last ornament for a while

Pretty!

Beautiful!!

I love the color of the globe

Re: last ornament for a while

Don Evans

Another well executed one Keith. I notice the finish on you finale appears muted, did you put something on it to do that?

What I do, on oily exotics like blackwood, if I want it to sparkle is this:

Take one layer of paper towel, like Bounty, put it between the wood and press with the edge of my thumb nail and move nail and towel across the wood as it spins on the lathe. Amazing how it makes the oil really shine.

Don

glossy black wood

John K Jordan

I put a beautiful gloss on a jet black gaboon ebony turned and carved piece, only to realize it looked like plastic, mass produced, injection molded. I softened the shiny with some rottenstone and 0000 steel wool and to me it looked a lot better.

Although I think a black finial combined with other wood looks great soft or glossy, for a stand-alone shiny black thing I look through my stash for pieces with a hint of brown grain. This looks like wood even with a mirror gloss.

JKJ

That'll do nicely Keith!

Re: last ornament for a while

Philip Duffy

Stunning~!@!

here are the last three side by side

GaryG in MD

for comparison. I'm not sure about the true sizes or relative scales -- I just took a shot at that.

Each icicle has something to offer. The quality level is strikingly good on all three.

The differences are apparent, but preferences are subjective. They all work, if for slightly different reasons.

If I had to pick one favorite, it would be the third one, on the right because I like the asymmetry and the slightly smaller diameter on the lower main section. The double saucer is cool too. Beauty, Keith. ...GG

Re: here are the last three side by side

john lucas

I love all 3. The details are very subtle. I like the first cove on the brown ornament finial. It has a nice flow into the second element. I like the small ball on the red ornament because it more closely matches the shape of the red sphere. I like the small cove on the Brown ornament below the ball element because the top portion matches the size of the bottom of the first cove. This pulls your eye through the little ball. Having the bottom of that cove be smaller also brings your eye down into the next element. I think I would have like it better if the cove had been a tiny bit longer. Length wise I like the Green one best but love what you did at the bottom of the brown ornament finial.

I like the top finial on the green ornament the best and like that you made the element that joins the finials to the spheres the same size.

All in all wonderful pieces. I was just saying the kinds of things that I say when I do my own finials, of which I don't think I 've ever done the perfect one. That's still an illusive challenge.

Re: here are the last three side by side

Keith Tompkins

This is kinda' fun. Personally, I like the red globe, together with the icicle from the brown ornament. THAT would be my next ornament. That's exactly how I work...take the best features, and build on them. Still room for improvement....

playing John's game...

GaryG in MD

Build your own ornament!

I'll take the topper from the green.

The bulb from either red or green,

the first icicle element and ball from the red,

the third element from the green,

the long, fourth element from the brown.

This is fun.

Making one to such perfection is seriously difficult.

Re: here are the last three side by side

Don Evans

I like all 3 of them! There is no such thing as the perfect finial IMO. If you ever make one that you think is, I'll bet you never duplicate it. Fun trying though.

Don