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Small Natural Edge Maple Burl Hollow Form

Posts

Small Natural Edge Maple Burl Hollow Form

#1

Small Natural Edge Maple Burl Hollow Form

Dominic Greco in Richboro PA

>Hello Everyone,

Here are some pictures of a small maple burl hollow form I turned on Sunday. I've been on this "natural edge hollow form kick" for a while now. I feel it takes the aspects of two of my favorite techniques and combines them in one.

When I first cut up the blank, I was sort of disappointed at the grey color of the wood. Aside from some spalt lines, it didn't look very promising. It wasn't until I started turning that the figure appeared. This blank had it all! Ambrosia maple coloring, beetle holes, streak (or "rays") and fiddle-back/birds eye grain.

While turning to final shape, I kept on narrowing the base to avoid my past mistake of making the base too large (in relationship to the rough opening). Do you think I've accomplished this?




Maple burl hollow form Specs:


Largest Dia.: 4 1/2"


Rough Opening Dia.: 3 1/2"


Height: 5 1/2"


Wall thickness: 3/16"


Base dia.: 2 1/4"


Sanding Method: Sanded to 12,000 Grit.


Finish: Watco's Danish Oil


Final: Buffed with Beall Buffing System


Thanks for viewing!

See ya around,

My ugly mug

Dominic


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Re: Small Natural Edge Maple Burl Hollow Form

#2

Pic#2 

Dominic Greco in Richboro PA

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Re: Small Natural Edge Maple Burl Hollow Form

#3

Brad Vietje

Re: Small Natural Edge Maple Burl Hollow Form

Brad Vietje

>Dominic,

Nice piece, and very interesting coloration ! I probably would have gone a bit smaller on the foot, but this is from a guy who often makes the foot too small :)

Safe Spinning,

Brad Vietje

Thetford, VT

Re: Small Natural Edge Maple Burl Hollow Form

#4

Re: Small Natural Edge Maple Burl Hollow Form

Ron in Drums PA

>That's really nice Dom.

I think the base works in proportion to the widest part of the vase.

Did you use the alcohol drying method?

Re: Small Natural Edge Maple Burl Hollow Form

#5

Re: Small Natural Edge Maple Burl Hollow Form

Mike Rubes, Apex, NC

>Hi Dominic,

That looks great! I think the proportions work fine. I like it because you cannot tell how big/small it is unless you look at the numbers. To me, that signifies that the proportions are right in there.

Very interesting colorations in there. Was it "punky" at all? It looks like it might have been?

Thanks for the pics, nice stuff!

Mike

Burl calling my name in Apex, NC!!!

Re: Small Natural Edge Maple Burl Hollow Form

#6

Very nice turning young man.

Dave Smith, Longview, WA

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Re: Small Natural Edge Maple Burl Hollow Form

#7

Re: Small Natural Edge Maple Burl Hollow Form

Thomas Skaggs, Foothills of Mount Level

>Cool! Awesome wood. You done good buddy!

Tommy

Re: Small Natural Edge Maple Burl Hollow Form

#8

Re: Small Natural Edge Maple Burl Hollow Form

Mike Schwing from Md.

>Nice work Dominic. Everyone has their own favorite profiles, and I am no exception. I believe that the width of the bottom is fine, but the abrupt end to the vessel is not pleasing to my eye. A more rounded in version is what I'd try for if I was going to keep the bottom the same width. You know how some guys manage to round the bottom in without altering the dimensions and it looks great? Like that.

I can't necessariliy do it either. Much easier to be a critic than a doer.

Sanding to 12000 - I noticed that. Makes a big diff in the watco treatment, doesn't it?

Re: Small Natural Edge Maple Burl Hollow Form

#9

Hi Mike

Dominic Greco in Richboro PA

>

Mike,

I think you might have a good point there. You know, near the end I was thinking that the base ended rather abruptly.

I think I get what you're saying about rounding off the bottom a bit. Do you mean adding a small chamfer (or round) to the edge of the base? Or are you talking about continuing the curve from further up? If you've got a picture, or can provide a link to a photo that shows what you're saying, I'd really appreciate it!

BTW, that comment about sanding to 12000 grit is dead on. It does make a world of difference!

Later,

Dominic

Re: Small Natural Edge Maple Burl Hollow Form

#10

You betcha'!

Dominic Greco in Richboro PA

>Mike,

Thanks for the compliments my friend!

Oh yeah! I guess you could say the wood was rather punky! If by "rather" you mean that it almost drove me to distraction! I definitely practiced my shear scraping on this one.

Recently I acquired one of those Raffan "spear point shear scrapers". I ended up using that tool a lot on the exterior of this hollow form. For the inside, I used my shop built shear scraper.

Later,

Dominic

Re: Small Natural Edge Maple Burl Hollow Form

#11

Didn't need to

Dominic Greco in Richboro PA

>

Ron,

Thanks for the kind words my friend!

Since this is a burl, and a hollow for to boot, I really didn't need to dry it much.

From my experience with this maple burl, I found that it really doesn't distort too radically. And if it did, that just adds to the "Artsy-ness" of the form.

I have several of these hollow forms sitting around for the last several months. Even with the recent weather changes, they haven't moved appreciably.

Later,

Dominic

Re: Small Natural Edge Maple Burl Hollow Form

#12

Very Well Done, My Friend

Mark Kauder

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Re: Small Natural Edge Maple Burl Hollow Form

#13

Keith Tompkins

Re: Small Natural Edge Maple Burl Hollow Form

Keith Tompkins

>Wow Dom! that is sure a pretty piece! Concerning the foot, make a bunch of forms with various size feet (foots?) just to see how they look. Did you check out Wally's post with the glue block? that way the chuck doesn't determine the size of the foot. Nice piece!

Re: Small Natural Edge Maple Burl Hollow Form

#14

Hi Keith

Dominic Greco in Richboro, PA

>Keith,

Thanks for the compliment! I appreciate it, as well as the input.

Since this started out originally as a natural edge bowl, I had this irregular shaped burl blank. I just left it a bit long, and then started the form's base well up from the chuck. I ended up with a good bit of waste. But it was a bad section of the wood anyway.

If I had been thinking a bit clearer, I guess I could have flattened out the foot and glued on a block. But I never even thought about it! Next time though......!

See ya around,

Dominic

Re: Small Natural Edge Maple Burl Hollow Form

#15

Thanks everyone!

Dominic Greco in Richboro, PA

>I appreciate the kind words and feedback.

See ya around,

Dominic