Bag of sand form for a bud vase/weedpot

[Michael Stafford]

I saw Brian Kent's nice assortment of Southwestern bowl forms in avocado and remarked about my favorite being a bag of sand form.

Here is a picture of a bud vase/weed pot turned from some spalted maple that my buddy Don Leydens gave me with a thick blackwood collar to make sure I had enough depth to accommodate the flared glass insert.

Finished size is about 4" tall and 5 1/2" in diameter.

263351

[Brian Kent]

Very nice, Michael. Did you do the inside with a straight tool or something with an angle?

[Scott Hackler]

Dang, Don did a great job on that. I love the shape, the wood and the use of the backwood.

[Mike Peace]

I really like the size of the collar and how blends with the form. Great job, Mike.

[Dan Forman]

That is one incredible piece of maple, and really like what you have done with it.

Dan

[Jim Burr]

Wowza Mike!! That just rocks!! Off to find some avocado.

[Roger Chandler]

That's a beauty Mike! Gotta love those zone lines .........nicely done!

[Richard Coers]

Love the wood, and the form, but......the blackwood seems to overpower it. If the blackwood was a little shorter, maybe smaller diameter, and more subtle, the maple would have stayed the main player. Wonderful work on the maple!

[robert baccus]

Great shape and wood--fantastic wood. Turned some avocado years ago. It arrived by mail in a bag full of green stuff smelling like old wackamole. Beautiful grain and felt soft and smooth to the touch. Finished great with carnuba wax.

[Michael Stafford]

Brian, the piece is partially hollowed to reduce the weight but I left it bottom heavy for stability. I used a straight hollowing tool, a Jackofsky rocket tool, followed by a Jackofsky rocket swan neck and then finished the hollowing with a Hunter #5 swan neck. Again, let me reiterate it is not a true hollow form as I made no attempt to get it thin at all.
Scott, Don supplied the wood but I turned the piece. I originally was going to cut the piece of wood into two pieces for boxes but did not have the heart to do so. My wife wanted me to turn a bunch of these bud vases, weed pots for Christmas gifts which I have done but she confiscated this one for her private collection.
Richard, as I explained in my original post the thickness and diameter of the blackwood collar was to accommodate the flared glass insert both in height and diameter.
Thank you for your comments. I am not much of a hollow form turner so any constructive comments are appreciated.

[Steve Schlumpf]

I like it! Nice form, good job on blending the collar into the overall curve and I like the collar being black so as to bring out the zone lines within the Maple.

Nice photo also!

[steven carter]

Mike, If it is constructive criticism you want, you are going to have to not do such a good job! I like this form very much, and I also like a form just about like this except with the max diameter just slightly lower, more like a Hershey's kiss. Great job blending the collar into the rest of the form.