SILK PURSE or SOWS EAR???

[Roger Chandler]

okay, the "Gnarly Sophisticate" burl with voids, cracks and holes and bark inclusions is done with the exception of maybe another coat of WOP, and maybe a light buffing with some REN wax.

Silk purse? Sows ear? I'll let you be the judge of that! I am not happy with it .........first of all, my disappointment and surprise when I took the bark off...........well, lets just say I never got over it! :(

I used some maple for the lid [ put brown dye on it to help match the bark inclusions] [ I had to use what wood I had on hand, perhaps another wood might have been better] and I used maple for the finial as well............which I made big and heavier on purpose just to compete with the form for the eye of the beholder...........then mixed just a hint of that brown dye in with the WOP to give the finial an antique look.

I am not happy with the shape of the lid.........but my options for holding this thing on the lathe was pretty slim, and I just had to live with it once I got the finial glued to it, and then I still had to reshape it a bit to fit the opening in the form............it is what it is!

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You tell me...........silk purse? Sows ear? Your comments are welcome and appreciated!

[John Keeton]

Roger, we all have pieces that don't turn out as planned, and that is just part of the journey! With the challenges you faced, I think you did well with this one. When you finished the form, the upward turn on the throat was something I noticed at the time. Transitioning off that much of a curve is difficult, and I suspect your task would have been easier had you had a more gentle rise. Nonetheless, it turned out pretty good! The colors work, and overall, the proportions are good.


You already know what you don't like about it, and the best thing to do is take all of that to the next one.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I agree sometimes you do a piece that is a challenge. I don't think it turned out bad Roger. I think you did well. I like the form and the wood colors look good.

[Curt Fuller]

Roger, I like it best without the lid and finial. I think the wood has so much character that adding the lid and finial made it a little over the top. But that said, if I were to keep a lid on it I would refine it along with the finial. It just seems a little to heavy for the form. And I also think I would go with black or a dark brown that is so dark it almost looks black. Black seems to compliment about any color of wood and that burl has a lot of different colors in it.

[Roger Chandler]

Roger, I like it best without the lid and finial. I think the wood has so much character that adding the lid and finial made it a little over the top. .

Curt,

I thought it looked better without the finial and lid also............but I had said I was going to make one for it, so I did..........that does not mean that it will stay there............I also thought about black for the lid and finial..........couldn't do any worse anyway with it! :D

I am tempted to ship it off to someone who likes it ......[hint, hint ...........:D] Send me a PM if you want it! ;) You could do a re-do on the finial or lid or just blow it up and we could call it the Chandler/Fuller collaboration! :D

[Roger Chandler]

Thank you John and Bernie............appreciate your input!

[Bill Bulloch]

Roger, if you don't like the lid -- redo it. At times I have made several lids for a pieces before I got one that I liked. The burl and the turning look nice, so maybe it just needs a thin lid to cover the throat with a very thin finial to spiff it up some.

[robert baccus]

Nice work and the dark stain worked really well.---------old forester

[Roger Chandler]

Roger, if you don't like the lid -- redo it. At times I have made several lids for a pieces before I got one that I liked. The burl and the turning look nice, so maybe it just needs a thin lid to cover the throat with a very thin finial to spiff it up some.

Bill,

That is a super idea! Only thing is that I really don't like this piece of wood..........you know down deep...........I have put a lot into it, and well, ..... even after all the hard work and the waiting for finish to dry. etc. etc, etc.............I don't have any heart left for this one!

I am a person who goes all in when I care about something............this one just disappointed me from the get-go, and where someone else might really like this kind of wood..........it does nothing for me personally. I have not even signed the bottom............may never!

I am usually a very optimistic type, and see the possibilities not just the problems ......I think they call that faith, but this one has not captured my imagination at all............

It is a nice form, but I'm done with it!

[Roger Chandler]

I'll say this..........I sure hope the other pieces of burl from this cherry tree are better than that piece was! I still have about 5 or 6 pieces of 4 different burls off this same tree.

[Kathy Marshall]

I'm with Curt, I like it better without the lid. The form is nice and the wood is nice and has plenty of character.

[Dennis Ford]

I agree that it looks better without the lid, actually I think it looks great without the lid.

[Baxter Smith]

Another vote for no lid. Its a nice form and a pretty piece of wood whose color should even improve with time.

[Roger Chandler]

When you finished the form, the upward turn on the throat was something I noticed at the time. Transitioning off that much of a curve is difficult, and I suspect your task would have been easier had you had a more gentle rise.

John,

When I first mounted this piece of wood, I put it between centers..........remember, you asked if that was the tenon I was holding it by when I first posted about this piece.........what happened right at the outset, is that I made a recess in the face of the pith side, and formed a tenon..........that meant that the jaws of the chuck were inside of the rest of the wood, and I could not cut in but so far without hitting the spinning chuck jaws.............that decision on mounting determined the shape of the top face of the form. I could have turned it off when I reversed it to the other tenon on the opposite side.

I could not have changed the angle of the top face, but in retrospect, I could have taken off that upward transition and made it easier on myself...........I guess one must live and learn..........

I find one of the challenges with different types of forms relates to mounting and holding pieces of a multi-piece form so that one can go back and make all the necessary adjustments to the curve, etc...........

Do you find that is one of your challenges as well?

[Michelle Rich]

Sorry you aren't happy, but we all grow the same way..making pieces we aren't happy with, and want to burn. I posted the open spiral HF a week ago, and felt the same way about mine. As just a HF I think your vessel is real nice..If you want a lid & finial, I guess you can turn more until you find something you like..that's the fun of turning. Go back to the drawing board!!
Turning should be fun and NOT stressful. Go have fun...

[John Keeton]

I find one of the challenges with different types of forms relates to mounting and holding pieces of a multi-piece form so that one can go back and make all the necessary adjustments to the curve, etc...........

Do you find that is one of your challenges as well?Roger, my "sketching room" is my lazy boy recliner, and when I plan a piece, I turn it mentally while working on the sketch - making sure I can accomplish the various cuts in order to conform to the sketch. While there are "those moments" where things do not go according to plan, I find that doing this reduces the chances of that.

However, one of my many faults is that I do not have the patience to work with a piece of wood that will not "fit the plan". I will quickly abandon a partially turned form if I encounter hidden situations that will prevent the form from adhering to the sketch. That method is not for everyone, but for me, I put a lot of thought and planning into a turning, and I am not willing to adapt very much from that plan.

Others enjoy seeing what can come of a piece of wood once on the lathe, and I respect that method. In fact, it may have more merit than does my "type A" approach!!:o

[Roger Chandler]

Sorry you aren't happy, ...............Turning should be fun and NOT stressful. Go have fun...

Michelle,

You are so perceptive! ;) My problem is that I have limited time to turn..........and when something does not pan out, I feel like I have wasted precious time...........I could have spent doing something else that needs doing! My oldest Son, says about me...."he's so type A, he makes my head hurt!" JK knows what I am talkin' about! :D

I made the initial mistake of having high expectations..........but then, I go into everything I do [almost] with high expectations.........then I put all that hard work into it..........should have done what John spoke of in his last post ..........just made firewood out of it! :eek: I should have, but just kept on pouring the work into it.....which I understand is a piece that a lot of folks do like..........and that I understood as well, and that is why I kept at it.

It is not a lost cause, but it did not fulfill my hopes, and so I am left frustrated........so I will just get over myself, like I have to do from time to time when my expectations are not met! I am harder on myself than any other person.............If I fail to achieve what I perceive as excellence............well, it just gnaws on me!

Now that I have phsyco-analized myself here for all the world to see...:eek:.......maybe that will help you understand. I turn and do wood work for the joy of it.........it allows an outlet for my desire to make and leave behind me something that makes the world a better place.......the same with my vocation. When it falls short, well ...........I am disappointed.

Thank you for your perspective..........yours and others encouraging remarks do mean a lot...........the advice you give is not in vain.........I receive it and welcome it!

[Curt Fuller]

.............If I fail to achieve what I perceive as excellence............well, it just gnaws on me!

Now that I have phsyco-analized myself here for all the world to see...:eek:.......maybe that will help you understand. I turn and do wood work for the joy of it.........it allows an outlet for my desire to make and leave behind me something that makes the world a better place.......the same with my vocation. When it falls short, well ...........I am disappointed.


Roger, I think you may have summed up what pushes many of us over the edge and into the "vortex". That drive to achieve personal excellence and the associated satisfaction that comes from it is why we do this crazy woodturning thing instead of sitting in front of the boob tube with a sack of doritos, a can of bean dip, and a 12 pack. Not that I don't do a little of the latter once it a while too.

[Roger Chandler]

Curt,

This wood turning thing is a crazy vortex for sure..............I actually watch very little TV...........mostly just some news and a little NCIS on Tuesdays............nothing hardly of a redeeming quality on network TV.........just my opinion! Now, I likely spend too much time on the computer! :eek:

Thanks for your comments along the way on this piece.........you sure you don't want to blow it up?! :eek::D:D

[David DeCristoforo]

Hard to talk about this without sounding "preachy" but the "problem" here can be reduced to one word... "expectations". You stated "I turn and do wood work for the joy of it..." and there is nothing that will kill that joy more than expectations, especially if they are "high expectations"! If I were to offer advice here, it would be to try and divest yourself of the expectations. You will never satisfy your expectations no matter how good you get. Your expectations will increase at at least the same rate as your proficiency. You will end up "chasing your tail" and the joy you are seeking will remain frustratingly just out of reach..

[Roger Chandler]

David,

A wood worker and turner of your caliber............are you telling me you do not have high expectations of yourself when you turn? One could not tell that from the Amphora series you have done! ;) I think I will have to settle in somewhere between my high expectations and living with the frustration when I do not achieve it............

One thing for sure, if one aims at nothing..........they are sure to hit it! Thanks David............I know you are correct........I just am not willing to allow myself the luxury of low expectations...........on things I care about anyway...........those things that do not really matter............not so much!

I will tackle the next one and try to learn from my mistakes..............and allow my expectations to be shaped after I take the bark off the next burl!

BTW,........you did not sound "preachy" at all...........I am well aquainted with what that sounds like! ;):)

[David DeCristoforo]

"I just am not willing to allow myself the luxury of low expectations..."

I was not suggesting that you have low expectations. Nor was I suggesting that you have none at all. Or that I have none when I embark of a new piece. I was simply pointing out that expectations are what lead to disappointment and that disappointment is the antithesis of joy. It's funny. You or I might experience disappointment when we discover a nasty void in what we expected to be a sound and solid burl while someone else (like Dr Keller?) might be just as disappointed not to find any voids. But one way or the other, I do not believe that disappointment and joy can coexist.

[Roger Chandler]

"I just am not willing to allow myself the luxury of low expectations..."

I was not suggesting that you have low expectations. Nor was I suggesting that you have none at all. Or that I have none when I embark of a new piece. I was simply pointing out that expectations are what lead to disappointment and that disappointment is the antithesis of joy. It's funny. You or I might experience disappointment when we discover a nasty void in what we expected to be a sound and solid burl while someone else (like Dr Keller?) might be just as disappointed not to find any voids. But one way or the other, I do not believe that disappointment and joy can coexist.

David,

You are a thought provoking individual.........I would think that if you and I were ever in proximity to one another that we could have some very interesting conversations! Thanks for your thoughts.............I see what you are sayin'! :)

[Roger Chandler]

I think I'm getting over myself on this one...........I went ahead and signed the bottom a while ago..............I will take it to our club meeting's "show & tell" and tell how I didn't want to show it! :eek::D.........just kidding!

If one likes bark inclusions, holes and voids...........this one will be right up their alley..........I am sure someone there will like it!

Funny thing.......it is sitting atop our wood stove.........my wife has walked by it at least a dozen times.........and not said a word about it yet...........

I think she is one who likes more refined items............must be why she married me! :D:D:D

[David E Keller]

I'm late to the party here, but I appreciate you sharing your work and the thoughts(and frustrations) that accompany it. I suppose I'm in the lidless group as well, but if you get interested in a redo of the lid, maybe this would be a good chance to try something funky(antler, quills, feathers, etc)... It's a relatively short form, so a short, horizontal topper might be interesting.

BTW, I'll gladly pay shipping on those 'disappointing' burl pieces with those awful, nasty voids and inclusions... I'll bet Curt would do the same!

[Roger Chandler]

BTW, I'll gladly pay shipping on those 'disappointing' burl pieces with those awful, nasty voids and inclusions... I'll bet Curt would do the same!

I will have to take a look at what I have.......might let you know something, David!