My first Hollow Form

[Greg Ketell]

First things first: I HATE when the pictures show sanding flaws you didn't see with the naked eye... That being said, here it is.

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The form ended up a little chubby on the bottom half when a tool skated on me. But I really like it for my first.

Honduran Rosewood sanded to 600 and then RenWax'd. No other finish.

Comments and critiques gratefully accepted so I can improve.
GK

[Greg Ketell]

I forgot to mention that dimensions of it....

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It is just under 1" tall and 5/8" diameter.

[Grant Wilkinson]

That's fun, Greg. To my eye, the base is too small. If the curve from the neck continued, it would stop before where the base now is, I think. It's hard for me to say where, dimensionally, it seems to straighten out, since it's so small in total dimension, but it seems to curve nicely until about a quarter of the way down the lower, lighter wood, then it straightens out. Just my not-expert-at-all opinion.

[Eric Holmquist]

I kinda figured it was small considering the size of the growth rings on the wood it's resting on.

It looks pretty nice, getting really good form on something that small is a real challenge, the slightest flaw is proportionally huge. The same is true for sanding marks, a 320 grit scratch on this is proportionally the same as a 40 grit scratch on a 8" tall piece.

[Greg Ketell]

That's fun, Greg. To my eye, the base is too small. If the curve from the neck continued, it would stop before where the base now is, I think. It's hard for me to say where, dimensionally, it seems to straighten out, since it's so small in total dimension, but it seems to curve nicely until about a quarter of the way down the lower, lighter wood, then it straightens out. Just my not-expert-at-all opinion.

Yup, you are right. What you describe is the shape I was going for but what would normally be a teeny weeny tool grab completely changed the shape of it. It was either take it too the too small base or make it look like a spittoon.

Thanks for the feedback!

[Greg Ketell]

I kinda figured it was small considering the size of the growth rings on the wood it's resting on.

It looks pretty nice, getting really good form on something that small is a real challenge, the slightest flaw is proportionally huge. The same is true for sanding marks, a 320 grit scratch on this is proportionally the same as a 40 grit scratch on a 8" tall piece.

Funny you should say that... I know exactly when those happened and they are marks from the edge of the 320-grit abranet. I didn't curve it enough so it touched. I thought I sanded them all out. You can't see them with your eye but blown up to 5-6X real size (at least on my monitor) they are quite clear.

GK

[Baxter Smith]

Its good to start out small but you may have taken that to extremes Greg! Neat little piece!

[Phil Labowski]

I thought it was incredible to begin with, then you just blew my mind with the quarter! Great job!

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

OK, Greg. Tell the truth. That actually started out as a 12" tall vase but you kept changing the shape until this is all that is left. I hate when that happens. Did you sweep the shop after you finished? If not, open the door and sneeze. That should do the trick. Fun project. Good test of your eyes and nerves.
faust

[Ken Glass]

Greg,
When I first looked at it, I thought, WOW, what huge figure in that Rosewood. A good exercise in tool control and steady hands. I guess you didn't have to get out the hollowing rig for his one, Huh.

[Michelle Rich]

a teeny-tiny first!! very cute & what pretty wood

[Rick Markham]

Not too shabby! Looks like a good first to me! You should make a HUGE one to go with it :D

[Greg Ketell]

I thought it was incredible to begin with, then you just blew my mind with the quarter! Great job!

Thank you!


OK, Greg. Tell the truth. That actually started out as a 12" tall vase but you kept changing the shape until this is all that is left. I hate when that happens. Did you sweep the shop after you finished? If not, open the door and sneeze. That should do the trick. Fun project. Good test of your eyes and nerves.
faust

Thanks for the laughs, Faust! No, this one didn't start out big (although I have had a 3" egg blank turn into a 3/4" egg; I hate skews!). But this one was the third attempt. First was spalted hackberry: it blew apart at the spalt lines. (you may see it make an appearance as something smaller). The second one was curly maple that started out this shape then lost its neck to become a "ball shape" which then became a ball shaped tube when the inside became bigger than the outside.


Greg,
When I first looked at it, I thought, WOW, what huge figure in that Rosewood. A good exercise in tool control and steady hands. I guess you didn't have to get out the hollowing rig for his one, Huh.

No hollowing rig. I tried with my "small tools" but 1/8" was still too big) so most of it was hollowed with a converted dental pick.

Gk