SILK PURSE or SOWS EAR???

[Roger Chandler]

okay, the "Gnarly Sophisticate" burl with voids, cracks and holes and bark inclusions is done with the exception of maybe another coat of WOP, and maybe a light buffing with some REN wax.

Silk purse? Sows ear? I'll let you be the judge of that! I am not happy with it .........first of all, my disappointment and surprise when I took the bark off...........well, lets just say I never got over it!

I used some maple for the lid [ put brown dye on it to help match the bark inclusions] [ I had to use what wood I had on hand, perhaps another wood might have been better] and I used maple for the finial as well............which I made big and heavier on purpose just to compete with the form for the eye of the beholder...........then mixed just a hint of that brown dye in with the WOP to give the finial an antique look.

I am not happy with the shape of the lid.........but my options for holding this thing on the lathe was pretty slim, and I just had to live with it once I got the finial glued to it, and then I still had to reshape it a bit to fit the opening in the form............it is what it is!

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You tell me...........silk purse? Sows ear? Your comments are welcome and appreciated!

[John Keeton]

Roger, we all have pieces that don't turn out as planned, and that is just part of the journey! With the challenges you faced, I think you did well with this one. When you finished the form, the upward turn on the throat was something I noticed at the time. Transitioning off that much of a curve is difficult, and I suspect your task would have been easier had you had a more gentle rise. Nonetheless, it turned out pretty good! The colors work, and overall, the proportions are good.


You already know what you don't like about it, and the best thing to do is take all of that to the next one.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I agree sometimes you do a piece that is a challenge. I don't think it turned out bad Roger. I think you did well. I like the form and the wood colors look good.

[Curt Fuller]

Roger, I like it best without the lid and finial. I think the wood has so much character that adding the lid and finial made it a little over the top. But that said, if I were to keep a lid on it I would refine it along with the finial. It just seems a little to heavy for the form. And I also think I would go with black or a dark brown that is so dark it almost looks black. Black seems to compliment about any color of wood and that burl has a lot of different colors in it.

[Roger Chandler]

Roger, I like it best without the lid and finial. I think the wood has so much character that adding the lid and finial made it a little over the top. .

Curt,

I thought it looked better without the finial and lid also............but I had said I was going to make one for it, so I did..........that does not mean that it will stay there............I also thought about black for the lid and finial..........couldn't do any worse anyway with it!

I am tempted to ship it off to someone who likes it ......[hint, hint ...........] Send me a PM if you want it! You could do a re-do on the finial or lid or just blow it up and we could call it the Chandler/Fuller collaboration!

[Roger Chandler]

Thank you John and Bernie............appreciate your input!

[Bill Bulloch]

Roger, if you don't like the lid -- redo it. At times I have made several lids for a pieces before I got one that I liked. The burl and the turning look nice, so maybe it just needs a thin lid to cover the throat with a very thin finial to spiff it up some.

[robert baccus]

Nice work and the dark stain worked really well.---------old forester

[Roger Chandler]

Roger, if you don't like the lid -- redo it. At times I have made several lids for a pieces before I got one that I liked. The burl and the turning look nice, so maybe it just needs a thin lid to cover the throat with a very thin finial to spiff it up some.

Bill,

That is a super idea! Only thing is that I really don't like this piece of wood..........you know down deep...........I have put a lot into it, and well, ..... even after all the hard work and the waiting for finish to dry. etc. etc, etc.............I don't have any heart left for this one!

I am a person who goes all in when I care about something............this one just disappointed me from the get-go, and where someone else might really like this kind of wood..........it does nothing for me personally. I have not even signed the bottom............may never!

I am usually a very optimistic type, and see the possibilities not just the problems ......I think they call that faith, but this one has not captured my imagination at all............

It is a nice form, but I'm done with it!

[Roger Chandler]

I'll say this..........I sure hope the other pieces of burl from this cherry tree are better than that piece was! I still have about 5 or 6 pieces of 4 different burls off this same tree.

[Kathy Marshall]

I'm with Curt, I like it better without the lid. The form is nice and the wood is nice and has plenty of character.

[Dennis Ford]

I agree that it looks better without the lid, actually I think it looks great without the lid.

[Baxter Smith]

Another vote for no lid. Its a nice form and a pretty piece of wood whose color should even improve with time.

[Roger Chandler]

When you finished the form, the upward turn on the throat was something I noticed at the time. Transitioning off that much of a curve is difficult, and I suspect your task would have been easier had you had a more gentle rise.

John,

When I first mounted this piece of wood, I put it between centers..........remember, you asked if that was the tenon I was holding it by when I first posted about this piece.........what happened right at the outset, is that I made a recess in the face of the pith side, and formed a tenon..........that meant that the jaws of the chuck were inside of the rest of the wood, and I could not cut in but so far without hitting the spinning chuck jaws.............that decision on mounting determined the shape of the top face of the form. I could have turned it off when I reversed it to the other tenon on the opposite side.

I could not have changed the angle of the top face, but in retrospect, I could have taken off that upward transition and made it easier on myself...........I guess one must live and learn..........

I find one of the challenges with different types of forms relates to mounting and holding pieces of a multi-piece form so that one can go back and make all the necessary adjustments to the curve, etc...........

Do you find that is one of your challenges as well?

[Michelle Rich]

Sorry you aren't happy, but we all grow the same way..making pieces we aren't happy with, and want to burn. I posted the open spiral HF a week ago, and felt the same way about mine. As just a HF I think your vessel is real nice..If you want a lid & finial, I guess you can turn more until you find something you like..that's the fun of turning. Go back to the drawing board!!
Turning should be fun and NOT stressful. Go have fun...