here it is. My first pedestal HF with a finial

[Bill Wyko]

Here is my first pedestal, my first HF and my first finial. The pedestal and finial are walnut and the HF is spalted pecan I believe. The HF was made a few weeks ago but seemed kind of boring so when I saw the one posted earlier it gave me the idea to spruce it up. That pecan was a real booger. I guess it was what you call punky? No matter how light my cuts were it still had little pits on it. I tried and tried but you can still see a little of it. When I tried to sand it, it was soft in some places and hard in others so it wanted to turn into an egg. So back to the lathe with the lightest of cuts. Anyway that's the best I could do with this piece of wood. The finials weren't to bad, just time consuming. I really didn't have any idea what to make them look like so I just kept turning until they looked like this.
Any opinions will be greatly appreciated good or bad. Any tips will be greatly appreciated too. Oh yea, the finsh is Tung oil the buffed on the 3 wheel.
P.S. Photo tent should be here next week. Then I'll put up better pics

[Neal Addy]

Whoa, Bill! Looks fantastic!

Very nice, tall, graceful pedestal and I like your detailing. Very crisp. Great job on the finial, too. Still can't get over that this is your first HF, pedestal, and finial!

I look forward to seeing pics in the photo booth. Keep 'em coming!

[Jerry Clark]

Great work Bill, I like the HF, the top finial seems a bit to big and overpowers the HF. Just my 2 cents!

[Bill Wyko]

Great work Bill, I like the HF, the top finial seems a bit to big and overpowers the HF. Just my 2 cents!

Yea, when I was making the HF I had to open up the top because it kept tearing. Thanks for your opinion.

[Brett Baldwin]

I like the narrow finials opposing the mass of the HF. The shape of the HF seems a little less refined than the finials but I'm assuming that was what the wood dictated with its soft spots. The color contrast is a good one. I think you've got a real flair for this spinny stuff Bill.

[Bill Wyko]

Actually I made the HF a few weeks ago but I thought it was kinda boring. Then I saw the one that Neal Addy made and it was an inspiration.(BIG thanks to Neal) Thats when i decided to try the finial and the pedestal. It's no Neal Addy piece but it sure dressed up the plain HF IMHO anyway. Glad you like it. The pedestal and the finial were pieces of 3/4 glued together to make it big enough to get the diameter needed to make them. The finial actually has a seam right up the middle. I did discover that if your tail stock is too tight, as it gets smaller it wants to bow in the middle which could lead to breakage. No breakage this time though.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Bill that is a beauty. I really like what you did with it. I just got Cindy Drozda's DVD Elegant Finials. It is a autographed. Can't wait to watch it.

[Dale Gregory]

Bill, great job! Real artsy looking! Just curious, how stable is it with the small diameter base, looks like it would be easy to knock over? I like it!

Dale

[Ralph Dobbertin]

sweet work..very nice

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Nice lathe work Bill, I can see you spent some time on that finial and pedestal. I'm a bit with Jerry on the finial. It seems to me to be a little overpowering for the size of the piece. I say that cautiously because I remember how I felt on my first lidded box when I put a knob on top of it. A number of the guys made comments about it's size in relation to the box. I knew they were trying to help me, but it did sting a little bit. As I look back now though, I am so grateful they cared enough to tell me their feelings. Keep up the great work and let's see some more.

[Jonathon Spafford]

Beautiful HF, beautiful finial and beautiful wood. All very nice! I would say that the shape of the hollow form might be a bit rounder and to be in proportion with the large finial it might have looked good to make the HF short and wide. But as I have never attempted HF or finial I really have no room to talk except from a visual standpoint. I would say you did a really nice job on this one though! It really doens't look like a first!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Bill, very nice work - first or not! Great colors! Wonderful detail work! Only suggestion would be a slightly slimmer finial at it's base and top. Very nice work!

[Bill Wyko]

Thanks everyone. Trust me when I say my feelings aren't hurt in the slightest. I probably would have done it a lot different if I had planned it all at one time. As I said before I did the HF a few weeks ago, then when I saw Neal Addys work That's when I decided to do the finial and the pedestal. There's a formula that the Greeks created centuries ago which is a formula that decides what angles and curves are most appealing to the eye. I'll do some research on it and get back with you on that. In addition, the finial and the pedestal started as 3/4" material glued together to make a 3x3 block so there's a seam right up the middle of them too. Now my question is do you think the finial is too tall or too wide at the bottom or both? The thinest part of them is less than 1/4 inch. I think if I would have designed it all at the same time I would have made the footprint that touches the HF smaller at the top than the bottom or maby both the same size as the bottom. All taken as advice for the next one. OH BTW I get my new MAYO TOMORROW I'll gloat when I have pictures