A flower and "vase"...

[Joe Watson]

Wanted to put a smile on someones face and make her happy (a friend) so the following popped into my head.
Never done anything like this before (note: have only turned about 10 things out of wood) and first time trying to "carve" with a dremel.

The flower is made from a piece of cherry.
Turned the shape and flared out the "peddles" on the lathe along with the bud (??? i think thats what the very inside is called - know nothing about flowers aside from they look pretty :) ), then took the dremel to the side to try and groove a line down and then rounded out the tops of the peddles. First time is always a learning experience. The stem is a twig which i tried to peal back alittle to represent leaves.

The vase is a leg of a create i took from work which came from India - no clue what kind of wood it is, rather hard.

Flower has three coats of Gloss Water Base Polyurethane (http://www.google.com/search?q=pro+finisher+water+based+polyurethane+1+g allon) and the vase has four or five - gray scotch brite hand "buffing" on the last three, final coat semi-thick.

Vase about 3.5" high, base about 2" dia and mouth 1" tappered down to around .5" (thats all of of memory, did not measure anything)

Anyway way...
Opinions and advice welcome.


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[Eric Holmquist]

Nice work learning the flower, you picked it up fast

[Steve Vaughan]

Have only turned about 10 things? Nice job! That's what ya gotta do, keep thinking of ideas and keep attempting new stuff. Way to go!

[Joe Watson]

Thanks guys.
The whole "carving" thing is completely new to me and if you seen the flower close up, you can tell. In the end i was happy (being it was a first attempt), but definitely wish it came out better, maybe next time.


Have only turned about 10 things?
With wood... been a CNC Metal machinist for 13-14 years (mainly lathe work - very little mill work and very little manual work)... so standing behind a lathe is not a new thing for me, but holding a chisel or gouge and doing the work myself is :)

The lathe this was turned on is a RIKON 70-100 and has the 12 position indexing head, next time im gonna try the dremel work while it is chucked on the lathe (locking the spindle), atleast the long "grooves" from the top of the peddles to the bottom. Think it will be easier then holding the flower in one hand and the dremel in the other - time will tell.

_

[Allan Ferguson]

Very good effort and journey into the unknown.

[Joe Watson]

Thanks... half the time my heads in the clouds (day dreaming) and everything is unknown for me :)

[Donny Lawson]

Looks like a nice job for the first attempt. It should get better from here.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Nice vase and flower for a first. It will get easier.