Sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you…

[David DeCristoforo]

I'm afraid, this didn't work out too well! Turned from green wood to around 3/16" thickness. This looked to be an interesting chunk with a lot of medullary rays I thought might make for an attractive effect on a hollow form. I had a pretty good form last night after I got the hollowing done but by this morning, it had distorted badly.


I guess this is the risk you take when you turn green wood to final size! Since there was no way this was going to look symmetrical, I turned the bottom to a "point" and just let if roll over. Oh well… like the title says...


At some point, it was around 8" in diameter. Now it depends on where you measure...

238221

[neil mackay]

:D ...been there and recently at that. Well put David, win some.......

[Mike Cruz]

Weebles wobble....

[Jay Jolliffe]

I think It's pretty good if the wall is 3/16"....even if it is wobbly.....

[Steve Schlumpf]

Looks pretty good to me... especially from this angle! Haven't tried the green to finish route yet... but will have to give it a try one of these days!

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

David, I've begun to make most of my hollow forms twice turned for that very reason. I turned a cherry form to finish a couple weeks ago. I shaped it with a 3" diameter neck that is a false opening. The real opening if recessed below. The neck shrunk 1/2" in one direction only. I expect shrinkage but 1/2" on 3 is a bit excessive. I found something novel to do with it but it was almost firewood.
Yours doesn't look all that distorted but I know you go through an extensive design process using Illustrator and paying such attention to the details of the shape, I surely understand you wanting the finished form to be stable.
faust

[Ken Glass]

David,
Your way to tough on this one. It has some nice character to it. Use the roll over and create an interesting way to display it. Looks a great deal like old pottery to me, and I like it.

[Rick Markham]

I kinda like it David! Put a Tung oil finish on it and call it done. Now you need a sopping wet hunk of Madrone, make something beautiful and watch it turn into a raisin.

[Greg Just]

it might be worth more with a wobble - a design feature

[Michelle Rich]

many folks love the distorted look...

[Reed Gray]

Well, you can say it is an 'organic' form. I am getting to the point where I can take a piece of green wood and figure out how it will move, depending on where it was cut from on the tree. Some thing from the buttress part of the tree will move sideways, trunks go oval, crotches move differently, and so does the compression wood under where the branch comes into the tree. Then there is Madrone, no predictions there at all. I can do a better job of predicting the weather, even after years of concrete construction, and 10 years of flying a Hang Glider in my younger days.

robo hippy

[Rick Markham]

...and 10 years of flying a Hang Glider in my younger days.

robo hippy :eek:


You're an amazing guy Reed!

[Curt Fuller]

It's interesting how we all have a different perspective on what makes for a beautiful wood turning. I've seen all of your amphora work and the simple curve pieces and although they are undoubtedly beautiful work, they just don't quite do it for me. And then you post this one that you imply might have gotten the best of you and I think it's absolutely beautiful. Maybe your best. I especially like the rounded bottom and the way it just leans the way it feels like leaning. As Reed said, it's very organic. It's wood at it's best with nothing to tweak the natural beauty.

[David DeCristoforo]

OK… I'm taking back everything I said. Instead I'm saying this:


After hours of carefully study, I knew exactly how this soaking wet piece of wood would warp as it dried. I strategically planned and carefully calculated the shape of the vessel so that it would sit exactly as it does after it had distorted in the way I knew it would. I hollowed it in stages, making sure that, at each stage, it was allowed time to release moisture in a carefully controlled manner in order to insure this final profile. That little "collapsed" area up by the opening? That was the hardest to accomplish. It took incredible foresight and understanding to get that to occur in exactly the right spot.


Is it up to the tops of your boots yet?

[Steve Schlumpf]

Wow!!!... you are good!

[Jim Underwood]

Is it up to the tops of your boots yet?

Dude, you could be a renowned wood artist. Just give it a fancy name and a high price tag. :p

If you don't do that, then just send the piece of junk to me... I'd love to admire it sitting/rolling around on my mantel.

[Kathy Marshall]

I think it looks great David! I like the organic look that it has. Being that I mostly turn green to finish, I've come to accept and even like, the movement and just consider it added character.

[Ken Glass]

"I don't care who you are", that's funny!

[Reed Gray]

A piece like that will not gather much dust. It is one that people will have to pick up and feel/fondle. I have had a number of people come in to my booth to 'view' my work who are blind, or have little sight left. For them it is a texture thing. Different woods have different feels and scents. It is fun explaining why they are that way. I want to see another one.

robo hippy