Osage Orange Hollow Form

[Tim Thiebaut]

This is very nice, I love turning OO, the colors are so vibrant.

[Steve Vaughan]

Yup, I'm with Tony. I think it's a really neat looking piece. Love the color of that orange. I've got a 4 X 4 chunk of it laying around, but I'm not very well prepared yet to do hollow forms. But, you're taking me closer and closer.

[Fred Belknap]

Roger I think it is a great piece. The finish is great and the pictures are great. Everyone has a shape they like and things they don't like but it is mostly about are you pleased with it. I see a lot to be pleased with.

[David E Keller]

Nicely done, Roger. That looks like a fair bit of work with handheld tools especially given that the piece was frozen solid if I recall correctly.

I agree with the previous thoughts about continuing the curves near the bottom and at the lid. Finial proportions are so subjective, but I tend to favor slightly more delicate styles.

All in all, it's a nice piece, and I hope it's only the first of many to come.

[Roger Chandler]

Thank you to everyone for your encouragement, and your comments, many of which were constructive criticism, which is helpful............also, thanks to those who gave me advice on the DNA soak, and how to go about doing it. Hopefully, more and better pieces will follow in the upcoming weeks.

[Roger Chandler]

I have been thinking about the comments on the form [the little small flare at the foot, and the finial being a bit too thick.] That brought up a question I would like to pose for some of you more experienced turners.

How many forms did you do on average, before you felt like you hit perfection? I realize that all judgments are somewhat subjective, and we each are our own worst critics..........that being said, how many forms of a certain type under your belt, before you felt like you could not have done it any better?

The flare at the base on this one was because of having to part off the foot/pedestal, because of a large crack, and it was so slight, I did not take the extra time to work out a method of remounting it with specially made jam chucks, etc............but the finial.....well I just missed that by a little, so I will have something to shoot for next time for sure!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Roger as a first that is a nice looking HF. I would sign it, date it and use it to learn from.

[Roger Chandler]

Roger as a first that is a nice looking HF. I would sign it, date it and use it to learn from.

Thank you Bernie.......I appreciate all you said both here and on AAW! Along the way, you have been helpful and encouraging in many ways, and it means a lot to me!

[Curt Fuller]

I have been thinking about the comments on the form [the little small flare at the foot, and the finial being a bit too thick.] That brought up a question I would like to pose for some of you more experienced turners.

How many forms did you do on average, before you felt like you hit perfection? I realize that all judgments are somewhat subjective, and we each are our own worst critics..........that being said, how many forms of a certain type under your belt, before you felt like you could not have done it any better?

The flare at the base on this one was because of having to part off the foot/pedestal, because of a large crack, and it was so slight, I did not take the extra time to work out a method of remounting it with specially made jam chucks, etc............but the finial.....well I just missed that by a little, so I will have something to shoot for next time for sure!

I'm definitely not an expert, but your question is one I ask myself often. I've yet to turn anything that I didn't feel I could have done something better. And I'm not sure I would want to repeat a form over and over until I felt it was beyond improvement. There's a famous turner that once said something like 'as turners we tend to turn for other turners'. I'm sure I misquoted that but what I think he meant was that we tend to try to please other turners with the things we turn rather than please ourselves. But I've found that when you put your work out for display it's pretty rare to get a consensus on what is right or wrong about it. So you take the good and bad comments, weigh them over from you own perspective, and work on the next piece. With each new piece you gain a little confidence, getting bolder with your tools, while remembering the good and bad comments made about your last effort, and moving a little closer to the "perfection in a form" that you're striving for.

[Baxter Smith]

Congrats on all the firsts. Another step forward.

[Tony Wheeler]

how long did it soak in the DNA? I have yet to DNA soak any OO but I was thinking that since the wood is so dense and hard does it need to soak longer to get the same benfit as a piece of maple. I have turn hundred year old fence post and sometimes they still find anew cracking place after all those years

[Roger Chandler]

how long did it soak in the DNA? I have yet to DNA soak any OO but I was thinking that since the wood is so dense and hard does it need to soak longer to get the same benfit as a piece of maple. I have turn hundred year old fence post and sometimes they still find anew cracking place after all those years

Tony,

I let it soak 2 full days. I think that was long enough with the rough out being only 1/2 " thick. That log blank was an elbow shape, and the pith could not be completely turned out of it, so some of the pith was in the foot/pedestal I left, but alas, it had to be parted off to save the main part of the form.

It was completely submersed in the DNA.