Another Applewood box

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Here are a couple of pic's of another Applewood box I made, it is just 4" wide and a shade below 3" high.
Any and all comments appreciated and welcomed :D

[David Walser]

Very nice, indeed. Leo, it appears the grain runs horizontally (face turned rather than spindle turned). Is that correct? If so, has the fit of the lid changed much with changes in humidity?

[Eugene Malone]

Leo, That looks a real piece of craftmanship, Beautifull wood and great shape. I am not a long time turning about 11months but that kind of shape would be a great piece to try and turn it is something that looks simple,but needs the hands and the finish to show it to it's true beauty.
The shape would encourage me to try,and try again until I could turn as near as possible to that design. The finish in my mind is to ones own taste and would be secondery until the tooling was correct.
Leo,Ihope you dont mind me saying it looks simple, I'm sure its anything but so,but it will encourage me to have a go. I think some times that designs shown while they are fantastic are a bit too far advanced for me to be thinking about yet,If I can get the tooling and shape right I'm happy I'll just rub a little Liqued Pariffin on it and it doesent change the coulour of the wood all that much and the beauty is still there if you have turned it well. REgards Eugene Malone Hopeing to learn!

[Richard Madison]

Leo,
A very pretty box. Thanks for showing it.

Eugene,
Some of the most beautiful and elegant turned shapes appear to be quite simple. The artistry can be in the very smallest variations of curvature. Check out Rude Osolnik's famous candlesticks.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Great looking box Leo out of some beautiful wood.

[Mike Golka]

Great looking box Leo, I love your work.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Leo - that's a great looking box! Very rich color! I like your style of knob/handle as it mirrors the top/bottom seam! Very nice work!

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Hi David, thanks for looking and the reply/question :)
Yes it's side-grain David, and both top and bottom do change similar, still the fit is less loose now then it will be in the winter, it is a suction fit now.
I do prefer the long-grain on larger boxes, and I have to keep the fits a bit looser than the end-grain ones, especially if it's wintertime when making them :D

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Hi Eugene, thanks for taking the time to reply, I would agree that this box has a simple line to it, it's not frivolous and fancy, to me it has a "use it" shape, one would not be afraid to pick it up and open it.
Though the whole does have to be balanced and I think this does look good and it feels right.
Don't be afraid to go for what you feel is a good simple form, and something you can do, just make sure you have fun doing it, it will show in your work, and do take care.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Thanks for looking Richard and taking time to reply :D

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Thanks Bernie, I do appreciate it :)

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Thanks for looking and your reply Mike :-)))

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Thanks for replying Steve, and yes I agree, the Applewood is a fine looking wood, I love turning it :)

[Paul Engle]

Nicely done Leo, you know sometimes the simplest things in life have the most presence. especally the shapes and contours. A lot of art is commonly simple but reflects things we can associate to and there for makes it prominent like your box. combined with the color the shape and beading is spot on!!! I have to keep reminding my self that less is more unless the objective is to really over do it.... but then is gets complicated and hard to achieve desired results. One such project I did on my OT is basket weave on the sides of both the top and bottom of a 3 x 5 box( equal demensions) with barley corn pattern on the top. well the piece is sooooo busy the grain of the walnut gets / got lost some where, It is at the locale county fair and won a blue ribbon. so go figure , when I get it back this saturday I will post a pic of it and the ribbon and then is gets sent to the person it was made for in California. It about made me nuts worrying about making a mistake befor it was done and then the finish (lacqured 4 coats) finished me off.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Thank you for looking and taking the time to reply Paul, I'm looking forward to see the picture of your box :) :D