My First Real Hollow Form and Hollowing rig

[Ed Morgano]

I finially decided to try a hollow for so the first thing I had to do was build a hollowing rig for my articulated arm. Please excuse the pictures. The hollow form it's finished yet and I still have to do a Finial. The form is Big Leaf Maple with Walnut trim and base. About 3 1/2" in diameter x 4 1/2" tall. Hollowing was done through a 1" hole. Just wanted to share this. Thanks for looking. I'll post more pictures when I'm done.

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[Jim Burr]

Since you didn't ask for C&C...fine job on matching woods...I like it!!!

[Harvey Ghesser]

Nice work, Ed! I really like the vase! Reminds me of "I Dream of Jeanie!"

[Ed Morgano]

Since you didn't ask for C&C...fine job on matching woods...I like it!!!

Jim,
C&C Always Welcome.

[Josh Bowman]

Ed great job! How did the new rig do? Did it control well? Much vibration?

[John Keeton]

Ed, looks like the hollowing rig did very well for you! Nice work on the hollow form. It looks good as is, and might look good without the base, too. What do you have in mind for a finial?

[Jim Burr]

My only suggestion would be to alter the lip shape, Not sure how...just a smoother process. The contrast is really beautiful, the base, shape and finish works so well!! Nice job Ed!!:D

[Ed Morgano]

Ed, looks like the hollowing rig did very well for you! Nice work on the hollow form. It looks good as is, and might look good without the base, too. What do you have in mind for a finial?
John,
I recently found some Magnolia Seed Pods and am fascinated with them. I’m not sure exactly what I’m going to come up with, but it’s going to resemble this:

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I'm thinking that I will start off with a Cherry stem, then use Walnut for the taper up to the seed pod and then some BL Maple burl for the pod. I'll post pictures when I'm done.

[Ed Morgano]

Ed great job! How did the new rig do? Did it control well? Much vibration?

Josh,
The new rig did great. Virtually no vibration in the arm. I ordered some parts to hook up a laser to it but haven't done that yet....(next project). Without the laser, the inside wall thickness of the form varies quite a bit. As a matter of fact, it was supposed to be a different shape but I cut the bottom off and had to modify the base to fit my "new" shape. :eek::confused::mad: As I said, the laser is definitely my next project.

[John Keeton]

Ed, that might look very interesting! You may want to consider replicating the concave curve coming off the top of the belly of the form in the finial base/lid and see what you think of that. Sometimes, the transition to a finial can be the toughest part.

[Nate Davey]

Great looking vase and love the homemade equipment.

[David E Keller]

Neat stuff, Ed! I think I'd prefer this one without the base and finial, but I'm interested to see the magnolia inspired topper. I love the little lip of contrasting wood at the opening, too! Looking forward to seeing what you come up with next.

[Ed Morgano]

I finished it up today and took a few more pictures. The finial was a beast....I broke it 3 times and had to go back and do some more glueing. C&C most welcome. I'm very interested to know what you think of the Magnolia Seed Pod finial. Thanks for looking

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[John Keeton]

Ed, I do like the organic feel of the seedpod. It may be interesting to take a piece of the burl, and make a bit lower finial base/lid and use only the seedpod where it darkens. Seems like the "extension" of maple might be a bit too much height. And, you have introduced another color with the lighter maple - makes it a little busy IMO.

[Roger Chandler]

You know Ed...........I look at your turnings and think that is really nice, but I have a hard time getting past the wonderment of that home made lathe, and the engineering you have put together..........I am a nut for tools, I admit, but that lathe and the accompanying set up just captivates my imagination and attention.........

I have a hard time looking past that masterpiece, but nonetheless, nice turning...........especially with home made tools.........geez, some guys just have talent dripping from their hands!!! :D Thanks for the pics.......they inspire me! ;):)

[David E Keller]

The seedpod is neat, Ed! I agree with John about the height of the lid/finial, but it doesn't detract from the accomplishment of Hf numero uno!

[charlie knighton]

nice 1st, you and JK cousins or something????????

[Jerry Marcantel]

Ed, nice looking turning, and second what Roger said..... Is that seed pod a young'n? If it is, wait until they have dried up and the seeds are gone. Last year I cast one in resin to see what it would look like, and there were still 2 seeds after I turned it. They caused an oil slick on the resin, so all seeds must be gone. It's an unusual pattern once cast in resin and then turned........... Jerry (in Tucson)

[Steve Schlumpf]

Ed - congrats on your first HF!

As turners, we all have visions of what we like/don't like when it comes to form and it seems none of us are right! It is up to each turner/artist to create what it is they envision and the viewers either get it or don't. That being said, I really like your first series of photos showing the footed vase. Nice combination of woods and not overly ornate as far as details or additional curves. Really, pretty nice work!

The addition of the finial changed the overall form such that it draws attention away from the vase and onto the finial. That can be a good thing if that was your intention, but if not, then what would you change so that the finial would compliment and not compete with the form? That's all part of the experimentation part of turning and you've gotten a lot of good advice so far! My 2 cents would be to turn the finial thinner, have it a little shorter and stick with the same woods already used in the main form.

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with next!

[Ed Morgano]

Thanks to everyone for their comments. I've been taking it all in and will probably do another finial or two. That one doesn't quite suit me either. It's going to be a while before I get back on here. I've taken on a flat world project that will take me about a week. (32' x 4' high retaining wall).....I'm too old for this.....lol. Thanks again for your help. I'll post more when I get back to it.