Plum Colored HF

[Steve Schlumpf]

This piece of curly maple was gifted to me by John Keeton while we were at the St. Paul symposium this past June – thanks John!!

Curly Maple, 5 ½” to top of finial x 5 ½” diameter x approx. 1/16” thick. Dyed with blue powdered RIT dye and red TransTint dye mixed with DNA – the piece was given an overall plum coloring. It has several coats of Minwax wipe-on gloss poly, been buffed and given a coat of Renaissance wax. The finial was turned from bulletproof glass – gifted to me by Nate Hawkes! Thanks Nate – I still love turning this stuff!!

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As always, your comments, critiques and suggestions are appreciated!

Thanks for looking!!

[Steve Vaughan]

That's very creative with the glass! I like the combination of wood and finial and the color is really, really nice!

[Roger Chandler]

Wow! That plum color and glass really look good together! I like the form and of course the curl is outstanding..........exceptional work Steve [as usual]

The hits keep on coming! This one is a home run for sure!

[John Keeton]

Plum delicious, Steve!!! The finish really popped the plum color, and made that curly maple a showpiece. Well done! Love the finial, too!

I think of the colors you have done, this one is one of the best, if not the best.

[David DeCristoforo]

Well, I guess you won't have to worry about anyone shooting the finial off! I love the color on this one. All of your dye jobs have done equally well at popping the grain. But the plum color is soooo sweet!

[Ted Calver]

A great combination of materials, form and color!!

[charlie knighton]

very nice, Steve, the plum with glass works, it appears that you colored the inside? when i take a picture the flash shows the color of the inside, is it black or more plum? thanks for sharing

[Curt Fuller]

Steve, that's just plum beautiful! Bullet proof glass, eh?

[Roger Chandler]

Steve..........isn't bullet proof glass made of lexan........which is a type of acrylic? I know jet windshields are made from it and also protective limosine windshields as well............just wondering?

[Kathy Marshall]

Beautiful piece Steve! I love the plum color! The finial is very cool! Seems like it would be a little tricky to turn with it being almost invisible!

[Alan Trout]

Steve,

Very nice piece I really like the color.

Alan

[Michelle Rich]

VERY nice. Color is super.. wish the plum color showed in the "glass" Does it when one looks at it? Or does the finial pick up the dark inside? Whatever, it's a grand piece. 2 thumbs up!

[Tony De Masi]

Another wonderful piece in a very long line of wonderful pieces. And the hits keep on rolling.

[Josh Bowman]

Steve,
Lose the look. I always like different materials mixed. The color is very pleasing.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Beautiful piece Steve and the combo is outstanding. Color and finish are just beautiful.

[Hilel Salomon]

Steve,

Outstanding piece. Form and color are superb. I didn''t know that you could turn glass??

Hilel

[Doug W Swanson]

Another great piece from you, Steve! I really like the acrylic finials!

[Nathan Hawkes]

Looking great, Steve!! The finial material is cast acrylic, otherwise known as plexiglass. The brand name is Acrylite GP BR, which translates to general purpose cast acrylic, bullet resistant. It is 1.25" cast acrylic sheet, and after a quick internet search, is capable of withstanding a "medium sized handgun" at point blank range. The levels go up to 10, which would stop a .50 caliber military rifle at point blank range. Lexan is polycarbonate, a different material altogether.

[Joe Meirhaeghe]

Steve
Another Great piece,as always. I love the color. However I do have some concerns on the dyes you are using standing the test of time. Do you have any dyed pieces that are say 5 yrs old or more ? If so how do they look now? The Lunder Conservation Center, of the Smithsonian American Art Museum recomends artist to use only high quality light fast pigments for art work.
Your pieces are very artistic and of such high quality I'd hate to see them fade out under the lights of a gallery.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Thanks for the kind words everyone - I do appreciate it!

Joe - I am concerned about fading but at the same time - you use what you have. This piece has RIT and TransTint... so I hope it lasts for a while. I do have some pieces that I dyed quite a while back and so far so good. Still, I am interested in finding dyes that will not fade as well as figuring out a new wipe-on finish that will still give me the gloss I want but also offer UV protection. I have my eye on Bill Neddow's thread on dyes and figure that some good info on options will surface once the thread gets moving!

[Paulo Marin]

Steve,
I am kind of sorry that just now I noticed this post. Your piece is absolutely beautiful. On the glass you did not use a gouge I assume.. Did you turn it with the scraper like you would Alabaster?

This is the first time I hear "bullet proof glass"... Is it really glass or thick acrylic?

No matter what.. it feed the imagination...

Congratulations

Paulo Marin

[Mark Hubl]

You put in your thumb and pulled out a plum! Nice color and finish. The acrylic finial goes very well with this piece. Great work Steve.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Thanks again everyone!!

Paulo - the bullet-proof glass is actually some 1 1/4" thick acrylic. Check out Nate Hawkes post - he has the scoop on the material.

For those curious - the inside of the form is a light blue in color.

Kathy - you are very observant - turning a finial that is clear is a challenge! If you sand the piece - it gives the acrylic a frosted look and you can see it just fine. Problem is when you take clean cuts - you are left looking at something that totally blends into the background - no matter what the background is!!

[Baxter Smith]

Great job as usual! The color on this one seems very warm. My first impression was of a well worn fleece that you loved to wear. Guess there are a couple of purple fleeces in the family.:)