Southwest pottery inspired hollow form

[Roger Chandler]

After giving it some more consideration, with this form having somewhat of a southwestern pottery style, I thought it best not to put a pedestal underneath it,

The wood is cherry, and the finial is Appalachian Ebony...:D ... [maple/leather dye] Of course, I just finished it this morning, and the shellac and WOP are not completely cured, and I will have to go back in a few days and do a finial light sanding with 2000 and 4000 grit Abralon pads, and 2 more coats of WOP, but then it will really be nice.

What is it about this forum that makes a lot of folks post their projects before they are completely done? :D

The finial is the first I did for this, and I got a catch,:eek: which made the base about a 1/4" smaller than I had planed, so I may go back and redo that as well.............:confused:

The form is 7 1/2" wide and 8 1/4" high including the finial. Comments are welcome.

This Monster Articulated system is a real pleasure to work with! I am glad I got it.

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[Baxter Smith]

Looks good Roger! Thats a pretty wide HF but apparently the Monster was up to it! My only suggestion might be to continue the curve from the shoulder all the way to the bottom rather than flaring out again. That may have been because of the size of the tenon you were using. The finials will get thinner with practice but the general shape looks good. Once it darkens a bit it will be even prettier with the black. Looking forward to the next one!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Roger - I agree with your decision not to use a pedestal on this piece.

Nice work on the SW style - they are fun to do! Overall - I think you did pretty good with the form! Like Baxter mentioned - finials and lids come with lots of practice! Looking forward to seeing your next HF!

[Roger Chandler]

Roger - I agree with your decision not to use a pedestal on this piece.

Nice work on the SW style - they are fun to do! Overall - I think you did pretty good with the form! Like Baxter mentioned - finials and lids come with lots of practice! Looking forward to seeing your next HF!

Steve,

Okay, I see the need for improvement on my finial. It looks better in person than in the picture, as somehow the camera makes it look thicker than it is............I guess the area above the bulb should have been a little narrower.

One of my issues I think with this finial and the other one on my Osage orange HF, is that I started out the finial with a piece of baseball bat blank, which was about 4 or so inches thick. I need to get me some better material to start with. I am going to be ordering some holly from Mike Smith, and some claro walnut as well. If I could start out with a piece of finial material only about 1 inch square, I think it would likely help me a little. But one has to use what materials one has on hand.

I think a finial redo is in order. What is your opinion about the overall proportion to the body of the form?

[Richard Madden]

Good job, Roger. I agree with the comments already made. Hang on to this and compare with photos of pieces that appeal to you. You will come to your own conclusions. Again, good job!

[Jon Nuckles]

Good looking piece, Roger. I like the hollow form. I'd take a bit more off the finial, but that is just MHO.

[Tim Thiebaut]

I think you did a great job on this Roger, very well done! I have had a tough time with finials, I have spent a LOT of time the past couple of weeks just turning finials and have seen a lot of improvment in the overall look of them. For practice I chopped up a bunch of pine blanks into roughly pen blank size and went from there, I dont care for turning pine, but I have so much scrap it is good for practiseing on.

[Harry Robinette]

I agree no pedestal ,also I think the finial base is just right really I think it looks really nice, very well designed and turned.

[Michael James]

Thats a very nice piece Roger, thanks for posting. Monster does make it more of a turning event rather that a rodeo or wrestling match, eh?

[Fred Belknap]

Roger it looks mighty good to me. That is worth an "atta boy".:D

[David E Keller]

Nicely done, Roger. I can't add anything to the comments above, but I'm excited to see where this path leads your future turnings.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Roger that is a nicely done HF. I agree that it sure didn't need the pedestal.

[Roger Chandler]

Thank you all, gentlemen.............I appreciate the encouragement I have gotten and the constructive criticism along the way as well. I hope at least that I am gaining on it a little! :D

Hopefully, it won't be long till I nail the finial form.........I have only done 3 in my life......table legs are so much easier, although they do take a lot longer to complete!

[Ron Bontz]

Very nice piece as always.

[John Keeton]

...somehow the camera makes it look thicker than it is..... If I could start out with a piece of finial material only about 1 inch square, I think it would likely help me a little.Roger, you are right about the camera - like they say on TV - adds 10 lbs.!! That is why I use a digital caliper when turning a finial to get my diameter - my eyes lie to me, the caliper doesn't!

You did a very good job on this, and have received some good advice and comments. I see many more of these in your future! BTW, you might want to consider pen blanks for finial stock - particularly if you can get the 3/4" ones. Turn the base from bigger stock, and make a two piece finial/lid.

[Roger Chandler]

Roger, you are right about the camera - like they say on TV - adds 10 lbs.!! That is why I use a digital caliper when turning a finial to get my diameter - my eyes lie to me, the caliper doesn't!

You did a very good job on this, and have received some good advice and comments. I see many more of these in your future! BTW, you might want to consider pen blanks for finial stock - particularly if you can get the 3/4" ones. Turn the base from bigger stock, and make a two piece finial/lid.

So......a two-piece finial/lid is the secret? :) Sounds like I have been doing everything the hard way.......I like to work smart, not hard when possible, but starting a 1/2" finial out of a 4 1/2" baseball bat blank is maybe not the best approach! :eek:

I used what I had on hand........what can I say, and I just did not get it thin enough........seems like Scott Hackler has that bit of wisdom on his signature line " No it's not thin enough yet!"

So help me, don't be surprised if I post a picture of a toothpic that I have turned :D:D:D but I am going to stay at this until I get it right!!!;)

Thanks a bunch John........your work inspires me........I am not trying to be a copy-cat, but I do want to develop my skills in this area, and maybe one day produce something that will qualify as "art." One day............

[Roger Chandler]

Looks good Roger! Thats a pretty wide HF but apparently the Monster was up to it!

Baxter,

The Monster system worked well, even with the wideness of this form. I only used two of the cutters for the hollowing and got it a uniform 1/8" even to the edges. I used the 3/16" cutter bar and the adjustable head with the 3/16" cutter bar as well. The angle of the base of the rig is important in being able to reach a long way inside the wide part. I have not yet used the bar with the angle hole in it to put a 1/4 " cutter in it. I think the reach would be even more with that particular cutter arrangement. I guess I will have to try that combination sometime to see how far one can go with that rig.

Thanks for your comments.............:)

[Roger Chandler]

Roger it looks mighty good to me. That is worth an "atta boy".:D

Fred,

You are too kind........:o:)