I'm a frayed knot

[Raymond Overman]

Two ropes walk into a bar. The bartender says, "No, no, no, ya'll can't come in here. Can't you read. We don't serve ropes here." The two ropes slithered out a little dejected. When they got to the sidewalk they went into a frenzy. Bashing their ends against the wall, tying themselves up. Just crazy. After a few minutes of this they slithered back in the bar. The bartender takes one look at them and says, "Hey, aren't you those two ropes I told to get out of here while ago?" They both pipe up, "Nope, I'm a frayed knot."

Now, I've been thinking about ropes all night and I thought maybe ya'll would like to share in my story and the reason that I've been thinking about ropes. No, don't worry, I'm not crazy. Well a little after doing this walnut bowl.

I used my new Foredom tool to individually carve all of the flutes for the rope after laying them out with the indexing wheel. Though the power carver makes quick work of it, the repetition will drive you mad after a while. I guess sometimes you have to suffer for your art/craft.

Curly Walnut Carved Bowl
9" D x 4 1/2" T
Finished with Danish Oil

Critiques welcome but not required.

[Barry Stratton]

IMPRESSIVE!! Great looking piece of wood, nice shape, and that rim work is amazing. You are taking your game to another level with this one Raymond. Well done.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Raymond.......You just seem to keep taking your art and craft to an ever higher level! Man that thing is stunning!

[Myrel Willeford]

Very nice Love the rope.

[Don Baer]

Now that I like.

[Mark Cothren]

Raymond, that is FAR OUT! Very creative and what a great piece of Walnut!

Keep 'em coming!!!

[Corey Hallagan]

Sweet! Beautiful piece and the rope treatment is tops!

Corey

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

That carving stuff sure gives your work an extra touch!

Very nice!

[Andy Hoyt]

Not too shabby for the first serious effort with the foredom. Not too shabby at all. I like it.

[Lee DeRaud]

Though the power carver makes quick work of it, the repetition will drive you mad after a while. I guess sometimes you have to suffer for your art/craft.This coming from a guy who just said he didn't have the patience for segmented glue-ups...sheesh.

Very nice.

[Henry C. Gernhardt, III]

Very nice work, Raymond. I'd say the madness evoked in using the foredom was well worth it. :)

[Vaughn McMillan]

That's a great job on a great piece of walnut, Raymond. The rim treatment co-exists nicely with the sweet figure in the wood.

- Vaughn

[Jim Becker]

Nice!! Great rim treatment!

[Bernie Weishapl]

That is a beauty Raymond. Love the rope and the bowl. Nice job.

[Joe Fisher]

Love the walnut, love the form, love the rope. What's not to love? ;)

Oh, and that's one of my favorite jokes to tell around the Boy Scout campfire :D

-Joe

[George Conklin]

Nicely done, Ray. Very creative and a beautiful piece of walnut!:)

[Glenn Hodges]

All that work really paid off making this a rim a beaut.

[Travis Stinson]

Raymond, that is a truly wonderful piece of Walnut. Initially, the rim design was fighting for attention with the super figuring of the wood to me, but after another look, it compliments it very nicely. Great job on following through with the tough work. A beautiful piece.:cool:

[Curt Fuller]

That's a beauty Raymond. Excellent carving. But on your next one I think you should somehow incorporate a frayed knot.

[Von Bickley]

Raymond,

Great looking bowl. Looks like you are leaving wood-turning and entering the art world...:)

[ROBERT SCHUMAN]

Beautiful wood and supurb job ! Love it .

Bob

[Raymond Overman]

Thanks for all the comments guys. I'm really pleased with the way this one turned out too. I feel like I turned a corner in my woodturning with this piece. Now I just hope I don't get lost.

I hope I didn't sound too negative about the carving part of this bowl. I really like what it adds to the piece and am already planning the next design. The rope was a simple motion but was tedious because of the lack of experience with the tool and dreading the idea that I would screw one of those flutes up. I think I might have breathed only a couple of times during the whole time I was carving. It's similar to that first bowl I turned so many moons ago.

Thanks again.

[John Miliunas]

Wow, I can see why it would've been a bit nerve-wracking doing the carving! Like the old saying goes, "No guts, no glory." I'm thinkin' you can take a bow for the "glory" part! :D Well done, Raymond! :) :cool:

[Jim Bell]

Nice work Raymond!!!
Jim