Dyed Box Elder Hollow Form

[Marc Himes]

Hello everyone. I haven't had much time for forums lately but thought I would share one of my recent turnings. This was a piece of Box Elder from a Trout Unlimited project in Wisconsin. It is about 4 X 8 1/2' with a 3 " maple finial dyed with blue and red dyes. It is finished with Wipe on Poly. I want to work on making my finials more delicate so I may turn a new one for this in the future. C&C welcome.


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[Greg Just]

very nice Marc. I really like the colors and think a thinner finial would look nicer. Also, I would try to make the curve on the finial match the curve of the vessel. Nice job with the WOP.

[Roger Chandler]

Killer finish! Nice form........the widest point is below the 2/3rds point, but the form still looks great. +1 on more slender finial .....perhaps a bit taller and a very nice touch with the color on it......makes it both unique and carries the theme of the form itself.

[robert baccus]

I like it all--very different and finials do not have to resemble the Effiel tower to look good.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Marc that is nice. I really like the color, form and finish. A more delicate finial I think would work better.

[David Reed]

Wow, what a spectacular dye and finish job. Looks as much like glass as wood. I kind of like the squat finial, although I would like to see a reflection of the main form in the bottom portion.

[Thomas Canfield]

Ditto what David said. Very striking piece, but the verdict seems to be unanimous about the finial, and I would favor a shorter larger diameter lower section. Color and finish are great.

[jwjerry w kowalski]

Ditto on what Roger said, what a great finish and the box elder red streaks give it a variegated look that is really interesting.

[Dennis Ford]

This is a very nice piece, I really like the dyed bulb on the finial that matches the color of the HF. Making that section of the finial match the shape of the main form would be a good thing, I would suggest making the upper finial bulb smaller and keeping the finial about the same height.

[bob svoboda]

Nice form and I love the color. The finial works just fine for my eye.

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

I like the form finial combination also. It gives a different look than we normally see with tall thin finials, though those are also very pretty. The color is great and the finish quite shiny. It's difficult taking a good picture of a gloss form. isn't it. I see the windows behind and above the camera. Sometime just for kicks, put your form on a milk colored glass with only one light above and a light showing from below through the glass surface. The upper light will create a shadow that the under light will remove. Block all the other light sources. Not my original trick. It is credited to a friend who did a seminar for our club.
faust

[Paul Williams]

Great piece, +1 on Dennis Ford's comments about the bulb and size of the finial.

[Marc Himes]

Thanks for all the comments everyone. I still may make some other finials, but have several other pieces to try them on as well. The Box Elder took this dye very well, due to the nature of the wood. More yellow woods have turned my blue into green or teal but this stayed fairly true.
Jerry, I did add some red dye to the red streaks of the Box Elder so it would give more color through the blue.
Thanks for the suggestion Faust. I like glossy finishes and have lots of trouble getting good pictures, so I will give your idea a try.

Marc

[Rich Aldrich]

Really nice work Marc. The color is great. I like the form. I can go either way on the size of the finial.

[Marc Himes]

Thanks for the comments everyone. I have a couple other roughed out pieces similar to this one so I will try other finial designs. I have seen some very nice finials here by quite a few of you. The Box Elder took the dye nicely as it is a pale and porous wood. I have had other woods turn blue into teal or green so I was pleased to have it stay fairly true. The red color is largely Dye as there was not much natural red in the piece.
Faust, thanks for your suggestion. I struggle with photography in general but especially with glossy finishes so I will give the milk glass a try.
The piece is in the Lake Superior Art Association Members Show in Marquette and was awarded the fist place prize so I was very pleased.

Thanks again.

Marc