Tall blue box

[fuzzyturns]

Here's a box I finished tonight. I have no idea what the wood is, it came out of a firewood pile. First I thought it was some kind of sycamore, but it did not turn nice at all. Now I am thinking maybe it's some kind of cypress. Not much of a smell, either. The lid is made from Chilean laurel, and the finial is cherry sapwood. Finished with textile dye and wax. C&C most welcome. It's approx. 12" tall and 4" diameter. Wall thickness of the box about 3mm (what's that in inches?) all the way to the bottom.

[seventhdevil]

i was thinking Dr Who when i saw the title of the thread.

nice box by the way.

3mm is about 1/8".

[Les Symonds]

There's a few things about this that I like....the clean line, the neat little lid and the proportions of the finial, as well as the quality of the turning. A really pretty little box.

Les

[malcy]

I'm with Les on this. Nice box ( not quite so little if it is 12 inches). I like the finial and the body shape. Well done. Malcolm.

[edbanger]

nice looking box. I like the colour and the contrasting woods

Ed

[Bryan Milham]

Box, yes because it has a lid but the shape is more vase to me, but that's semantics.

The shape is good and the lid sits perfectly, it looks like the curve follows through the thickness of the rim as well. It could maybe have had a little more ogee shape about it, but that does not make it wrong.

The bottom of the teardrop (in the finial) is a little short but the finely done turning above that, with the long smooth curve, is very well done.

[fuzzyturns]

Thank you all for the feedback. Considering I have only been turning for about a year, I am a little proud of this box, it represents a lot of the things I like about other people's work.

[Haggy]

You are a quick learner fuzzyturns, far more advanced than myself- I particularly like the clean lines and proportions of your finial (although I always take note of what Brian says!). 
I would be interested to see what it would have looked like had you matched the lid to the dark wood used beneath as this would provide even more contrast with the finial.
A lovely piece of turned work.
Regards Haggy

[fuzzyturns]

I did initially shape the top of the original piece of wood into the same shape the lid has now, and it was dyed the same colour as the bottom. Then I had to make a decision as to how to fit the lid, Either way would have been problematic, as the lid was going to be end grain all the way, and with the way the rest of the box handled during turning I had zero confidence that it would stay in one piece. This wood did not want to cut properly. Whatever cut I tried, I didn't get nice shavings, I only got sawdust, even with freshly sharpened tools. Therefore I decided to use the Chilean laurel for the lid.
BTW, the natural colour of the wood (for the bottom part) is a sort of dirty faint orange/ochre, with quite a few little knots (which is why I am thinking that maybe it was a type of cypress). The metal blue effect was achieved with textile dyes, something I have used on many different pieces and I am slowly getting to grips with it.