Go light or go dark?

[Roger Chandler]

I thought I would solicit some opinions on what to do for a finial on this hollow form made from Sisso. Kathy Marshall sent me this some time ago,[thank you Mrs Marshall! ] and I have been debating for a few months on what I would do with it......the grain is cool in my opinion!

Anyway, I had this finial in my shop where a couple of years ago, I did some finial practice.......all I had to do was cut the tenon down to fit inside the hole in the top which is about an inch +/-.......

The form is about 9.5 inches tall and 3-5/8 wide. With the finial that is on it now it stands about 12.75 inches. It has some Mahoney's walnut oil on it at present.......as you can see still in the chuck and will have additional finishing steps in the near future, but I wanted to see what fellow turners felt about a light colored finial ......similar in color to the sapwood on the form, or should I stay with a black one?

Which do you think would make it a better turning overall? Thanks in advance everyone!!!

IMGP3931.JPGIMGP3932.JPG Oh, by the way.........another question. In your opinion, should I leave a little ogee shaped base on it, or part if off where the transition is, and make it just curve down to the bottom and add a slight "tuck" at the bottom? Which combination of the two choices do you think will make it the best turning overall?

[Roger Chandler]

Geez........111 views at this point and not one comment on my questions......anybody got any advice on a light or dark finial for this, and whether or not to leave a foot on this hollow form? Any opinions?

[Toby Bouder]

Roger, I kinda like it as is. I think if you remove the foot it will look too unstable and you will lose the sapwood. I the finial is just similar to the sapwood I think it would be distracting.
If you had enough sapwood left over from a cutoff to make another finial that may look good as well.

I say leave it.

Toby

[Mel Fulks]

I like the finial but that white is hard to over power. Bigger fineal ? Tone down the white? I think it needs the base it has.

[Timothy Mann]

Personaly I believe I white finial from holly would look wonderful on this. The wood is so dark as it is I think a white finial would be the perfect contrast and go well with the sap wood.

[Ed Loudermilk]

Roger,
As you know I am new to wood turning. Soooo, take this for what it's worth ('bout two cents) If it were me I would probably turn a lighter colored finial for that piece. I say this simply because of the lighter color near the foot and the top of the form. My belief is it would accentuate the natural highlights of the wood but opinions are like elbows, everybody has one and they are all a little different.
Beautiful piece!!! I hope too get to your level of skill one day.
Ed

[Ed Loudermilk]

I would leave the foot as well.
Ed

[Scott Hackler]

Roger, if you leave the foot a darker finial would work. Removing the foot, lightens the piece and the dark finial would seem too top heavy. Change it out with a holly one and the no foot version would flow better, IMO.

[Roger Chandler]

Hey.......this is the kind of input I was looking for........I hope more will chime in! Just so everyone understands......the finial on this is just one I had laying around........it will not be the one I use for the final version......either light or dark, and hopefully better proportioned for this particular hollow form. I just used it to give some idea of what one might look like.

Appreciate all who have spoken to my questions so far...thank you!!!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Roger I would lose the foot and put a delicate holly finial on it if it were me.

[Paul Gilbert]

It looks rather dumpy to me. IMHO you need to refine the curve from the upper transition to the base. Then look at it and see if you need to loose the foot. A finial won't distract form a really bad shape.

[Kathy Marshall]

Good to see you had a chance to turn that sissoo! It's one of my favorite woods and turns really nice when it's green.
I think I'd go without the foot. I like the dark finial, but maybe a little more delicate.

[Richard Coers]

If you can exactly match the sapwood color, I would go light. But if your holly introduces a shade or two different white, it will compete with the sapwood and not be succesful. I would suggest that any finial you turn be about half the diameter you have, and not have the sweeping base on the finial. A much flatter base on the finial will compliment the top shape of the vessel, not compete with it. I would keep a base on the vessel. If you had a longer sweeping curve on the outside, I would have suggested removing the base. But with the bottle shape you have, the base will help.

[Dale Coons]

my 1 cent...

The turn in toward the foot area at the bottom seems too sharp--more of a bend than a curve--I think it might benefit from some smoothing there. I'm wondering if the finial base should be narrower by about a third as well--maybe it's that wide to cover the hole, but it seems heavy to me. Not a fan of the foot. Not sure about light or dark finial--there's one sure way to see how you like it though...

Beautiful wood--I think you're very close on the form/finial, but maybe needs just a little refinement here and there.

[Eric Gourieux]

Roger,
I've often asked myself the same questions. Keep the foot? Finial color? Most of the time, I end up turning the foot off. But, on this one I like the foot as is. As for the finial, I would recommend a more delicate finial. Holly would look nice, as has been mentioned. Alternatively, I would consider a more delicate finial with a black base and tapered top with a holly decorative center (ball or onion). You can't really go wrong with such a nice form and wood.