Only What's Required (Owed to Mike Cruz and John Keeton)

[David DeCristoforo]

I have not made one of these in a while. But the last few elevated hollow forms posted by John Keeton got me thinking. On his recent forms, he melded the pedestal and the main form into one continuous curve with little embellishment. I have been contemplating how this might work on one of these tall goblet pieces so I decided to take a whack at one. In keeping with the minimalist concept, I reverted to an earlier design on the base, allowing the stem to flow right into the base without any flairs or undercuts.


The main part of the form is made from some of the very nice "ambrosia" maple I recently received from Mike Cruz. This wood is quite wet but, as several people suggested, it dried out pretty quickly with the walls being thinned down to around 1/4". When it hit 12%, I finished it down to 1/8" wall thickness.

4.5" at the rim X 17" tall. The form is very "full", a result of wanting to preserve as much of the "ambrosia" color as possible. Not quite sure what to think about this one. Stem is bubinga. Feel free to have at it…

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[Joshua Dinerstein]

I think it looks great. The Ambrosia Maple is just stunning. If were to be negative at all I would have a liked a little more contrast between the top and the stem. But maybe that is just that I have seen so many Ebony ones I expect them to be black now. Who know.... :)

Joshua

[philip labre]

Another beauty, DD! Nothing I'd change.

[Ken Glass]

David,
The form is very pleasing and I like the stem as well. It looks as though you colored the Bubinga near the bottom and at the base, but for me, it's hard to tell. The Natural edge always add to a vessel/form in my opinion. Overall, I believe it is a very nice piece.

[Sid Matheny]

I love it as is and the color change on the stem helps make it a beauty!

Sid

[Alan Trout]

David,

I love it. It is probably my favorite of your "Amphora Series" far as the form goes. I tend to like gentle continuous lines. What might be cool would be to do the stem in maple and do a die job where you fade the color into the amphora.

Alan

[John Spitters]

David
I like this one a lot, definitely one of your better pieces, it's a very pleasing form to look at.

I did a version of this simple pedestal on one of my hollowforms with the same thought in mind, sometimes simple is the way to go. I believe it turned out well and since showing this piece and one other similar to it I've had more than a few others from the turning club I belong to go with this same concept and seem to be going away from the more detailed or " busy " finials and pedestals.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?180492-Work-in-Progress-Opinions-please-More-pics-New-Finial&highlight=

John

[David E Keller]

I like the natural edge, full bellied form on this one, and that piece of ambrosia is killer. I like the simple pedestal and foot as well. The transition area doesn't seem to flow as well as some of your other pieces… I think that's part curve and part color contrast. It's always interesting to see how you're gonna tweak this form.

[Nate Davey]

Very nice form David. I love the simple lines. A spectacular piece of AM for the form. Not sure I'm a big fan of the NE, but a very nice piece on the whole.

[Roger Chandler]

I think you accomplished what you set out to do David...........we all have become used to the fabulous pedestals you do, and this one is more of a simple transition to the bulb..........very nice indeed..........wood on the pedestal if ebonized would be more of a contrast, but I like the natural grain showing as well.

Super form as usual and the ambrosia maple is just stunning ............nice work!

[Bill Wyko]

What I enjoy about this piece is that it not only has wonderful form, but your choice of wood. The grain is just wonderful.

[Dennis Ford]

I love it! Great form and colors.

[John Keeton]

David, I have come back to this one a few times - waiting to see what others say. I love the stem, and the form. However, I think I am in agreement with Keller on the transition. Perhaps the top portion of the pedestal at the transition point could be a bit larger and that would permit a smoother transition into the form.

That said, it is a beautiful piece, with great coloration. The NE is a real plus and plays well off of the Ambrosia stain.

[Baxter Smith]

When I was looking at this earlier on my phone, I had a different thought than the one I have now. Probably I will have another one tomorrow! Although it looks a little naked under the form(relatively speaking), at present the only "hesitation" for me is the curve or color of the bubinga at the top of the pedestal. It doesn't seem to quite fit, though it appears similar in color to a couple spots on the top of the form. Haven't been able to figure out what those are. Excellent work as always David!

[David DeCristoforo]

"The transition area doesn't seem to flow as well as some of your other pieces…"

"...top portion of the pedestal at the transition point could be a bit larger..."

I'm not sure this was the best shape to try this with. I'm thinking that on the next go, I will make a more slender form so that the transition into the stem does not have to make such a "sharp curve".

[Rick Markham]

David, I really like this piece, I think the form flows well into the stem. if you take the rule of thirds, and consider the base of your "neck" as a whole, then the base of the stem (transition point) is about 2/3rds of that, then the tapered portion of the stem is about 1/3rd of the whole. It works well, the thing that throws the proportion thing to me "off a bit" (to my eyes) is the curve at the base where the stem transitions into the base. I think if you make that transition more a reflection of the exponential curve you have going with then neck and mouth of the vessel, I think it will "flatten out" the base's profile and will more compliment the rest of your curves and inflection points. The base is a pefect 2/3rds diameter of the mouth, I honestly think your proportions are spot on, I think if you change that curve at the very base, it's going to really change the overall impact of the piece. It's a stunning piece (as are all of your pieces IMHO) I'm looking forward to seeing the progression of your more "minimalist" approach.

Great article in Woodturners mag too, by the way ;)

[David DeCristoforo]

Thanx for the thoughtful critique, Rick. You never know with these things. Sometimes, what you think will work does not and other times you get surprised the other way. I'm going to work on this a bit more and we will see where it goes...

[Rick Markham]

Thanx for the thoughtful critique, Rick. You never know with these things. Sometimes, what you think will work does not and other times you get surprised the other way. I'm going to work on this a bit more and we will see where it goes...

Ain't that the truth, executing (or attempting to) the mental picture often times results in subtle variations... sometimes not so subtle ones too... whoops! That's half the fun is trying to figure out which concepts really do work, and which ones don't. I still havent tried a vessel on a stick yet. One of the things that I find inspiring in your pieces overall especially in this "genre" of handle less amphorae are the inflection points (specifically the change in visual direction between your trumpet bell shaped mouths and the form itself) as well as,the vanishing point that is created at the base of the vessel and the stem (which you cleverly make occur in the "meat" of the stem passed the actual physical transition of the two elements.

After having looked at this piece several more times, mimicking the curve of the bell might work, but it might work better to actually make a dramatic change and mimic the inflection point between the neck and the form. Have fun with it, I'm positive whatever way you go, it's going to turn out well. The rest of us will be waiting in the "peanut gallery" :D

[Roland Martin]

That's a great piece of ambrosia, and staying with a NE is certainly a plus. I also really like the simple and graceful pedestal base. Very nice David.

[joel nucifore]

Very nice form outstanding as always. I am really having fun with this project, I just got my photo background will try to take a pic of last weeks soon. Trying somthing new right now beacuse droped somthing on it and broke the stem, but made some inprovements and adding a twist so to say....

Went to totally turning and picked up some new toys to assist on my vision.... So thank you for the insperation....

[Mike Cruz]

DD, I don't have the critique that other's have simply because I don't have the experience. I think it looks great! Which piece was this? I sent you 3, I think. But maybe only one with bark? I've got the memory of a gnat...

[Bernie Weishapl]

Another beauty DD.

[David DeCristoforo]

"Which piece was this?"

There were two pieces, one shorter one with the bark on the "end" and a longer one with the bark on the side. This is from the longer piece. I'm still contemplating the other one...

[jwjerry w kowalski]

David, that is really stunning, a beautiful piece. I almost missed this one I didn't check the forum yesterday, I'm saving a picture of this to look at and admire, what a beauty!

[Dale Bright]

David, as always you have done a masterful job on this piece. I like the stem and base a lot and the join at the top of the stem is very well done. Just a suggestion for future stems with ambrosia maple, black walnut is a pretty good color match for the ambrosia. Looking at the join of the neck to the body, the wood colors and pattern makes it look like 2 pieces to me but that might be caused by the camera angle as well. Very well done and a great choice for the wood.

Dale

[Doug Herzberg]

That's one gorgeous piece of wood. The form is great, as always. I like the stem. It's a lot less complicated than your usual "signature" pedestal, but the graceful simplicity of this curve is quite appealing. Not that I would know much about it.

[Jeff Hamilton Jr.]

I think that is one outstanding piece of work; also, as opinions go, I happen to think the proportion and transition are well done. I especially enjoy the top of the form mirroring the base of the pedestal, but not exact enough to look "machine" perfect. Very, very well done.

[David DeCristoforo]

Thanx for the comments. I'm still not quite sure about this but it's not the worst piece I have done. I have some ideas about this simple stem design that might keep me busy for a bit anyway...