Practising ... with some improvement

[Dave Carey]

I've been trying some different (for me) woods and forms and the whole process is getting better (thanks to a lot of tips and suggestions posted here - this is a great venue.) Biggest challenge right now is gracefully finishing off the bottom. Nothing for it but more practice! Anyway: no. 1 is apple 5 1/2 X 1 1/2; no. 2 is NE cherry 5 1/2 X 3; no. 3 is NE oak from a friend's tree that blew over recently (tree was 100' plus and the butt log was 55" diameter by a good 30' long) 6 X 2 1/2; no. 4 is spalted persimmon dried for 7 years and weighing nothing (the wood was almost white; the color here is from the antique oil) 4 3/4 X 2 1/4; no. 5 is walnut and maple (after a design that David Marks made out of sycamore and ebony on a ecent DIY channel rerun) 7 1/2 X 2. As always, thoughts and suggestions are welcome and appreciated. Cheers
Apple.jpg

CherryNE.jpg

OakNE.jpg

SpaltPers.jpg

Wal&Map.jpg

[Don Orr]

You are doing very well with your practice pieces. I especially like the Marks inspired piece. I saw that episode also. Be a bit careful what you pick up from him technique-wise. He was actually working against the grain and scraping a lot. His designs are excellent, but turning is not his primary area of expertise. At least he shows a wide variety of woodworking projects and techniques. I like his show better than most others.

Good work overall, very nice finishes.

[David Tiell]

Very nice work! I especially like the oak and persimmon bowls.

[Keith Burns]

Dave, I think you are past the practice stage !! They all look good. Since you asked for comments, I'll tose out mne on each piece.

No. 1, Great form, I like it.
No. 2, Nice form and grain orientation. I like it.
No. 3, Least favorite form, but well executed.
No. 4, Great piece of wood. Not sure about the form but thats just me.
No. 5, My favorite. Great form and wood combination. I like this one a whole lot.

Keep up the good work !!

[Phillip H Smith]

Dave...

From the photo, it looks as though #3 is an oval shape. I like that...how'd you do it? (All the others are very good too!)

[Bernie Weishapl]

Dave great job on all. I really like 3 and 5. Keep'em coming.

[Kim Ford]

Dave,

Two NE pieces is no small accomplishment. Your finishes are very nice. Just keep those curly shavings flying.

I like them all.....

[Dave Carey]

Appreciate everyone's comments and encouragement.

Don - Re no. 5 I noticed all the scraping too and tried to avoid as much as I could. Had to do a bunch under the lip though (very carefully!)

Phil - Re no. 3 By the time I got rid of the pith and some unexpected voids near the center of the log it was clear that this was going to be a pretty shallow bowl. As it turned out it's about 6" long and 5" wide. That shape puzzled me at first, but I think it's a weight issue. Once the blank was "rounded" to the point that the two large ends were of equal weight the vibrations were eliminated and the shape emerged as you see it. I hope that makes sense but the short answer is it wasn't planned, it just happened! Here's a picture of the tree and branch it came from. A couple of Virginia saw mill operators think it's a dunbar oak.
OalTree.jpg

OakBranch.jpg

[Steve Schlumpf]

Dave - nice work! Have to agree with Keith in that you are past the practice stage! I like a little something in each piece but if I could I would like to see the wood of #4 with the form of bowl #1 - just in case you were taking requests for your next project!

[Dave Carey]

Steve - Appreciate the comments and suggestions. I have three pieces of the persimmon left and agree the next one should be a more traditional shape. This was a log that someone had given my friend several years ago; it was in the corner of his shop, both ends badly checked and looking worthless. We sliced it in half and discovered all this wonderful spalting. That old adage about a book and it's cover is true.

[Ken LaSota]

Dave I think you are well past the practice stage also. Those are some nice forms and nice finishes. Keep at it . It only becomes more fun as you go.
Ken

[Jonathon Spafford]

Dave...

From the photo, it looks as though #3 is an oval shape. I like that...how'd you do it? (All the others are very good too!)

Unless the bowl warped at all, the shape really isn't oval! That is an optical illusion that happens with NEs. It has something to do with the taller sides vs. the shorter sides... in reality the shape is probably perfectly round unless, again, it warped!

Really awesome job on all these pieces Dave. The spalted has some awesome patterns on it... I think the second one is my favorite! It is simple has a nice shape (you coulda made the base a tad smaller) and it is natural edge... my favorite!