Harvest Moon

[John Keeton]

Cocobolo and Curly Maple, dyed a kind of burnt orange (or, at least that was what I was after!) The lighter color in the Cocobolo is a very good match today - not sure what it will look like in a year. Other than a game call I turned for a friend, this is the first cocobolo I have turned. From what I have seen, it seems to just generally darken - perhaps toward a more reddish hue. Time will tell!

8.25" tall and just over 2.75" wide at the shoulder, the finial "was" the thinnest I have turned at .06" in the neck, until I turned the under finial at .05". It is 1.25" long measured from the very bottom. A test for the old lighted magnifier and these aging eyes!!

The walls are just over 1/16" thick. This form felt like an eggshell that had been "blown" (empty), as one could see light through the walls - evenly! Gotta love the Monster hollowing rig!!

As always, your comments, criticism, and suggestions are welcomed!

[Jon Prouty]

wow... the body does look like blown glass. Very nice! I have a real love of cocobolo so this one really speaks to me.

Great job - glad to see that new Jet turning some monster pieces ;)

Jon

[Jamie Donaldson]

Absolutely elegant John! The flow of the profile is outstanding from bottom to top, but the details of the color and grain cannot be fully appreciated in this small image.

[Steve Vaughan]

That's really cool! Love that almost glow in the dark look! Beautiful colors working together there with really nice detail.

[Jon Prouty]

I was trying to get some perspective on the actual size... it is funny that picture #2 when zoomed in is exactly 8.25" on my monitor. Life size! It is so hard for me to understand the relative size when I see pics online... I finally just grabbed a ruler and this one worked out perfect.

Jon

[Pete Jordan]

Now that's a beauty!

[John Nowack]

that is NICE! It almost looks like a huge piece of turned amber to me....has a mystical characteristic to it

[Tim Rinehart]

John, that's a beauty. Nice change in form for you...this works well. The grain in the cocobolo is fantastic.
Very well executed!!

[gary Zimmel]

Way cool John. Another sweet piece from the Keeton Kitchen.
First class as always.

[David DeCristoforo]

Oh my... Now that's sweet! It just screams "Keeton". The cocobolo... well how can you not love cocobolo! It's rosewood! The shape is very unique even though it has all of the "classic" elements. And it is such a "logical" next step in your design evolution. The color makes it look like it is lit from inside. And the double finial... well, I don't know how you get those so fine without breaking them! Overall, I guess you could say I like it...

[David E Keller]

Very cool! I love cocobolo, and the color of the form is a great match for the orange so often found in that stuff. With the figure in the body and the grain of the cocobolo, you've got a little bit of that vertical and horizontal stripe thing going which is a fashion faux pas... As the rosewood mellows over time, the striping will fade, so I think it will look even better in a year or two. Nicely done.

[James Combs]

Very nice John, love the Cocobolo as well as the matching maple. Just completed a pen in Cocobolo, will be posting it in a few.

[Dick Wilson]

John, Now that is a keeper. Beautiful work.

[Roland Martin]

SWEET, John! The only thing that would make this more perfect, is if I could be holding it:) The color combination is spot on, the dye color and execution is really well done with a great finish. As has been said, this form strays from what you've done, and it really works!
Looks like you're getting pretty comfortable with the Jet, how are you liking it so far?

[Tim Thiebaut]

That is beautiful John, love the colors in the finial playing off the body, another home run! I would never have guessed it was under "3 inches across from the picture.

[Curt Fuller]

Very nice! It could have stood alone with just the hollowform and finial and been just as pretty. But the pedestal looks good with it too. I usually don't care much for figured wood in something like a pedestal but where this has so much of the orange color it goes well together. Just a really nice, different, and interesting piece.

[Scott Hackler]

Very nice work John. The contrasting wood colors are really nice. The smooth flowing curves are so fluid.

[John Keeton]

Thanks guys! I really appreciate the kind words. Spring has brought with it chores, and turning time has been scarce. I hope things will subside soon, and I can get to some other pieces I want to do.

Absolutely elegant John! The flow of the profile is outstanding from bottom to top, but the details of the color and grain cannot be fully appreciated in this small image.Thanks, Jamie!! I will bring this one to the meeting next Thursday for you to critique in person.


And the double finial... well, I don't know how you get those so fine without breaking them!Quite a compliment from the guy famous for thin stems!!!!:D;) Thanks!!


SWEET, John! The only thing that would make this more perfect, is if I could be holding it:) The color combination is spot on, the dye color and execution is really well done with a great finish. As has been said, this form strays from what you've done, and it really works!
Looks like you're getting pretty comfortable with the Jet, how are you liking it so far?Thanks, Roland! Loving the Jet. It did take some getting used to, but we are becoming close friends now. Finally, just today, discovered that if I turn the banjo parallel with the ways, I can scoot my Jeff Nicol toolrest right up the the finial! The light bulb came on!!


Very nice! It could have stood alone with just the hollowform and finial and been just as pretty. But the pedestal looks good with it too. I usually don't care much for figured wood in something like a pedestal but where this has so much of the orange color it goes well together. Just a really nice, different, and interesting piece.Thanks, Curt. I have used Claro Walnut with Ambrosia and spalted maples before, and it seemed to do OK, but generally, I agree with you on two figured woods. This piece of curly maple wasn't too pronounced, so I thought it would work. Originally, this piece was going to be of chestnut and cocobolo, but the cocobolo had much more orange in it than anticipated and I was afraid it wouldn't look right.

[Roger Chandler]

Very nicely done John........conceptually the art is there as well as the technique to pull it off. Impressive hollowing to get it that thin and the pedestal has a little "Drozda" character to it........finial is almost toothpick thin, any pucker factor while turning it? ...very colorful..........

[Harry Robinette]

John
OK,I'm late reading again so .What everyone else said Plus I really like it. Beautiful job as always.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Really nice piece John as usual. Nice form and agree it would have been beautiful without the pedestal. Well done.

[Baxter Smith]

Very nice flow to it from top to bottom and the color combo is great... at least for now. Should last at least til someone snatches it off the gallery shelf!;):)

[Dan Forman]

Really lovely John! The cocobolo should get even more orange in time, and the color of the form is eye catching. They work very well together. The lines are clean as your shop. :).

Dan

[Hayes Rutherford]

John, this piece is very creative. This thread has been viewed over 250 times already and I think 100 was me. It is subtle and complex at the same time!! Very cool.

[David Reed]

Nice seeing that you fired up the Jet. Not a surprise that you hit a homer again. The form is unique and it works very well. The glow it gives off is incredible - must be very well lit for the pics and appears to be lit from within. I too love Cocobolo and tried to bring some back from Nicaragua once but got busted! Too bad. That double ender on top is the coup de gras. Are you sure you don't have a light inside this thing?
Muy Bueno!

[Doug W Swanson]

Excellent job! The color is a perfect match for each other!

The finish looks just like glass. What did you do for the finish to get it so smooth?

[Kathy Marshall]

Very cool piece John! It looks like it's glowing and I really like how the orange in the pedestal compliments the body.

[Michelle Rich]

Your finial & your foot & post are elegant and quite lovely. I'm having trouble with the HF..Is it the figure issue? Vertical and horizontal? My eyes are jumping around. It must be me, as everyone else ahead of me likes it. It is beautifully crafted & I don't know everything, so my opinion is worth exactly what you paid for it! Saw bad storms went thru KY..hope you and yours are well.

[John Keeton]

Doug, the finish on this started out to be lacquer, but I wasn't happy with that, so I removed it with thinner. I then applied several coats of Krylon matte acrylic spray, wet sanded with 1200 and buffed. The stuff dries quick and hard, and as a bonus, it fills the grain very well. I sanded and buffed it within 45 minutes of application.

Michelle, Scott was a little bothered by the vertical/horizontal thing, too. Both of you may be right, but I tried to imagine how it would look with the curly maple turned end grain, and the vertical/vertical thing may have been even worse!! I appreciate your concerns on the storms, but we do not have any damage aside from some regional flooding and wind damage. The situation further south is horrible, and I pray for those folks.

No light inside this one!

Thanks all, for the additional comments!

[philip labre]

Excellent work as usual, John! I too find the vertical/horizontal a little distracting, more so the strong vertical grain of the pedestal. The shape and finish are great.

[Russell Eaton]

Bigger lathe =smaller turnings. Who would have thunk it. Nice job and another beautiful piece of art. +1 on the piece looking better in a year with the change of color. Thanks for showing.

[John Hart]

Very handsome piece John. I'm sure the cocobolo will look good forever...Congratulations on the eggshell. That always makes me nervous

[bob svoboda]

Another winner, John. Very nice.

[Jim Burr]

Very pretty John...burnt orange came out nice. I wish the maple had a little more curl to play off the dye, but ya got what ya got, and you got a good one!

[Allan Ferguson]

Very striking and of course well done. Would be great to see and handle it. Hope your did not over tax your new lathe.

[Michael James]

Beautiful work as always. I'm just not getting the long skinny pedestal thing this yr; it seems too delicate to leave out to touch. I love the dye and finish - doesn't get better!
mj

[Steve Schlumpf]

John - the more I look at this - the more I like it! Has to be something about the vivid color but I sure like how the burnt orange seems to work well at tying the form and pedestal together! Also thought you did a good job on aligning the grain on all the pieces so that they offer very close to the same grain direction when viewing from any one angle.

Have to admit - you have that finial stuff down to a science! Very nice work on both of these and have to believe .05" may remain a record for some time!

Once again - very nice work! I am sure liking the way the piece just glows!

[Ron Stadler]

I really like the name you pick for your project John, and this is another beauty.

[John Keeton]

You folks are too kind - thanks, again!
John - the more I look at this - the more I like it! Has to be something about the vivid color but I sure like how the burnt orange seems to work well at tying the form and pedestal together! Also thought you did a good job on aligning the grain on all the pieces so that they offer very close to the same grain direction when viewing from any one angle.

Have to admit - you have that finial stuff down to a science! Very nice work on both of these and have to believe .05" may remain a record for some time!

Once again - very nice work! I am sure liking the way the piece just glows!
Steve, you know you are my mentor, and just so the world knows - the burnt orange was Steve's suggestion!!! My choices would not have produced as nice a result, I am afraid! Thanks, Steve - for everything!

Beautiful work as always. I'm just not getting the long skinny pedestal thing this yr; it seems too delicate to leave out to touch. I love the dye and finish - doesn't get better!
mjMJ, it is Scott Hackler's fault - "No, it's not thin enough yet."


Very striking and of course well done. Would be great to see and handle it. Hope your did not over tax your new lathe.
Allan, hollowing that SUPER LARGE form was a struggle for the 2 HP, but we made it!! No smoke, no thrown breakers.

[Bill Bulloch]

Another great job, John. I got my Monster Articulared Hollowing System last week, since then I have been hollowing everything that is not nailed down. I am having a problem getting under the sholder through a small hole ( one inch ), so I keep making my opening a little larger as necessary to get to it. Any suggestions on which cutter to use through such a small hole and how to present it would be appreciated?

[John Keeton]

Thanks, Bill. I use the "dog-leg" 45* 1/4" cutter to get the area just inside the opening. Then I use the circular head with a very short piece of 3/16" cutter stock turned back at varying degrees to work the rest of the shoulder. I set the laser, then remove the cutter head, insert it in the form, and then reattach it to the boring bar while inside the form. That allows me to maneuver the head into the small hole. I also have the smaller 5/8" bar and cutters for the smaller forms - the same set that comes with the mini. They really help with the smaller pieces.