to lose... I'm hoping for a tie.

Methinks Mr Hart is way too conspiciously absent lately. You must have him locked in his shop in angst, dealing with the pressure of this competition...... or not. Perhaps he's just happily QA - ing spray lacquer scents, and just sort of forgot about it. Seriously, I hope all is well there.

[Jeff Nicol]

David, At first look I would have not guessed cherry! It has so much character and the shape shows everything it has to offer! I like the "Pineapple" threaded lid for it allso, shows your skills have been improving with every piece you create!

Great job,

Jeff

[John Hart]

Ok....gang...It took me a while....but I've been kinda over-busy lately. Besides....Dr Keller lives in a low humidity environment. Mine took longer to dry. :rolleyes:

Ok ok....I'M LAZY!!! ok? He's better than me. :eek: :D

And this proves it.

This is my entry into our challenge. By the way, David sent me the African Blackwood, so I'm very pleased that they sorta match. Although, I did not carve.

I had some awful cracking problems. My roughed out blank nearly split in two. I held it together with band clamps while I hollowed it, and even then, it was touch-and-go. After getting it hollowed, I mixed up 4 gallons of epoxy and 2 and a half tons of Blackwood dust to fill in all the cracks and try to hold it together.

I had one explosion where the entire top came apart after I had the blackwood in place and was nearly ready to finish-sand. Well, after throwing a tantrum, I picked up the shattered pieces and mixed up some more epoxy and reconstructed it. If you look closely, you can see the difference in the direction of black and see where the explosion occurred.

Anyway....I got it done. And Yes...David is the winner. I feel very good about coming in second....or...um...Last.:)

3" Diameter X 8" Tall Vase....with a bit of Egyptian and a touch of Greek. Sanded to 3600 and finished with Antique Oil.

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Oh...And I also got out my Photoshop kit and tried to put them together and get the scale close to correct. I think they make a nice pair
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[David DeCristoforo]

No winner. It's a draw.

[Aaron Wingert]

David I really, really like the form you turned with this piece. And the cherry is truly spectacular....Gives me a little interest in a common wood around here that really doesn't normally get me fired up! That chunk of wood really has a lot of character and the crack filling work adds a lot. I'm not someone who gets excited about finials and steeks but I do kind of like the FUNial on this one.

[William Hutchinson]

I wouldn't be so quick to concede, that's one fine piece that you completed. Both forms have appeal and I don't see one clear cut winner.

[David E Keller]

Oh boy, I love that piece! Hart, there's no way I'm letting you concede. I'll jump at the opportunity to tie! Besides, it was a challenge not a competition, and I had a blast doing it. I generally don't feel any pressure when I'm turning something because I can just chuck it if I screw it up. I couldn't do that with this piece because I couldn't bring myself to publicly admit that I had been defeated by a piece of wood, especially a piece of fruit wood!:rolleyes:

The coloring is so rich, and the cracks look great. I really like that you oriented the grain/cracks lengthwise along the form. The blackwood looks fantastic. I think this may be my favorite piece that you've turned... In fact, the last two pieces that you've posted have been right up my alley. I appreciate the wood, but I value our friendship more.

[Paul Douglass]

What I wold call a draw, glad I don't have to pick a winner. Both are. Where oh where do all you people get this beautiful wood??

[David E Keller]

...Where oh where do all you people get this beautiful wood??

I get mine from Hart's house!:D

[Tom Sherman]

I believe you can both stand tall with these two examples of craftsmanship.

[Roger Chandler]

Professor Hart,

What a great save! Very ingenious and inventive! I don't know if I could have save a piece that exploded the way yours did.

Features of this style are ones that I have seen repeated in several of your postings, and I think they are becoming almost your "signature" and you seem to have developed this type of form to a high degree of excellence.

Both yourself and Dr. Keller should be proud of your work here. In concept of overall form, I like David's a little more, but in what you had to do to salvage the work, yours stands out as an extensive outlay of labor. Both are very good!

[David Woodruff]

About 6-8 tpi is good for wood screws. I thread these things on a metal lathe at slow speed to avoid the dreaded breakout, with BLO as a lubricant. Inside threads with a boring bar. Same thing applies with threading as woodturning, keep a sharp burr on the cutting insert. Tantung G is best, HSS cobalt is next and so on. The cutting mechanism is way different than metal turning with TC. Go figure, live, learn and turn.

[Don Alexander]

those 2 pieces are a great compliment to exch other i like them both alot especially the grain orientation and the contrast between the two pieces i.e. one is horizontal the other vertical

looks like a tie to me too

[Baxter Smith]

Both look great. Challenging wood for sure!

[John Hart]

Thanks guys....and thanks to David for the great African blackwood. That was certainly the cherry on top. But most of all, David has proven to be one of the good guys, even though he dresses funny.:p Sticking with this project even though traditional wisdom dictated that it should have been abandoned. The wood promised to be difficult and lived up to its expectations. :)

Despite my piece being exploded and re-pieced and a tad bit on the bottom-heavy side....I will be sending it to its new home in Oklahoma.

....ya know.....Nowhere specifically in Oklahoma....I'll just have UPS drop it off at the side of the highway and see if someone picks it up. ;)

[David E Keller]

...Despite my piece being exploded and re-pieced and a tad bit on the bottom-heavy side....I will be sending it to its new home in Oklahoma.

....ya know.....Nowhere specifically in Oklahoma....I'll just have UPS drop it off at the side of the highway and see if someone picks it up. ;)

WOO HOO! Just write 6" afro on the label, and it will make it's way to me.:D I really have had fun with our exchange, and I hope to do something like this again... perhaps with a less challenging piece of wood.;):D John Hart, you're a class act!

[Tom Sherman]

John Hart, you're a class act!

I'll second that.

And even though you dress funny you are too Doc