Inspired by David DeCristoforo, my first attempt at art

[Ed Morgano]

I know it's not beautiful....I have to write this one off as the bottom of the learning curve but at least I finished it. I've been inspired by several of you guys but David stands out at the moment.

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[John Keeton]

Ed, you picked a great artist as a mentor!! And, you have done well with this piece. Nice contrast with the woods - looks like mostly maple with some dye?? Hard to tell a lot from the pic. Tell us a little more about it - dimensions, dye applications, wood, etc.

[Mark Hazelden]

Ed,

I think it is a very nice first art piece. I am wanting to try my hand at finials and can't get past staring at the wood.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Ed - you are off to a great start! Looking forward to seeing your next one!

[John Hart]

Oh yeah!...I wouldn't be too hard on m'self Ed....this is a nice piece!! You have all the curves down well, and it seems well-balanced. Nice job!!

[David E Keller]

Looks good to me, Ed. Nicely done.

[David DeCristoforo]

The little voice in my head is saying "Well… Now look what you've done." This is very flattering… awkward but flattering. I only wish my first attempt had turned out so well. Actually my first several attempts resulted in a very large quantity of fairly expensive wood being reduced to shavings, chips, dust and little pieces of curved shrapnel. I have learned a few things since then (Yes, he does learn… slowly although not necessarily steadily but he can be taught…) Things like that a pedestal looks much thinner when it's spinning at two thousand RPM in the horizontal position than it does when motionless and standing upright. Or that a curve can look so sweet until you glue it on to a pedestal and look at it through your camera. Or that making these forms can be addictive due to the limitless variations. Little stuff like that. So I have managed to produce some things that don't make me cringe when I look at them.

Sorry, I don't mean to ramble… I really like your goblet and hope you make many more of them and thanx for the ego boost….

[Ed Morgano]

Ed, you picked a great artist as a mentor!! And, you have done well with this piece. Nice contrast with the woods - looks like mostly maple with some dye?? Hard to tell a lot from the pic. Tell us a little more about it - dimensions, dye applications, wood, etc.

John,
The dimensions of the goblet are 2 1/4" at the top by 4 1/2" long. Overall height is 11 1/2" The goblet is made of Poplar and the pedistal is Cherry. I have ordered some alcolol based dye but it won't be here till next week. And, as I'm also not a patient person, I tried what I had. The green came out of a spray can. I wet a shop rag with paint thinner and sprayed some green in the rag and wipped it on. The bottom is oil based brown paint and oil based black...both thinned and wiped on. Then, about 3 coats of spray acrylic from ACE hardware. I know....not the way to do it. As soon as the dye gets here I'll have plenty to experiment with. I believe I ordered 6 colors, each making 1/2 gallon so I should have enough dye to keep me busy for a while.

Thanks to everyone for your kind words. I will be doing more. One thing I had trouble with was hollowing out the center. I recently bought a Sorby 3/8" bowl gouge. This was my first attempt at using it on the inside of anything. The side walls weren't much of a problem but when I got to the bottom, the tip of the gouge would dig in and catch. I finally ended up drilling the beast out with a 1 1/2" Fortsner bit and then I ground a spade drill so it was a 1/2 round (sorta) and used it to finish up the bottom. Any tips in this area will be appreciated. Thanks again to everyone.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Ed......very nice first art piece!

If you search the Internet, there is a Sorby video on turning a cherry goblet using nothing but a spindle gouge. The video is quite well done.

Another method is to use a scraper to hollow. I have done both.... use light touches and sharp tools don't remove too much on the outside so you have support.

[Kathy Marshall]

I think it looks great and the details on your pedestal look nice and crisp.

[Dan Forman]

This is a very good first effort on this sort of piece. I like the dye on the stem very much. Good clean lines all around.

Dan

[John Hart]

Ed, your difficulty with the catch at the center of the bottom of a hollow form is a common occurrence. The reason is the tight radius of the spinning wood at the center is causing the wood to go in a direction that your tool just flounders on, and your leverage is weakest to control. (it has a tendency to shove you radially). This is one reason why it's a good idea to drill a center hole to your finished depth right from the start....that way, you never have to deal with the center over a long reach.

If I find a situation where I need to get rid of a center nub deep, I'll use something that comes to a point that I can target that center with little resistance, and once it's cleared away, switch to my other hollowing weapons.

That's just my way though....I'll bet there's a million.

[Roger Chandler]

Nice goblett Ed............good first...........the pedestal thinness will come with getting a few under your belt.

[Michelle Rich]

you could have done worse, choosing mr. D as an artistic mentor. Perfect this and then maybe attempt the same thing with the other very talented gals & guys you see here. You would learn the full spectrum of turning.

[Baxter Smith]

Nice job Ed. I have been tempted but never tried one. I think you did a great job on your first!

[David DeCristoforo]

"...trouble...hollowing out the center with...a Sorby 3/8" bowl gouge..."

FWIW, I only use a gouge on the first third of the depth. From there on, it's a 3/4" round nose shear scraper as Ken mentioned. Very sharp and light cuts. The gouge, at least in my hands, is the quickest path to the destruction of the thin fragile cup I have been able to come up with. The problem I have found is that with the steep sides typical of these forms, it is very difficult if not impossible to "ride the bevel".

[bob svoboda]

Like Baxter, I have been tempted....You may have just pushed me over the edge. How many edges are there to be pushed over??:D I like your goblet a lot. If my first attempt turns out anywhere near as well I will be thrilled.

[Scott Hackler]

Nice job. Next thing you know, you'll be buying up expensive burls, blackwood and turning the daintiest of items!

[Ed Morgano]

Ed, your difficulty with the catch at the center of the bottom of a hollow form is a common occurrence. The reason is the tight radius of the spinning wood at the center is causing the wood to go in a direction that your tool just flounders on, and your leverage is weakest to control. (it has a tendency to shove you radially). This is one reason why it's a good idea to drill a center hole to your finished depth right from the start....that way, you never have to deal with the center over a long reach.

If I find a situation where I need to get rid of a center nub deep, I'll use something that comes to a point that I can target that center with little resistance, and once it's cleared away, switch to my other hollowing weapons.

That's just my way though....I'll bet there's a million.

John,
I've already started a second, larger one. I watched a couple of videos last night as per Ken's suggestion and sure enough, I was doing it ALL wrong. I had the gouge standing straight up using one of the sides. When it got to the bottom......BAM. Anyway, I managed to hollow out a goblet that was about 3" inside x 4 1/2" deep with the gouge. As David pointed out, it worked great for about the first 2 1/2". I ended up drilling a center hole to depth and that worked well. However, after about 3 1/2" deep, the bottom was still hard to control. I have about another 1/4" to clean up. Pictures will follow in a new post. Thanks for all the comments and encouragement.

[Tim Thiebaut]

I like it Ed, the shape of the stem is very nice. David inspires alot of us here, as do alot of other folks as well...I dont think I could list all of the names of everyone that has given me inspiration, but there is a lot of serious talent here thats for sure.

[Ed Morgano]

Nice job. Next thing you know, you'll be buying up expensive burls, blackwood and turning the daintiest of items!

I've already been shoppping but I'm going to wait a while till I get my skill level up.....and, I'm already thinking that one of those cool articulating arms would be a great thing to have before I start hacking at some very expensive burl.


I like it Ed, the shape of the stem is very nice. David inspires alot of us here, as do alot of other folks as well...I dont think I could list all of the names of everyone that has given me inspiration, but there is a lot of serious talent here thats for sure.

Tim,
I couldn't agree more. And, the really great thing is that they are all willing to share their time and tallents freely. I'm already indebted to several who have helped me and inspired me.