Southwestern Form - C & C welcome

[Brian Kent]

Another hunk of Avocado wood. This time sanded to 400, buffed with white diamond and carnuba.
This one is 9" x 4" - a lot shorter than the first one, which worked better in my chuck.

[Kevin N Brown]

Very Nice and great piece of wood.

[Roger Chandler]

This one is real nice, Brian......I think you are producing quality work these days.......looks like you really have aptitude for turning as your learning curve has been fairly short.......nice work!

[Brian Kent]

Thank you,Kevin and Roger.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Brian - I think you have a good start on an Acoma style bowl. Google that, click on images and you'll see all sorts of fantastic forms to try!

About the only thing I would do different on the next one would be to have the mouth about1/2 the size you have now. Looks good the way it is... just making a recommendation for something to try the next time around.

Have fun!

[Brian Kent]

Thank you Steve. I'll check that out. A smaller opening will require that I actually have to grow in my skills :rolleyes:. I do not have hollowing equipment except for a home-made boring bar so I am working with the limits of my knowledge and skills, my thin scrapers, my knowledge of how to set up a tool rest, etc.

In other words, sure, I'll try that!

Edit: OK, Steve, I just checked out "Acoma Style bowl". I have a physics question. The wide point of the bowl is closer to the top than the bottom. So there is the combined leverage problem of several inched away from the chuck and 3 to 5 inches from the axis. What tool would you use for that farthest point and where would you position the tool rest? This assumes I do not have a captured tool system for this.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Brian - any time you are hollowing, you want the cutter to be at the centerline or slightly above. Reposition your tool rest as often as needed to make sure the cutter is positioned correctly. You can hollow most of the bowl using your bowl gouge, then undercut the shoulder using your boring bar.

The Acoma style bowls you mentioned are just one style. You can continue to turn the same form if you like, just try making the opening a tad smaller. Smaller openings come with time - and the proper tools - but with the larger SW style bowls or jars, the opening are generally larger than for most hollow forms anyway.

[charlie knighton]

very nice, Brain i think you will enjoy the southwest forms

[robert baccus]

Good work and form Brian. You can no longer use the excuse of "beginner" after this one. The shape is fine--we go to N.M. every year and the forms are variable yeah. There are 19 Pueblos out there, each with its different mix of shapes and finishes and then the new hippies are breaking new ground every year. The same pueblos found by Coranado in the early 1500's(most were ravaged) and the people are great. The definitive book of pueblo pottery is "Southwestern Pottery" by Hayes and Blom available on Amazon used books for a few dollars. Anasazi to Zuni in color.

[charlie knighton]

+1 on the "Southwestern Pottery" , i sometimes leave it the "office" for everyday consulting

[Paul Singer]

I like the proportions of this one. Once you shrink the opening the functionality of the bowl becomes limited. Also it becomes harder if not impossible to sand. Really a nice piece.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Really nice looking bowl and really like the form.

[Brian Kent]

I heard some chainsaws in the distance this morning, which means some more avocado will be ready to haul away!

I ordered the book on Southwest Pottery last night. It didn't exactly break the bank at $6.43 with shipping. It was very interesting to look at the forms for Acoma Pueblo pottery, and then the other pueblos. I will try smaller openings so that I can learn to do that when desirable.

I think it is also time for some practice with the boring bar to find out what is going wrong with that. I have been catching all over the place, far more often than with other tools.

[robert baccus]

I've been to most of the pueblos out there. Great place to go back 1000 years. Several have been inhabitated like forever. Acoma is often regarded as the most advanced in pottery making--often starting in the thousands in cost. But they all have talented potters. Like we have sports stars. They have name droppers just like we do. Have been able to visit the homes/studios of several of these and they are as facinated that anyone can make a bowl of wood. Their methods and clays are somewhat secret but most are happy to share their knowledge. New pots can sell for 10-20 thousand and old pots are like buying old paintings. Many are bought by folks with large collections.