Tall Walnut Vase

[Brian Finney]

Really nice job, both the execution and the finished article. Would never have thought of using the steady rest on the neck - intuitively I would have positioned it at the largest diameter - my intuition looks to be wrong .

[Kathy Marshall]

Excellent vase Baxter!
The size is amazing and I would never have guessed it was so big from the 1st pics. I also love the irregularity of the sapwood band, great contrast and lots of interest.

[Drew Marold]

That is an amazing piece. Thanks for showing the in process pictures too, it really helps set the stage to appreciate what you've done even more.

[Baxter Smith]

Thanks again for your thoughts! Several have commented they liked the irregular band of sapwood and knot. I definitely agree but can't take any credit. One of the many things I learned from doing this was that you need to start with a slightly crooked piece of wood with a limb sticking out the side. I wouldn't have been bright enough to visualize that. It was just the biggest piece I had at the time.

...... intuitively I would have positioned it at the largest diameter - my intuition looks to be wrong .

Not wrong at all Brian. I have just had some instances where bruising occurred where the wheels ride. That created marks circling the piece that I couldn't sand out. With it being all sapwood around the widest part, I was especially afraid of that. I went with the neck because of the darker heartwood .... I thought that if the bruising occurred at least it wouldn't be as noticeable. The drawback was that I couldn't shape the neck to final size until after I had removed the steady because the arms the wheels were on wouldn't fit without hitting the shoulder or mouth. When possible, I use a faceplate and concrete screws to avoid the use of the steady. This one was just too long. As Faust noted, it doesn't take much of a chuck/jaws in this case. It only needs to support one end and make it turn.