charlie belden
It was too hot to turn (low to mid 90s) during the day. Started this one around 10pm and finished it up. Did the pyro work early this morning (supposed to be in the mid to high 90s today).

Flat topped HF are tricky. Getting the top flat and keeping the hard edge at the rim being the tricky part. the wood is manzaneta, the finish - car wax.

On a larger piece, the figure in the wood would be shown off on the flat top. At this scale, it's shown a little bit, but not as dramatic as it would be at a larger size.

Though flaws are quite obvious in the photos, their barely noticable if at all when looking at the actual piece. I notice them because I saw them when doing the pyro work - while wearing am OptiVisor that magnifies EVERYTHING - as does the camera.

My critique:

The lip of the raised rim is TOO THICK. Makes the piece look chunky instead of semi-delicate

Should have bought the finest Ball Tip pyro pen. I used the 1/32" Ball Tip and it's just a little too large for this sized piece.

The piece has a very small bead on the bottom. Gives a little lift to the look but would probably have been better to go with a Round Bottom look.

I should've done the pyroed band just below the rim of the piece rather than as far down the side as I did. A thin area of wood just below the rim to set off the pyro work and then just polished wood below that.

The opening should've been smaller. It WAS when I started hollowing, but got widened while I was cutting up under the top (yes - it actually is hollowed out thinner than the lip of the opening makes it look.

Since, at this scale, the figure in the wood isn't shown off, I probably should've done a narrow band of pyroed texture some where between the neck and the rim of the piece. The contrast of a smooth wood surface and a textured pyroed surface might have been interesting.

The profile has a flat section at the top and then transitions into a curve. Having a contiunous curve would probably have looked better.

Should have been a bit more careful when making the cuts for the side pyroed band. But it was late and I was tired. Should have waited.

Most stressful part of doing this piece was parting it off. Used the single bevel bench chisel, with the back of the chisel towards the piece and did cross grain slicing. Get that back's flat surface off the surface being sliced and it would be Catch City - the resulting spiral cut likely to run up the side of the piece. Sort of like dropping a piece of bread with jelly. Almost ALWAYS it'll land on the jelly side ; )

Comments, suggestions, constructive criticism welcomed.