First finial, first lidded bowl/box/whatever.

[Toney Robertson]

I made this out of a single piece of 2" thick mahogany. Reversed many times, split on the band saw, lye treated, 3 or 4 coats of Danish oil and then Beall buffed.

The lye treatment cause it to warp slightly so the the lid does not fit perfectly flat now (Damn).

The finial is birch and the interior is walnut. The walnut rosette or anti-finial or whatever it is proves Newton's third law, every action has an opposite reaction. The birch went up and the walnut went down. :)

I did intentionally leave a lip on the finial. I did a prototype that was flush but I did not like the look.

9 1/2" x 6" to the top of the finial.

I am moderately pleased with how it came out. Any suggestions? I do think my pictures are getting better. Thank goodness for digital, I would be broke with film and developing!

What say you?

Toney

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj101/iublue/box.jpg

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj101/iublue/box2.jpg

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj101/iublue/122-22D.jpg

[Bruce Pennell]

Toney very nice I love the look. Nice scale and form on both the box and the finial. Great job, keep up the good work. You really raised the bar on this one.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Very nice work Toney! Great form, nice color combination and finish! Impressed that this is your first lidded/finial box! Looks very precise - like you've made 100s of boxes just like it! Looking forward to seeing what you turn next!

[Jeff Hounshell]

Dunno if I care much for the "space needle" finial. Still, much better than I can do. Great job.

[Don Eddard]

You have good reason to be pleased. Nice lines on the box and lid Toney. Like Jeff, the finial doesn't do much for me, but it's better than my first one by far. Nice pics too.

What does the lye treatment do?

[Geoff Hanha]

Nic box and wood choice, like most stuff we do we can improve on when we look at it after, and always good that we look to improve. for me there are a few flats on the box so a little better flow would make it more pleasing for me, the finial top part might have been better to be just a little longer and thinner tapered look, finials are a bread of there own and need work and thought, some times we over look parts of the turning, or just do it to quick rather than think a little more.
Its nice to see attention taken to the inside as well. Nice piece and design, few more thoughts, and im sure we will see more good turnings from you.
Might even get some of mine right sometime..Geoff

[Bernie Weishapl]

Toney for your first it looks great. On the finial I would have made it thinner and more delicate but other than that wouldn't change anything. Well done.

[Clara Koss]

great color combination and i like the opening between the two spheres...

[Toney Robertson]

Thanks to all for the comments.

To clarify some on the finial, I was trying to echo the design of the finial from the design of the box itself. The measurement between the two elements of the finial is almost exactly the measurement between the two halves of the box.

I thought about making it thinner but I was afraid thinner would look to frail. The ball on top is only 3/8" of an inch. I will have to look at that aspect in the future.

Always room for improvement and I appreciate all of you taking time to suggest areas for growth.

Thanks,

Toney

[Richard Madison]

Toney,
Good pictures! And a very interesting piece. I like the color contrast between the top and the finial. Also like the way the line of the top flows into the finial. If there is a lip there, it is not obvious or objectionable.

And/but I do not understand the piece on the inside of the top. Could you make it disappear? Given a choice, would prefer to see the inside of the lid as smooth as inside bottom.

That said, appears that you have some artistic and creative vision that will yield some very interesting work in future.

[Toney Robertson]

Toney,
Good pictures! And a very interesting piece. I like the color contrast between the top and the finial. Also like the way the line of the top flows into the finial. If there is a lip there, it is not obvious or objectionable.

And/but I do not understand the piece on the inside of the top. Could you make it disappear? Given a choice, would prefer to see the inside of the lid as smooth as inside bottom.

That said, appears that you have some artistic and creative vision that will yield some very interesting work in future.


Richard,

The walnut piece on the inside is utilitarian. I used a screw chuck at first to turn the bottom so after turning the top there was a hole in the middle. The walnut rosette or whatever you want to call it, covers up that hole. I thought that while I was making it I might as well make it decorative.

Artistic and creative vision? I only HOPE that you are right. I don't consider either adjective when thinking about myself but your comment brought a smile to my face.

Thanks,

Toney

[Curt Fuller]

Holy cow, that's cool! I love this "whatever" box. There are a lot of great things going on in there for just being a box.

[Richard Madison]

Toney,
My real artist friends tell me that there is a little bit of artist in each of us. Some of us (especially me) have to look pretty hard to find it. I think that your "artist" will just show up without a great deal of searching.