Input Please!!

[Roland Martin]

I've been playing around with a HF, certainly with less than stellar success, and could use some critiques and opinions while it's not too late to make some changes.
The HF is 2 1/8" tall x 7" diam. The finial is 2" in diam. @ the lowest point & 2 1/2" tall. Figured maple & cherry.
I turned the tenon and shaped the bottom and reversed it, mounted it in the chuck. I wanted a cherry collar so I shaped the top, cut a 2 3/4" hole with a parting tool & hollowed out the form. Made a cherry plug & glued it on. :eek::eek: Started to clean up the collar & found out how weak the bottom was, it took off flying, cussed a bit, scrathed my head, cussed a bit more, sat down with some coffee.
I got the courage up to search for the flying saucer and found that other than the big-ass hole in the bottom it had survived fairly well. Decided to put a cherry collar in the bottom and it was a HF again. Made the finial and decided there was too much cherry in the bottom, so I tried a foot turned from maple, but I really hate it.
I'd appreciate some thoughts on what you would do, i.e., toss the foot, is the finial proportional to the HF?, try to reshape the bottom?, etc.

Thanks

[David DeCristoforo]

It looks good to me without the foot. The foot is way too small. If you are going to go this way, make the base about 2 - 2 1/4" in diameter and at least several inches tall. This guy needs lift! Or forget the foot and just leave it as is.

[Mark Hubl]

Roland,

Sorry to hear about your funnel experience.:mad: That is really a nice piece I like the shape, the top and the finial. Not crazy about the foot either. Don't really have any other suggestions other than make a taller pedestal for it. Model it after the finial. I would make it in the same wood as your bottom repair.

[Michael James]

I'd toss the foot, the rest looks great!:)

[David E Keller]

Sorry to hear about the launch.:o

The maple is beautiful, and I like the overall shape of the form... I do find the cherry bottom a little distracting. I think the finial could be a little taller and slimmer, but that's just my preference. One of the spiral finials posted recently might help balance the piece out visually.

As for suggestions... Have you ever wanted to try dye? Coloring might make the maple pop even more which might lessen the visual impact of the cherry. Of course, if you color the maple, you might want to give the cherry some color, too.

I'm interested to see what the others have to say.

[charlie knighton]

drop the foot, if you make it taller it will be bulkly if it is the same scale as final

you made a good save and probably you will be the only one in the family that knows, artist perogative

[Thom Sturgill]

I agree with what's been said so far. As to the finial, the stem should llook like the upper ball is pierced by a spear. By that I mean the curve coming in from the bottom should appear to continue through it, The top section is just a little heavy at its base, throwing the line off. Generally a good design and dying might really make it pop - just don't go overboard.

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Roland, as I state at the bottom of my posts "Success is The Sum of Failure and Learning", that said, this work has a number of things going for it. IMHO there is a feeling of being uplifted as I view this work. The form of the vessel and the matching uplift of the collar(Finial Base) add an uplifting strength that is projected. The gentle manor in which the grain presents itself on the vessel gives a complementing symmetry to accentuate that uplift. Your use of the woods you've chosen add to the overall beauty of this work. Personally, I prefer the base you show and would keep it. Great Job on a beautiful and powerful work.:)

[Doug W Swanson]

I like it without the foot. Just finish it and call it good!

[Josh Bowman]

Drop the foot and all is well.

[Steve Schlumpf]

This is a very interesting turning Roland! Lots of options...

I like the basic form of your HF. The swept up lower curve adds lift to the piece but I also like the small foot as it elevates the piece just enough so that you can appreciate the entire lower curve. I do think the foot would work better if it were reversed but that is a judgment call on my part.

The finial height works fine but I find it a little on the thick side and like Thom mentioned - the top element makes the piece top heavy. I would also like to see some of the elements of where the finial meets the HF (small up lifted edge) be repeated on the edge just above the donut shape. Feel it would help to tie all the elements together.

Overall - very nice work! Keep at it!

[Roger Chandler]

Foot is out of proportion.........that being said, if you took and inverted the foot with the small end on the bottom of the form, and put the big end of the foot at the bottom to stand the piece on, it would be better.

I still needs some lift, and perhaps a less than skinny pedestal, but you have a great form here in my opinion, Roland. I like your idea, but just needs a little refinement.

[Curt Fuller]

I like the first pic just as it is. Although the foot adds some lift I don't think it adds anything overall and even draws the eye away from all the other nice features in the wood and the finial. The finial could be thinner, maybe taller, or both.

[John Keeton]

I am with Curt on this one. I don't care for the foot at all, and the finial needs a little more height and less bulk - perhaps a little less going on, too.

David's dye idea is a thought, as well. That curly maple will really pop with a little dye application - just need to experiment a little as it would be easy to clash against the cherry. I would want the curly maple the same color one could expect the cherry to end up - which won't take long.

[Richard Madden]

Roland, what a save!! I would say either do away with the foot or, like Roger suggested, try inverting it. I'm not one for tall pedestals, especially with a shape like this. If you keep the foot I would stay with a short one like you have now, but larger in diameter on the bottom than the top. The more I look at the finial, the more I like it. Might be a little on the thick side, but not bad at all. The nice thing about finials is we can make another till we're happy. Easier to fix than a pedestal that's been glued on and a re-do is in order.(not that I have experienced that):o I also don't like the dye idea. Some oil finish will pop that grain and darken the top and bottom for a nice contrast.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I really like the form and a great save. I think the finial is a bit thick for my tastes. I would also as others have said lose the foot. The first picture looks great.

[Roland Martin]

Thanks to everybody for the help, priceless. I haven't done very much with finials, and will throw some time at that to minimize the bulk and slightly increase the height. I also will play around with another foot, more to gain a little more experience than anything, although I'm leaning towards no foot at all.
As far as the dye, now that I have the cherry collars glued in, is it even possible to dye the maple without messing up the cherry:confused: I do agree that it would help the figure "pop" but my experience in dyeing is non-existant in turning. I suppose I could always sand the dye off if it doesn't work out:confused:
It's an absolute pleasure to find a little time on the lathe again, and on this forum. Again, a big thank you for all the input and suggestions.

[John Keeton]

Roland, it is possible to dye the maple without bleeding into the cherry as the glue line should prevent bleed. I would mask off the cherry when applying the dye to prevent accidentally hitting the cherry - should you decide to dye!

Lots of possibilities with the dye, and since this is an experimental piece, of sorts, it might be fun! You could mix a little brown and red for a warm, aged cherry look, and do a test sample on a scrap. If you do that, then doing the cherry with it would probably still work - the cherry would just be a darker shade of the same color.

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Roland,
The work is wonderful. Design aside you did a terrific job turning the HF. I too think the foot detracts from the design but I was thinking about seeing you make a thin circle suspended on three outwardly curved legs and let the turning sit in a stand.
faust

[Roland Martin]

Thanks, John. I will experiment with the dye, both with the maple and the cherry. It'll be interesting to see what happens to the cherry in contrast to the maple. Does pretty much any finish go over the dye without mottling or otherwise messing up the dye, or do you use shellac after the dye? I would probably use wipe-on poly as a top coat.

[John Keeton]

Roland, Transtint dye will dissolve in water, alchohol and lacquer thinner, so any of those will pick up the dye to some extent. That means if you use shellac or lacquer, you must spray the first 2-3 coats. If the dye dries good, I would think you could do WOP without much risk of picking up the dye in the finish, but spraying a seal coat of shellac might be a good idea.

BTW, I kind of like the suspended idea offered by Faust! Combination of maple and cherry in some sort of a stand would be neat!

[Jim Burr]

Say bye bye to the foot, maybe thin out the finial a bit and Shazaam!!

[Baxter Smith]

Glad to see you turning Roland. Good luck with the revisions!