New form (for me)

[Mike A. Smith]

I was looking at some sites on the web and saw a couple of these 'flared' bowls. I had a piece of silver maple that I could afford to ruin so I gave it a whirl. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 4x5.

If I'd taken it down to about 1/64 it coulda been a lamp shade!

As usual, after it was finished I decided the base should have been smaller; I must have some kind of mental block. Or maybe a blockhead.

[John Hart]

Nope...not a mental block. They ALWAYS look smaller when they're sideways. Personally, I take it down till I think it looks right...then I take a picture and rotate the picture...then I take 'er down another couple of feet.

Great looking form Mike!:)

[Jim Becker]

Nice piece, Mike...good execution of what can be a challenging form.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Interesting form Mike! Looks like you did a good job on keeping things thin!

[David Fried]

Nice! It looks really sharp. That's a nice form and the grain flows nicely with it.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I like it as is! My wife sees that and she'll add it to her "I want you to turn list"........Nicely done Sir!

[Allen Neighbors]

Me, too! I like it. And if the bottom was very much smaller, it would look like pics 3 & 4 all the time. :)
Well done. :)

[Greg Just]

looks great - I like the look and shape

[Kevin McPeek]

I have one on the lathe, well in a chuck, right now with a similar shape. I keep put off finishing it because I can't figure out if I like it or not.
Yours looks very good so maybe I'll actually finish it. Good work on a tough bowl to turn.

[Alex Elias]

I like it a lot. Different and elegant. Not your every day bowl.

[Tim A. Mitchell]

Very nice Mike. I like the shape and thing the size looks good as is.

Could someone fill me in on why this for is difficult? I ask out of ignorance, not to be rude.

[Tom Sherman]

Mike nice job great form and wood.

[John Hart]

....Could someone fill me in on why this for is difficult? I ask out of ignorance, not to be rude.

From my perspective.....this, as well as any sweeping curved form, is difficult because you are trying to maintain a consistent curve freehand over a long distance. No big deal if you have mechanical help to pivot...but the difficulty for me is maintaining the curve without inducing the ever-so-subtle flat spots and high points. Not to mention duplicating that exact curve on the inside of the vessel to maintain exact thickness.

That's my difficulty anyways.:)

[Dan Forman]

Very cool. I find the form pleasing as is.

Dan

[Henry C. Gernhardt, III]

Mike---

IMHO, you did an absolutely bang-up job on that piece. The flare on your bowl looks perfectly hyperbolic to my eye! The first thing that came to mind when I saw it was ``Hay, is he making a wooden trumpet there?'' :)